a party of at least 50 Rooks over Grane, in the fields around where the 2 parking lay bys are.....they crossed the road to clough head ..the large party was obviously on a "crawl" of some sort...
on holden wood at about 4pm - 5 mallards, 4 cormorants roosting in a tree on the bank of the reservoir, joined by 3 more which flew from elsewhere....and then joined by 2 more which were on the reservoir itself joined the 7 in the tree....... there were 9 cormorants there in total roosting at sunset.....i did see another by-passing the reservoir as i was driving up...but then i was not sure where this had flown to....it may have been part of the 5 who joined the roost later.....
any reason to why the cormorant numbers have increased here and what this regular roost means? in 1997-98 i spent a lot of time walking around Grane and never saw a cormorant here, even in winter. i was shcoked when i had heard that in the summer of 2006 they had nested here. i saw 5 some weeks ago - i thought that they maybe the adults with immature young but toay i have seen 9 if not 10 separate individuals. i have noticed that they roost here quite regular - would these birds be victim of the cull that was being discussed? they have nested too. the fishermen i have spoken too there dont seem that keen on them but indicate that the cormorants have spent more time on the 2nd reservoir even though they nested at Holden wood.
i saw 3 blue-ish/ash-grey birds tha may have been pigon sized or somewhat smaller in the trees on the reservor bank. i assume they were fieldfares but i had no binoculars to be able t confrim anything.
the water is quite high here now. would the change in the water levels affect the type of species that one may get here?
Hi Sarfraz - the Cormorant roost seems to be growing doesn't it.
Your comment about them breeding - did this come from the fishermen there or from elsewhere? From the records I have for the site for 2006 Cormorants didn't seem to be about at all between early April and mid-September, let alone breeding.
Of course if anyone has records for this period, breeding or otherwise I'd be happy to have them (email me at jimormerod AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk if you prefer).
High water levels in winter aren't too much of a problem. Falling levels in spring and summer are more problematic for species that breed on the water's edge and find themselves having to trek over mud or stones (e.g G-c grebes).
i had no idea they bred too or im not sure if it was even attemptingto breed. i remember one fisherman i spoke to possibly even in in september he said they had a nest there......and although i could not see the nest but he did point out the white=ish stained bit which i guess was just under the nest....
