Re: Herons..


"Sacha" <sacha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:BFDABAAC.2700D%sacha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> On 30/12/05 12:59 am, in article 313030303930323943B4868683@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
> "Janet Baraclough" <janet.and.john@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > The message <BFD9E157.26FA2%sacha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > from Sacha <sacha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> contains these words:
> >
> >
> >> One rook is a crow, more than one crow are rooks. According to my
husband.
> >> We have a rookery in the conifers at the bottom of our garden and in
the
> >> churchyard right next door. I cannot describe the fascination of
watching
> >> their antics, especially at nesting time when they are raucously
determined
> >> beyond belief. One path in our garden is known to us as Bomb Alley.
Walk
> >> down there without an umbrella and you'll get all the luck in the world
on
> >> your hair, shoulders, back!
> >
> > Years ago, a colony of scores of rooks decided to set up a new home
> > in our wood. For about two days we thought this was delightful; until we
> > realised what an amazing amount of pooh and racket and
> > raiding-of-chicken-feeders it entailed. So every night at dusk, we went
> > out with dustbin lids, tin cans and hammers etc to make so much din they
> > would leave. The rooks devised all sorts of strategies to outwit us
> > (pretending to leave, then sneaking back as soon as we went indoors; and
> > sending a spy-rook to warn the rest we were coming) but eventually they
> > gave in.
>
> I know that to those not used to them, the noise is appalling. One
> neighbourhood vandal who was new to the village and who should know
better,
> even asked us why we didn't just shoot them and get rid of them. But we
> absolutely love them and of course, you do realise you've driven away all
> your good luck, don't you? It's supposed to be very good luck to have a
> rookery in your garden! I especially like it at mating time because they
> all fly around hurling abuse at each other, settling into the trees,
> shouting raucously and then taking off to do it all again. When The Grand
> daughter was even smaller she could sit in her pushchair for ages just
> watching them, head tilted back and eyes big round 'O's of astonishment.
> >
> >
> > (snip) Of course, to watch them flap up this garden, over the back
> >> field, over the field behind that and into the spinney at the top,
bringing
> >> back one stick at a time for nest-building (with one of them riding
shotgun)
> >> is just wonderful if puzzling as to effort required. OTOH, when they
drop
> >> several of the sticks, as they invariably do, one can only wonder WHY
they
> >> don't just fly down onto the lawn, pick them up and use them. But no,
they
> >> heave a sigh of resignation, lumber into the air (with escort) and fly
back
> >> to said spinney yet again.
> >
> > One rook is saying to the other "I told you right at the start that
> > was the wrong sort of stick; far too big, and doesn't match the rest.
> > But would you listen? oh no...(nag nag nag)"
> >
> LOL! Apparently, you're not far off. One escorts the other to make sure
> the 'she' isn't pounced upon by some stray Lothario type rook. And yes,
it
> is the female rook that carries the stick......
> And then there are the jackdaws squabbling and name-calling on the tea
room
> lawn, shouting the odds at each other from the chimney pots, resulting in
> eerie echoes in the rooms beneath. My small study has a tiny Victorian
> fireplace in it and all manner of shapes of twigs are poking downwards
from
> the chimney. If I ever get them all out, I won't need to fetch any
> kindling!
> And the other night the tawny owl woke me up with a start, thinking
someone
> was in the garden shouting at us. Once I realised what it was, I was okay
> but it did give me a fright, which is most unusual. Sometimes this place
> makes me think it's the equivalent of some kind of avian M25 and it's
> absolutely marvellous!
I adore corvids and would love to have a rookery on my land.
I used to like the TV presenter Philip Schofield until he said that he
bought an old house in the country with a 200 year rookery on the land and
didn't like the noise to bought a gas powred bird scarer and had that going
until they had all gone. I thought this was bloody arrogant and typical of
an ignorant townie who moves to the country and expects silence. I think
ancient rookeries should have some sort of listed building type protection.
Philip Schofield is a wally and I never watch anything he presents now
because I want to slap his smug smiley face just thinking about the rookery.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Herons..
    ... >> One rook is a crow, more than one crow are rooks. ... >> We have a rookery in the conifers at the bottom of our garden and in the ... shouting raucously and then taking off to do it all again. ...
    (uk.rec.gardening)
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    ... This of course relies on you being able to tell a, crow ... Angus might have an advantage in distinguishing crow from rook, ... It is interesting how animals learn to judge human behaviour. ... approaching to feed them, and by the sound of the pellets hitting the water. ...
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    ... old saying: "One rook is a crow, ...
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