HAVE YOUR SAY ON RURAL ISSUES
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LETTER OF THE MONTH
RED IN BEAK AND TALON
My wife and I were woken up at 6am last Sunday morning to loud screeching coming from our back garden.
Upon investigation, a hawk had caught a jackdaw and was trying to dispatch it on our flat garage roof. We had an excellent view of the attack from our bedroom window just above the garage. We didn’t want to interrupt for nature’s sake.
The hawk wasn’t much larger than the jackdaw and the fight went on and on, resulting in the birds tumbling off the garage roof on to the floor outside our back door. The jackdaw continued to screech as the hawk pecked at its belly, pulling out all the feathers and drawing blood. One of the photos shows how exhausted both birds were after such a long fight.
At 7:05 (over an hour later), the hawk decided it was never going to win and flew off, leaving the half-dead jackdaw hiding behind our back-door step. When we went to check on it, it flew off, leaving many feathers and a bloodstained pavement.
To our amazement, we saw the jackdaw with its bloodied chest over the rest of the afternoon and evening in our garden, drinking from the pond. The hawk even returned to the back door on the chance that the jackdaw had died. However, the jackdaw remained under cover in the low branches of a cherry tree. All safe.
We would be interested to know what you think the hawk is? My best guess is that it’s a juvenile goshawk but my brother thinks it’s a merlin.
Fergus Collins replies:
This is an amazing story and an extraordinary picture. The hawk is a sparrowhawk – a female, which is larger than the male and can take birds up to the size of woodpigeons. The male tends to settle for smaller prey – rarely aiming larger than blackbirds or starlings.
THE PRIZE:
This month’s star letter wins a Petromax Cooler Bag, worth £119.95. Its effective insulation and great new design keeps provisions cool for up to six days when exploring outdoors, freeing you from electricity. With a compact size, padded strap and carry handles – as well as pockets and a bottle opener – this cooler bag can be taken anywhere. whitbyandco.co.uk
FIRE AWAY
I read with interest Ellie Harrison’s article (September issue) referring to disposable barbecues. Although I have always been a champion for the freedom of the individual and have often criticised the nanny state, I do feel that there is justification in banning the sale of disposable barbecues.
Like Ellie’s mother, I have always had bonfires in my garden and have also regularly camped in the UK, taking a portable barbecue with me. Like many people, I am fully aware of the dangers that can occur on these occasions and take every precaution to prevent an accident. These events are not spontaneous but instead are undertaken with thought, planning and in controlled conditions, with consideration for others.
This is not usually the case with disposable barbecues, however, which are often used for more ad-hoc gatherings, when many are spurred on by the fine weather to have a barbecue in the countryside with friends. Most people will be responsible but, unfortunately, all the education and advice in the world won’t stop some irresponsible individuals, possibly under the influence of alcohol, to forget the necessary precautions with disastrous results.
We can live without portable barbecues, there are many ways to enjoy alfresco eating without them. With changes in the climate, I believe this is the right thing to do.
MISTAKEN ISLANDS
Having visited many of the islands of the Outer Hebrides, I enjoyed reading the excellent article by Amanda Thomson in the September issue. The islands really are as uniquely stunning as the images portray in the feature.
However, as I flipped over to page 20, I was somewhat bemused to read the description of the main picture: “The flatter, elongated Isle of Rhum lies in front of the steeper, jagged contours of Eigg.” Surely this description should have been the other way around?
These two iconic islands both have their own very distinctive shapes. Eigg is flat and elongated, culminating in the angular volcanic peak of An Sgurr on its southern reaches. Rhum, on the other hand, is dominated by the jagged volcanic peaks of the Rhum Cuillin, which I had the pleasure of climbing some years ago.
I’m sure I’m not the first person to alert you to this descriptive error, which, incidentally, didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the article. Instead, it caused
a bit of amusement between myself and my hubby.
Editor Fergus Collins replies:
Thank you Liz – you certainly are not the only one to spot this mistake in captioning the islands the wrong way round. I hope we’ve got it right this time.
DAHLIA DESTROYERS
You published a superb article by Susie White on dahlias (September issue) and I do wish I could grow them in my garden. But your feature didn’t mention the scourge of slugs. Dahlias are Michelin-starred restaurants for slugs.
I have changed my garden to grow only plants that slugs don’t eat, having wasted so much money on beautiful flowers. I think it would have been fair to mention this to readers who were probably tempted to purchase tubers. I have tried several non-harmful methods of keeping them away, to no avail (don’t mention beer traps – urgh!).
Fergus Collins replies:
Funnily enough, my wife tried dahlias this year and a host of different pests, including slugs, feasted on the foliage AND flowers. It was not a happy venture. If we cover dahlias again in the magazine, we will certainly mention this.
HEDGE-CUTTING QUERIES
I would really appreciate Adam’s view on the practice of annual (sometimes more) hedge-cutting by farmers and councils. I fully understand the need for them to be cut, both in fields and by roads. What I don’t understand is: a) Why does the cutting begin in August and continue into March? b) Why on Earth is it ‘allowed’ to result in a huge distance of a public road to be covered in lethally sharp bits of wood and thorn?
I live in the Lake District and obviously have many miles of small country roads to have to drive on, so when hedge-cutting has been carried out, the debris cannot be avoided. To date, we have spent several hundreds of pounds replacing punctured tyres!
Surely in this day and age it is not impossible to firstly condense the cutting time to winter months (better for birds and wildlife anyway) and, more importantly, have an efficient guard on the machine that actually directs the cuttings downwards and inwards. I am no engineer, but it can’t be that difficult, to save a lot of people a lot of money.
Fergus Collins replies:
Thanks Bridget, this is an excellent subject for a future column by Adam. I am frequently saddened to see hedges cut and trees pruned while still covered in life-giving fruit and nuts for our willdife.
Correction
Apologies to our November issue Letter of the Month winner Ben Whittall for the misspelling of his name.