East Lothian Council Countryside Rangers J a n u a r y 2 0 2 0 Wildlife Clever crows More intelligent than most mammals? Pages 6-7 Out and about Heavens above Volunteers The Wildline Project 3 Welcome to t he 43rd Edition of Wildlife Art 4-5 ‘Mud in Your Eye’ Crows – or Corvids to you! 6-9 We’d love to hear from you! Email: [email protected] or follow us... Heaven’s Above – it’s Gemini 10-11 @ELCrangers Haddington to Athelstaneford 12-13 East Lothian Countryside Ranger Service Volunteer Round Up 14-15 Published by East Lothian Council’s Countryside Rangers Volunteer diary dates 16 2 Mud In Your Eye - January '20 The Wildline Project We are lucky in East Lothian to have a great many volunteers engaging in conservation tasks, both on the mainland and on nearby islands throughout the year. As part of a brand new project funded by Scottish Natural Heritage, The Scottish Seabird Centre has recently launched The Wildline Project, aimed at greatly extending the long-term positive benefits conservation work has brought to local habitats and wildlife. As well as complementing the work undertaken by the award winning SOS Puffin Project on the islands in the Firth of Forth, the project will be working alongside East Lothian Council Countryside Rangers to identify 5 key coastal sites where invasive species control will take place, improving and restoring habitats for nesting seabirds and an array of other wildlife. Much of this work is likely to take place on private land, to complement work already being carried out by the Ranger Service in areas managed by East Lothian Council. Are you interested in joining the team? No previous conservation experience is necessary, but as the focus of this project is practical habitat management (often in remote locations), a reasonable level of physical fitness is required. The time and date of volunteer work parties will vary and spaces (where numbers are limited) will be reserved on a first-come first-served basis. To find out more about this opportunity or to join the team, please email the project Volunteer Coordinator at: [email protected]. See Volunteers Update - pages 14-15 and 16. Volunteers 3 Wildlife Art A Rangers notebook is unlikely to be filled with gallery worthy sketches of East Lothian’s wildlife, but as Laura Gressani, Exhibitions co-ordinator for the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club describes, we are lucky to have others more adept at capturing our wildlife and landscapes in our midst. Red Admiral butterflies by Darren Woodhead. 4 Wildlife “Wildlife artists tend to be specialists and to “There is definitely more to wildlife art than focus exclusively on depicting wildlife and producing pretty pictures, it is also about nature. They are often highly skilled having a positive impact on wildlife, through naturalists as well as artists, many hold conservation or by interesting others in the degrees in biology or animal behaviour as beauty of nature.” well as art qualifications. Indeed, simply “East Lothian is home to top wildlife artists finding their subjects, requires wildlife such as Darren Woodhead, and to one of artists to have a deep understanding of the the few galleries in Scotland specialising in habitat and behaviour of the animal they wildlife art. The Scottish Ornithologists’ depict.” Club is a charity promoting the study, “Their daily life can also be physically enjoyment and protection of birds in demanding, spending hours out in the field, Scotland. Its headquarters, Waterston sitting among gannets on the Bass Rock, House in Aberlady, houses a purpose-built or observing waders in Aberlady Bay, they art gallery showing the work of artists from work outside throughout the year. “ Scotland and the rest of the UK. Exhibitions change regularly, the gallery is open daily “A number of art and conservation charities and entry is free.” (see below for support their work such as the Society of forthcoming exhibitions). Wildlife Artists or the Artists for Nature Foundation. These organisations promote the work of wildlife artists while harnessing their skill to raise awareness of conservation needs. Many artists themselves see their work as about being inspired by, and caring for, wildlife.” Darren Woodhead Wildlife and Landscapes until 15 January 2020 of East Lothian Scottish Nature Open Photography 18 January - 19 February Photography Awards Competition Kindred Spirits Group Exhibition 22 February – 1 April focusing on exotic animals John Threlfall and Joint exhibition by two 4 April – 13 May Esther Tyson of the UK’s top wildlife artists Wildlife 5 Crows – or Corvids to you! The onset of winter can be a miserable time for some people. It’s getting colder, darker, closer to Christmas and all that. However, despite the lack of pretty flowers and butterflies, there is still plenty of wildlife out there to celebrate. It may just be me, but I find the bleakness of winter and its associated wildlife somehow deeply evocative and inspiring. A particular favourite are crows, although they are not to everyone’s taste. Jackdaws are noticeably smaller than rooks . Crows are sometimes regarded as cruel, opportunistic or just plain evil, which seems a bit harsh given that they’re just trying to make a living (like all of us really.) A quick word to clarify the terminology here. Some people, myself included, use the term “crow” to refer to a single species, the carrion crow. It also applies as a term for the whole crow family, which includes carrion crows, hooded crows, rooks, ravens, jackdaws, magpies, jays and choughs. The crow family should really be referred to as corvids. This not only avoids confusion, but also makes you sound all scientific and clever. Rooks and carrion crows are similar in size and shape. 6 Wildlife Crows! – Continued Magpie - "One for Sorrow" . They can be told apart by the rook’s light- 0they0’re probably rooks; if there are only a grey face and bill, which contrasts with the few, they’re more likely to be carrion crows, all black plumage of the carrion crow. which are less social. This doesn’t always Rooks also have scruffy-looking leg work, since carrion crows will form flocks, feathers, giving them the appearance of but it’s not bad as a guideline. wearing baggy trousers. Sadly, it’s not Large flocks of corvids are actually likely to always possible to get such a good view of contain more than one species, often rooks birds; they may be flying overhead, or in and jackdaws. bad light or just far away. So, a decent rule of thumb is that if there are a lot of them, Wildlife 7 Crows! – Continued Jays – the most colourful members of the crow family. Raven – the biggest member of the crow family. The presence of the latter can be indicated Ravens are big - much bigger than our by their harsh tchack-tchack call, from other corvids and even larger than which they get their name. Jackdaws are buzzards. In flight their size and distinctive noticeably smaller than rooks and have a wedge-shaped tails are good clues to their silvery-grey sheen to the back of the head, identification. If you’re lucky enough to see neck and throat. They also have light grey one close up you’ll notice its huge bill – eyes, unlike other UK corvids which have perfect for tearing apart raw meat. black eyes. Incidentally, the name is said to derive from the Old Norse hrafn, from the bird’s cry. 8 Wildlife Crows! – Continued OK, so much for the (nearly) all black authorities have undertaken extensive corvids, now let’s get a bit more colourful. research, which suggests that magpie Jays are a beautiful sight, with a pinkish- predation does not have a significant effect brown body and an almost iridescent blue on songbird numbers. patch on the wings. In flight, their white Now let’s consider the positives. Corvids rump above a black tail is obvious. Even if are, without doubt, the most intelligent of you don’t see a jay, there’s a fair chance our birds. There isn’t room here to cover all that they’ll make their presence known with the experimental work, but many experts a loud raucous screeching call. would argue that corvids are more Corvids, generally, are not fussy eaters. intelligent than most mammals. New They have been recorded shoving their bills Caledonian crows (native to the Pacific into cowpats to pick out insect larvae. island of New Caledonia, surprisingly) have Carrion crows, jackdaws and magpies will been shown to have levels of tool use eat pretty much anything, while rooks tend which surpass any species other than to feed on grain, seeds and invertebrates. ourselves. Corvids also exhibit complex This ability to eat a range of food is part of social behaviour and communication skills. the reason they are so successful. It’s also So, instead of demonising our crows, partly why some people really don’t like perhaps we should respect them as the them. Corvids, especially magpies, will take intelligent, resourceful and, dare I say it, other bird’s eggs or young from the nest, beautiful birds that they are. which can be a distressing sight for bird lovers. However, the RSPB and other Carrion crows – not fussy eaters. Wildlife 9 Heaven’s Above – it’s Gemini Above and to the left of the familiar constellation of Orion in the southern sky is Gemini, the twins. This constellation is noted for its two bright stars Castor and Pollux, which are quite close together in the sky, the other stars in the constellation being rather faint. If you are looking for them, sometime after 11pm, then the red coloured Pollux sits slightly below the white coloured Castor.