Corvids in Richmond Park

[derelict]

I was sitting at a woodland edge in Richmond Park yesterday evening c. 20:00 waiting for the deer to pass through when all hell broke loose from inside the wood. All the corvids started up and started swooping around. Next thing a fox appeared looking distinctly unhappy. I've been followed by a couple of rooks on an evening visit before and it's quite spooky, like something out of Edgar Allen Poe . Still I was surprised by how utterly fazed he was by it to the extent he seemed oblivious to my presence. He cowered in the grass for a while and then crept into the bracken. At which point the noise abated.

I have thought for some time that Richmond Park needs a larger avian predator to keep the rampant nest robbing corvids in their place - rooks, jackdaws, crows, jays, magpies not to mention those pesky parakeets which are beyond the capabilities of the local kestrels. I spent part of the afternoon watching newts at one of the ponds. I counted 9. The downside was that they were being expertly speared by a heron. Now it seems that something that can also take out a heron would not come amiss. Any suggestions?

[Jez]

I think unless the numbers in Newts at Richmond Park are seriously being hampered then a Bird like an Eagle of some kind could be a natural predator?! If numbers aren't, then they're best left to their own devices really!

[aeshna5]

There aren't any Rooks in Richmond Park, though rarely the odd individual may fly over, but not resident species there. A pair or 2 of Goshawks would predate the corvids + the Grey Sqirrels!

[derelict]

As to the pursuing rooks I've just checked the photos I took in the dusk and the one that perched next to me is indeed a crow ...