I've been lucky enough to have many birds nest and rear young at very close quarters over the years, there are an abundance of places in and around Ashbourne that offer nesting opportunities. This year I've taken particular notice of a group of about 5 or 6 pairs of Jackdaw who set about nest building and foraging in and around some farm buildings not far from home.
There have always been Jackdaws in this particular area, what drew my attention to them this year was witnessing them actually removing the hair from the backs of a local beef cattle herd and bringing it back to the units in the adjoining fields. I witnessed this over a number of days and have attached some photos.
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| I don't think he'll miss just a little bit...... |
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| Ah here, now your getting greedy! |
I took a casual walk around the farm units and the tell tale signs of Jackdaw nest building were to be had everywhere. On one building there are a number of industrial roller doors and it appeared the Jackdaws were busy preparing nests between the tops of the doors and the flashing on the actual building. I witnessed a constant movement of Jackdaws in and out with materials over a period of a couple of weeks.
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| One of the roller doors being used as nest sites |
On my last visit I could clearly hear the calls of young Jackdaws from above at least 2 of the roller doors as the adults went about the business of gathering the food the young would need to fledge and leave the nest. Alas all was not well as beneath one of the doors I found a freshly broken egg on the ground, it was a very mild day and the egg was still wet, it must have fallen only minutes before I arrived. The good news was that at least one adult was still moving in and out of the gap above the door and when I returned some days later there were the calls of young chicks to be heard.
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| One less mouth to feed for the parents.... |
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| An adult earlier in the month during the building phase |
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