Crow Wars revisited

-
Possibly the most spectacular of the early springtime changes is the behaviour of birds, many of them becoming more noticeable as they call, sing, postulate, display and fight; and these behaviours are arguably more exciting when the crows come out to play.

Yesterday, over Centenary Woodland, a relatively new Corvid came on the block when a pair of Ravens briefly made reconnoissance, their deep guttural 'cronk' drawing attention as they lazily floated across the patch, this was soon followed by a cacophony of cawing, hacking, chattering and kyacking as the locals received the news and made calls to order before closing in noisily.

Rooks successfully bred and raised young at nearby Highbury Park two years ago, and whilst they have not been reported since, we now have an impressive record of active crows in the area -

Raven
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Jay
Magpie
Rook

All fearful and respectful of each other, all intelligent, successful and impressive in their own right and each embraced with a variety of feelings by humans, either with hate or admiration, and each having a history of ambivalence stretching back into the mists of time.

I cross the Magpie
The Magpie crosses me
Bad luck to the Magpie
And good luck to me

The Ravens were mobbed with no uncertainty by all but the absent Rooks, and they were last seen diving for cover in Queen Mothers Woodland.


A French tradition holds that bad priests become Ravens and bad nuns become Crows.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brockley Grove - then and now

-
Image
Holders Woods and Fields east of centre with Brockley Grove to the south, road and turning circle Article from Birmingham Forum website -  My old mum and I moved into a prefab on Brockley grove just off dog pool lane (dads lane) in moseley in about 1959 and my old mum thought it was heaven, it had a "fitted kitchen" i.e a built in washing machine, she'd always had to do her washing by hand before and in both bedrooms were "metal" fitted wardrobes. As it was detached, standing surounded with a nice little garden we both loved it. unfortunatly it' now been demolished and  Brockley grove is now unsign posted and is a dog walking area but I will always have very fond memories of mom's little "bungalow". This map shows the layout of the Brockley Grove prefabs
Read more

Do you know your Christmas Trees? (part 2)

-
Image
Fir at Cannon Hill Park possibly Abies grandis Winter 'evergreens', a suitable and seasonal distraction in terms of identification, providing a rather more challenging activity than the now fallen broad leaves, although having said that, a tree with no leaves is just as challenging when only buds and bark are at play. Also, the language of evergreens is somewhat different to that of broadleaves, in both biological terminology and description, providing a continual monologue through the year, with a voice that changes less hysterically than its broadleaf distant relatives. The other challenging difficulty of course is the weather, standing with a field guide and key on a cold day is not everyone's idea of fun. The subject trees related to in this passage are mainly those found locally either at the Cannon Hill Park Tree Trail or at the Highbury Park Pinetum and Highbury Estate.  All of the trees have been introduced with various planting schemes over the past 80 years or so,
Read more

New Trees - Woodland Wednesdays at Highbury

-
Image
Highbury Park and neighbours - wooded Wooded Highbury The term 'replete' has recently been used in reference to the wildlife provision at Highbury, and whilst the park can boast a healthy list of trees and bird life and perhaps reasonable opportunity for invertebrates, there is certainly room for enhancement and improvement in this regard. The park is jealously viewed and guarded by its regular visitors and protest quickly develops as changes occur - for example recently planted hedges were met with anxiety and vandalism, new desire lines are seen as trespass and the recently announced proposal to improve the tarmac surfacing for cyclists was greeted with the following- https://www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/place/bcr3-highbury-park-walking-and-cycling-route Consultation  Politics aside, if that's possible, an overview of the wooded fabric of the park would probably indicate a net loss of timber over the past 5 years due to ageing, and the need to 'mak
Read more