Bringing down a parliament

Corvid control is vital at this time of year as rooks target crops and grey partridges, so Simon Garnham goes to the rescue

- D ROGERS / ALAMY

Settled into the hide, Simon lines upon an incoming bird

As nesting time approaches, it’s critical for ground-nesting and song birds that those of us in the shooting community get on top of corvids. This year it seems more important than ever.

On average I account for around two dozen magpies and similar numbers of crows, rooks and jackdaws between March and May each year — a drop in the ocean compared with professional keepers. But in April 2019 the general licence debacle prevented that control, just when the vulnerable species needed it most. Like many others in the shooting community, I’m keen to make amends this time around; I’ve noted much larger numbers of corvids of all sorts this winter.

The RSPB is not well known for being pro-shooting. Even it, however, acknowledges that in sites of predation pressure, control of corvids is important. I wonder which sites are not under predation pressure. The​ RSPB declares that wardens account for many hundreds of corvids each year, of which I approve. What’s more, in its guide to corvids, the RSPB notes that all forms of corvids feed on eggs and that rooks especially favour “eggs and nestlings”.

Gamekeepers have known this since time immemorial, of course, hence a call I received last week from friend and self-employed keeper Liam Fearis offering an afternoon trying to thin out his rooks. “They stripped my maize during the season, they’re going to hammer my last coveys of grey partridges and with drilling about to start, Robert (the farmer) will want them thinned out,” he said.

I was keen to oblige.