Russ writes:
This is an update on the Wild New Forest 2020 Raven survey, which was described in detail in this blog post:
We’ve already had a good response to our call for Raven sightings within the New Forest National Park between 01 Jan and 30 June 2020. Our initial suspicion that there were as many as 15-20 territories in the New Forest looks like being correct, as we already have about 10 confirmed territories as well as several possible territories (where birds have been seen on multiple occasions in suitable habitat) and a trio of recent nest sites that have yet to be checked. The current state-of-play can be seen on the map below.
As you can see, there is a good spread of locations, but obvious gaps in the far north and northeast of the forest, and along the southwest and southern margins. So we’re particularly keen for any records or ‘intel’ from those areas.
We don’t want to publicly disclose active nest sites (hence the large circles on the map), but if you are interested in monitoring any of these present and past breeding sites please get in touch, e.g. if one is on your local patch. Assessing productivity of nests will be challenging, but will provide useful new information about how many young this increasing species is producing each year.
All sightings can be emailed to info@wildnewforest.co.uk, and please provide as much detail about the time, location and behaviour as possible. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed their sightings already – keep them coming!