A Chattering of Choughs
One species which appears to have had a very successful breeding season, at
least locally, is the Chough. With their curved red bills and matching
legs these charismatic birds are most definitely top of the corvid pecking
order. You can keep your Jays and your Magpies (yes even with their
iridescence) and give me a calling Chough sweeping along a Welsh
clifftop every time.
We’re fortunate here that the Gower peninsula holds a healthy population and
it’s been rare for one of our evening walks down that way this summer not to
have encountered at least a couple. Of course weather conditions unfortunately
haven’t tended to be on our side so most of those views have come during gale
force winds. Not so on our last trip to Southgate however which saw calmer
conditions finally arriving on these shores, if not the sun. There a flock of
twelve incredibly vocal and boisterous individuals were roaming widely as far
as Three Cliffs, often feeding on the cropped grassland without much concern
for passing walkers. I shot a few frames but in truth I could tell that the
results would be disappointing so was happy to just stand back and watch
events unfold.
At times the flock would split into two distinct groups, each taking a
different direction but inevitably coming together again a short while later.
One of these gatherings saw the Choughs perch along the cliff-face
itself, exactly what I hoped they’d do and a final chance to get some halfway
decent photos. Creeping closer under cover of one of the old limestone pits I
popped up a mere couple of metres distant, unnoticed and with probably the
best seats in the house.
We eventually left them to it and I got the distinct feeling that their
jostling and bickering was set to continue deep into dusk.
It's so heartening to see these and to hear of their success. We watched a couple in Cornwall last summer, but miss them here in the 'far east'. We occasionally saw a Chough on Gower when we lived in Swansea, but never anything like seven at once!
ReplyDeleteThey've really gone from strength to strength in the last few years which is great news.
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