The Ruchill Ravens

Ruchill Raven Diaries - 2025 

6th February - 

One raven seen and photographed on a pylon near Ruchill water tower. 8th February 2 ravens seen, first on a pylon and then on Ruchill water tower. The tower, which is a grade A listed building, was part of Ruchill hospital which specialised in infectious diseases. The hospital closed in 1998. The site was subsequently sold, and eventually in 2012 permission was granted to demolish all the hospital buildings apart from the tower. Work began on a new housing estate in 2021 and is still in construction in 2025. The tower is a promising nesting site for both ravens and peregrines. Peregrines have been seen close by, but are probably the ones nesting on the Gilbert Scott tower of Glasgow University. 

 

Tuesday 11th February - A raven was seen bringing a stick to the ledge on the tower. Later using a scope it was confirmed that there was the beginnings of a nest on the eastern ledge of the tower, close to the apex with the northern side. 

Thursday 13th February The ravens continue to build the nest. The male brings in the twigs and branches and the female uses them to construct the nest. The nest is now easily visible through binoculars and is big enough to almost hide the female, with only the very top of her head visible at times. Raven nests can be large - up to 1.5m wide and 60 cm deep though this one looks quite a bit smaller, it’s likely to be that deep. 

Fri 14th February -  Nest building early today but less activity later on. The ravens need to spend time away feeding, especially as the female needs protein for egg production. They also line their nests and often use wool for that. As there are few sheep in Ruchill they need to fly further afield to find wool. Saturday 15th Feb One raven was seen doing an acrobatic display - flying then suddenly swooping and diving, dropping behind the trees, then coming up again. Possibly a courting ritual? Ravens mate for life, but this might be a new pairing, or something they do every year anyway.

 

Sunday 16th February Both ravens out and about on and around the tower, often together, interacting with each other. Very little nest building now, just the occasional twig, but the female is often sitting inside or on top of the nest. Sometimes she disappears with just her tail feathers sticking out, so it looks like she is working on lining the nest with moss or similar. 

Tuesday 18th February Both birds have been on the tower, with the female (I assume) spending her time on the nest and the male sitting on various outlook points on the tower and the nearby pylons. They both go off together for extended periods so if eggs have been laid they are not yet being incubated. 

Thursday 20th February Both birds were seen early morning leaving the nest - possibly having roosted there overnight. They returned briefly but weren't seen again all day. Update - at 5:20pm just as it was getting dark, both birds returned from wherever they had spent the day and flew low past the tower to some trees, where I presume they roost. They didn't seem to return to the tower. 

Friday 21st February Similar to yesterday, the ravens were mostly absent from the tower but we did spot them a couple of times coming back to check on the nest before flying off again. 

 

Sunday 23rd February Poor weather in the morning affected visibility, so no sign of the ravens, but later in the afternoon they were both around the tower, with the female spending time in the nest doing some extra housekeeping.

 Tuesday 25th February After a few days with very few sightings today the female spent most of the day on the nest! It seems reasonable to assume she is now incubating eggs. Ravens lay on average 5 eggs per clutch and they lay them about 1 day apart. There is some evidence that they start incubating once the penultimate egg has been laid [Ratcliff] and incubation is all done by the female. However, the nest is so large that when she sits low down over the eggs it’s often impossible to see her. Watching for long enough usually reveals her head or tail protruding on top of the nest, confirmation that she is still there. Ravens are one of the first breeders and egg laying (of the first egg) has been shifting earlier in southern Scotland by about 1 day every 10 years from 1930 with an average of 65 days into the year noted in 1995, from data collected by Ratcliff. This would make the average day of the first egg 3rd March, but the variation is large, and that data is from 30 years ago! 

Wednesday 26th February The female has been on the nest all day, while the male has been around keeping a lookout either high up on the tower or on the pylon next to the tower (see photo). Thursday 27th February Today as usual the male spent some time on the tower protecting the nest. Later he went off, and when he arrived back he first landed high up on the tower, then after a short while he flew down to on the ledge near the nest, then waddled up to the nest and very quickly fed the female by putting his beak into hers! The male provides both food and water for the female while she is on the nest. He can store both temporarily in his crop or sublingual pouch, though he will also bring food in his beak. The crop is an expanded, muscular pouch near the gullet or throat. It is a part of the digestive tract, essentially an enlarged part of the oesophagus. Some sources say that the female normally gets out of the nest to be fed, but can, as we saw, be fed on the nest if she prefers. 

Monday 3rd March The ravens continue to incubate the eggs. The female spends most of her time on the nest, though she does stretch her wings and fly to a different part of the tower every so often. The male comes in regularly to patrol the tower and to bring food. He also chases away anything that could be a threat - such as a lesser black backed gull that got too close! Today both ravens were out on one of the turrets together for a while and then seemed to ‘kiss’, with the male opening his beak and the female putting hers inside his briefly. This is a way for them to show affection for each other and to strengthen their pair bond. 

Wednesday 5th March Interesting behaviour today. Today the female had left the nest for a bit, as she does regularly. The male raven flew in directly to the nest, first stood on it, then sat down, though not as low as the female does. A few minutes later the female returned, settled right down into the nest as normal and stayed there, and the male raven flew away. This behaviour of the male guarding the nest has been described by [ ], but only once the chicks have hatched - it’s clearly far too early for that to have happened, so it’s interesting to observe it in the incubation stage. 

Friday 7th March Similar to previously -the female was in the nest, the male flew in and was either on or in the nest, for a short period while the female was away. Saturday 8th March The female continues to sit on the nest with occasional feeds from the male. Sometimes she leaves the nest when the male arrives and they fly up to one of the turrets of the tower. One in particular looks like there is a rim where water or maybe insects collect as they both spend time with their beaks in it eating or drinking. Today they also touched beaks as before, then the female returned to the nest and the male went to the closest pylon to keep watch.

 Monday 10th March The behaviour noted before happened again. The female was settled low into the nest - the male arrived and immediately she flew off, then the male climbed onto the nest. It is likely that he is both guarding the eggs and keeping them warm. Male ravens don’t strictly incubate as they do not have brood patches - featherless areas of skin which are rich in blood vessels which raise the temperature of the skin, and so keep eggs warm. Female birds and males of some species (like peregrines who share the incubation) have them. The male stayed until the female returned a few minutes later, then flew off onto one of the turrets of the tower. It’s very windy today with gusts of 40 mph so the ravens are struggling to land on the tower, sometimes having to make multiple passes before they can safely approach it. As previously noted the male is often seen pecking around the base of one of the turrets, but it wasn’t clear if this was to get water or food. Today he pulled something large out and struggled to pull it apart before eating it. It’s not possible to see what it was though! 

Saturday 15th March The female continues to incubate the eggs and the male brings her food.. All feeding has been on the nest. Today the male flew on to the top of the tower, then flew down to the ledge soon after - normally a sign he is about to deliver food, but instead he decided to mate with her while she was on the nest. She didn't seem overly keen, perhaps more worried about the safety of the eggs! He then flew off and returned soon after. Digiscoped image shows both birds on the nest, though not feeding. 

 

Monday 17th March - day 20 of incubation Incubation of the eggs is from 20-25 days, so we are watching for any change in behaviour. So far, nothing different, though both the male and the female poke their beak into the nest, perhaps turning the eggs every now and again. The male continues to regularly guard the nest and keep the eggs warm while the female flies off. At least once the female left the nest without the male guarding. Early morning both ravens were high up on the nearby pylon interacting and touching beaks. 

Wednesday 19th March - day 22 of incubation Managed to catch the male arriving to guard the nest so could time how long she was away for - it was just over 3 minutes! 

Friday 21st March, Day 24 of incubation/hatching day! 2:15 male arrived, quickly fed female then both birds bent over into the nest - it looks like they are feeding chicks!! The light is making is hard to see much today. 

Saturday 22nd March, 1 days since hatching The light today, particular in the afternoon was much better, so I thought I’d keep a record, as far as possible, of all the activities. I have sometimes written that the female looks like she is feeding - I don’t know if this is the case - sources also say that she spends time keeping the nest nice, eating eggshell and tending to the chicks, as they are very floppy when recently hatched. Female isn’t sitting still as usual, but keeps poking into the nest - possibly feeding? 11:40 Male arrives, both birds bend over and look like they are feeding chicks in the nest. Male flies off straight afterwards. 12:08 Male arrives, quickly feeds the chicks (maybe?), then the female flies off. She returns 45 minutes later. That’s the longest I’ve ever been aware of her leaving the nest. She returns at 12:53 and the male leaves. 13:25 Male arrives back - feeds the chicks briefly while female is on the nest 13:55 Male comes in (approx, didn't see it happen) and female leaves 14:05 female returns and seems to feed chicks before setting down on the nest 14:45 male came in, he fed the chicks while the female waited at the side then got back on the nest 13:18 male came in higher up on tower, female left and joined him out of sight . Two min later one of them came to feed the chicks (can't be sure which one), then flew off and a minute or so later the female came, bent into the nest (maybe feeding, maybe just checking them) and settled down 14:05 Female left, came back a couple of minutes later, seemed to feed, then settled back down 16:30 Male is preening himself on the pylon, female flew off, left the nest for 10 minutes, then returned. 16:53 male flew to behind tower immediately female left. Male flew round to ledge, waddled up to nest appeared to feed, then sat down. 4:57 female returned, immediately male left.she fed for a while then settled on the nest About 16:58 male flew to nest and female left (not seen) 5:02 female returned, fed chicks, male flew off as soon as she arrived back 18:06 Male came in, quickly fed female on the nest, then both birds seem to feed the chicks. Female then flies off, returning at 18:24, and the male flies off as she returns. She peers into the chicks (feeding or just looking?) then settles down. 

 

Sunday 23rd March Male come in, got water from the upper turret, then cam to nest and fed chicks (8:54) 9:16 male is on the nest (didn't see him arrive or the female leave) 10:55 Male is on the nest. Female higher up on a turret, looks like she gets some water, then comes to the nest - male promptly flies off. She feeds chicks, then settles low down in the nest. Male returns, bends into nest, though can’t see if he is feeding her or them, or just looking. Then flies away. 11:40 both birds on the nest, leaning in,feeding 13:30 both birds feeding, male flies off,.female settles in nest 15:42 both birds on nest, male and possibly also female feeding Monday Single bird feeding 12:50, both birds feeding 1:10 Tuesday 25th March 1:45 male flew past onto pylon, then came round behind the tower. Female flew off also behind the tower. Male came to nest and fed for a while then sat on nest. After a few minutes he left, then returned a few minutes later then sat on the nest presumably waiting for the female 17:20 female leaves nest, male appears, flies behind tower, then drinks from top left turret, then flies to nest, feeds, and sits on top. 3 min later female reappears and male flies off 18:20, male comes in, female stays on nest - possibly he feeds her then they both feed the chicks. He flies off, she settles back into nest 

Wednesday 26th March There has been regular feeding all day today with often the male bringing food, then sitting on or near the nest while the female flies off for a few minutes. This is an improvement on previous days where feeding has seemed sparse and inconsistent (at least compared to the literature, which was worrying). The male has also been seen feeding the female. Sometimes as he approaches the female also leaves the nest and they fly behind the tower, so it’s possible he feeds her there too. Sometimes it appears that both birds are feeding the chicks, bending over the nest. This can happen when the female uses food she has been fed by the male. For the last couple of days the female has sat still low down in the nest, which contrasts to the few days prior to that when she had spent a lot of time digging into the nest - this was possibly her eating the egg shell and detritus after they hatched and also supporting the newly hatched chicks who are very floppy [according to Ratcliff] 

Friday 28th March The ravens continue to feed the chicks regularly. Today the male fed for more than a minute, then flew to a higher turret, drank some water then returned and fed again, possibly leaning in to a different bit of the nest. Ravens do this to help soften the food in the pouch. The weather today and yesterday has been particularly wet and windy. During a dry patch the male left the nest unattended for about 10 minutes, but otherwise the female has been keeping the chicks warm and dry. The male sheltered under the ledge that has the nest for a while when it was particularly wet! 

Monday 31st March (day 10 since hatching) Exciting day today - for the first time the chicks were visible reaching up for food when the parents were near. There are definitely 2 and possibly 3 chicks. This is such a step change from yesterday (they were stretching easily a few cm above the nest) that it must be due to their necks getting stronger, not just them growing a bit bigger. Both parents are now regularly off the nest, though one often keeps a look out from the ledge above or from the nearby pylon. Feeding is still regular and possibly now from both the male and the female. It's now getting harder to tell which bird is which - before they could be differentiated by their behaviour (female sitting very low on the nest, the male only sitting up, keeping watch). Late evening - a bird was seen carrying a fecal sack away for the first time. (Earlier there were possible sightings of a bird on the nest eating them). This was then captured in the photo above a few days later. 

Saturday 5th April (2 weeks and 1 days since hatching)

 
The ravens continue to feed the
chicks regularly, with frequent feeds especially in the evening. Often two feeds happen in quick succession - sometimes a raven will go to where water has collected, so possibly they are using that to soften some food or to deliver water directly. There are at least 2 chicks visible stretching up when a parent arrives, or they hear a parent nearby. First photo of a chick was captured on 2nd April (beak and tail just visible). There is possibly a third chick but if there is it is smaller or further back in the nest so is seen less often (and could easily be a shadow or something else). The parents are both leaving the nest for longer periods of time and are brooding less. No sightings of the male feeding the female have occurred for a few days now, so it’s reasonable to assume the female is finding her own food. Sometimes they stay near the nest, sitting on the ledge above or the nearby pylon, but increasingly they are both absent from the area entirely. 

Wednesday 9th April 2 weeks and 5 days from hatching The ravens continue to grow which is making th easier to see. The biggest ones have darker plumage starting to show. We can now definitely see 3 chicks and are fairly sure there is a fourth one! The best time to spot the chicks is actually when the adult flies off, which for some reason causes all the chicks to stretch up, begging for food. When the adult arrives for feeding they are often blocking our view! Almost no brooding happening now, though an adult is often on the nest poking around - possibly eating faecal sacs, or rearranging the nest. The gaps between feeding are getting bigger and the nest is left for increasing long time periods. One or both birds are often nearby though, on the tower on various ledges, and seem to be spending quite a lot of time preening. 

Thursday 10th April (2 weeks 6 days from hatching) Interesting behaviour today - one parent flew away with a stick from the nest, and later threw another stick from the nest out of the side! Maybe making more space for the growing chicks. Also 4 chicks were confirmed by someone from Belway (who are building the new homes near the tower), and who had been up to the nest in a cherry picker! 

 

Monday 14th April (3 weeks and 3 days from hatching)

The chicks seem to have really grown in the last few days - when they fluff themselves up and move around the nest we can see fully formed birds with sleek black feathers. The edge of the nest is getting increasingly white as they spray their guano over the side.  Regular feeding is still happening, but the chicks are left for long periods in between.

Thursday 17th April (3 weeks and 6 days from hatching)

The chicks are really big now and sometimes sit at the top of the nest. It was really wet this morning, but they are big enough now that the adults don't shelter them in the nest, though they did sometimes sit on the nearby ledge. In the afternoon the adult fetched water that had collected on one of the turrets and brought some to each chick, making 4 trips back and forth in total.
Later I saw a chick spray guano over the edge of the nest and - the ledge is looking very white these days!

Sunday 20th April (4 weeks and 2 days from hatching)

The chicks are spending a lot of time stretching their wings to build up their muscles, often sitting right on the edge of the nest. Interestingly the adults have both been around much more over the last few days - whether that is because they don't need to be away or because the chicks are now more vulnerable I don't know.

The adults also spend time cleaning out the nest - one removed a huge stick that had a fecal sack attached to it - it took quite a lot of wrestling to get it free before it managed to fly away with it

Wednesday 23rd April (4 weeks and 5 days from hatching)

A visit to the tower this evening revealed that there are sadly only 3 chicks now. But they are doing well and are almost adult sized. Still on the nest, but flapping their wings a lot and are getting very good at manoeuvring around the nest. After feeding they turn round, walk backwards a few steps before leaning forward so that guano sprays over the edge of the nest. Sometimes they almost slip and I worry they will fall off the ledge.











Friday 25th April (5 weeks since hatching)

Exciting event this evening- the first raven chick left the nest!  I’m not entirely sure it did so on purpose- they often look like they are about to slip and fall when they are flapping their wings and jumping around the nest.  When I saw it, the chick had already left and was next to the nest on the ledge and an adult was close by looking concerned, touching beaks with it to reassure it. The adult then left and the chick managed to gingerly turn round, then sat still for a bit against the tower. It eventually got back on to the nest, and was greeted by the other chicks who started preening it. It’s going to be a worry watching them from now on!

Saturday 26th April (5 weeks and 1 days since hatching)

More excitement today with 1 chick leaving the nest this morning, and 3 chicks leaving the nest this evening! Another chick stayed in the nest, so there are definitely 4, which is a fabulous brood, and unusual, at least compared to birds which breed in the countryside which often manage only 1 or 2. This is likely indicative of a good food supply for these ravens in the city.  The adult fed the chick on the ledge and as happened yesterday an adult was keeping a close eye and touching beaks with the chicks this evening to reassure them. One was so comfortable it lay down on the ledge and seemed to fall asleep!