Jackdaws and Ash

The other day, we spotted a pair of jackdaws setting up home in a hollow of an old ash tree near the Garth, its branches bare and twisted from Ash Dieback. Jackdaws, with their bright eyes and soft grey plumage, are some of the most adaptable birds in Britain. For centuries, they've made their homes wherever they could find shelter - in chimneys, church towers, castle ruins, and hollow trees like this one.

Most of our ash trees are now affected by Ash Dieback, a disease caused by a fungus accidentally introduced from overseas. Some trees may show resilience and survive, but many will eventually die. Still, even a dying tree holds value in the landscape. Its hollow limbs offer nesting spaces for birds like jackdaws, while its decaying wood nourishes countless insects, fungi, and other wildlife. Death, in nature, is never a simple end - it is part of a continuous giving back.

The loss of the ash is often described as a biological tragedy, but it also tells a deeper story. It reminds us how easily ancient ecosystems, once shaped by slow, local rhythms, can be undone by the speed and scale of the modern world. Ash trees were once part of the living fabric of village greens, boundary hedgerows, and sacred lore - not just trees, but companions to daily life.

And yet, not all is lost. Some ash trees show signs of natural resistance. The seeds they scatter may one day grow into new forests better adapted to the world they inherit. Life, as the jackdaws remind us, finds a way to endure - not by resisting change, but by working within it.