The Lincolnshire Bird Club

For the past few weeks i have been watching a pair of little owls..
Visits have become less frequent to let them go about their business..hopefully raising some chicks..or owlets, i visited today and was horrified to watch two crows inches from the "hole" and one little owl about three foot away just staring at the crows..the other owl was watching from a distant branch..i had to leave..i wouldnt of been able to handle it if the inevitable happened..crow entering hole..
I really dont like crows..i think they have got out of hand in numbers..when the osprey comes..crows mob it..same as shortys being mobbed..rant over..sorry to crow lovers..but i dont think its nature just incase anyone says it is!

If it isn't nature, what do you think it is?

Rob

A little crumb of comfort for you, Andy. It's highly unlikely they were raising owlets as they don't start laying until April/May. Don't forget Little Owls are also voracious predators and are not native to the UK - Crows are!

Ok..it is nature then..i just feel there are too many crows..ha ha now im picking on the pigeons because i think there's too many of those also..did i mention magpie's..although they dont appear to be in that vast amount of numbers lately as they used to be..i just felt sorry for the owl's..bloody crow's!

people use land, bird populations fall and change. we may be the reason the crows are doing well.

Its quite possible that crow and magpie numbers are boosted by the 55 million plus game birds released into the wild in the UK every year by shooting interests. The shooters don't get them all and the ones that die of starvation, road traffic accidents and lead poisoning probably make a major contribution to the survival of carrion eating birds and mammals. Obviously the boosted populations of predator/carrion eaters eat other things too. Presumably buzzards and red kites also benefit. Needs more research!

On the other hand, Phil, I remember when I first moved back to rural Lincolnshire in the early 70's. Having seen Magpies in particular running round your feet in parks and playing fields in London I was surprised at their virtual absence in the countryside around Wragby. I was told that was because even the small farms had shooting interests and most had a part time gamekeeper to regulate the number of corvids. There were no Red Kites or Buzzards in the county either. As you say, more research is needed.