A murder of crows....why is this the name for a group of crows? Why not a flock? Or a bunch? The Oxford English Dictionary "suggests this is an allusion to 'the crow's traditional association with violent death' or 'its harsh and raucous cry.' If you've ever heard dozens of agitated crows in full cry, it really does sound as if they're yelling bloody murder."
Fenway and I walked the bike path yesterday morning - about 9:00. It's our traditional "do your business" walk. It was a lovely spring-ish day and I let my eyes roam from one side of the path to the other....looking at the trees that were beginning to leaf, listening to birds, watching for deer, noticing brigades of Mayapples beginning unfurl their umbrella leaves and march through the woods, low to the ground.
And then I heard a crow....and another and another. So we kept on walking. I know a great horned owl has a nest somewhere up our path. I saw one fly overhead one day a few years back....and twice, about this time of year, I've been lucky enough to spot the fledglings jump/fly from branch to branch in tall trees...testing their wings.
And I know that the loud, raucous, noise created by a group of crows can be a signal that a big bird of prey is in the area. Sure enough....as I got closer I could see four or five crows crowding around one tall almost-bare-tree. They dived, and perched, and called, and dived again. Pestering something.
So I stood still and watched. It was a bit of a distance, and of course I didn't have binoculars, but I could certainly see the crows...and the branches they surrounded. And then I saw something else - large wings unfolding and a large bird flying...away from me, crows in pursuit.
Spotted it again this year - came home with a smile on my face.....my morning with a murder of crows.....
No comments:
Post a Comment