Sunday 10 April 2011

Corvids and magpies

This picture was taken in the Lake District, in the Keswick Museum, every exsue is good to publish pictures from that time, even dead birds on display. It was a small museum but I was fascinated by what was in it.You can see here (I think but I am not sure) from left to right a raven, a crow and a magpie (or a hooded crow?).

Anyway, when I went out yesterday I saw lots and lots of crows. With the springtime colours, their black feathers make them difficult to miss. Oh and their distinctive caws! I am fascinated by these birds, which I used to dislike as a young child, especially when I was having breakfast, as I found their appearances and their cry utterly sinister. But then of course whatever is sinister also fascinates me, even at a young age, and I learned more and more about them and ended up loving them. I still find them sinister, but playfully so, knowing very weel that this is irrational superstition. Great working material for fiction or games.

Magpies are a different lot. I never even saw one until I campe in England. They have a very distinctive colour too, and I remember taking many pictures of them when I first came here. Before I associated them more with this Tintin album, maybe the best one ever. I never heard La Gazza Ladra, except its overture. Anyway, as this is the wildlife I see outside, I thought I would put some here on my blog.

4 comments:

Cynthia said...

I love ravens and crow so much so that I dream about finding one which would have fallen from its nest and raise it :)

Anonymous said...

My mother's family had a crow called Nick when she was a girl . He was very intelligent, and crafty. He was forever stealing shiny objects. I wish that I had met him, he sounded like a fascinating character.I wonder why they steal shiny things?:-)

VioletSky said...

I love crows and even their cawing makes me feel nostalgic for summers camping and at the cottage.
And once I learned just how smart they were, my admiration for them only grew.

Guillaume said...

@Cynthia-Crows or ravens would make great pets. And they can sometimes talk like parrots!
@Anonymous-I wonder why too. This is partially why they got this bad reputation, this and from eating crops and harvest. But it is difficult for me to dislike intelligent animals, even (or especially) when they are mischivieous.
@Violetsky-They sure are admirable birds. And I now love their cawing too.