Oh Bryn, I loved this! Such clever characters, aren't they? I find myself suspicious of the motives of crows and magpies - they freak me out a little - but I love to watch the antics of our cheeky jackdaws. They're the smaller cousins of crows and seem almost playful in their interactions with each other. 'Our' very tame one, Jacko - bullied by his own kind because his white feathers made him different - adopted us as friends, and he (or she) was such a delight. He stopped visiting us back in the summer, though, and I miss him. 😢
Encounters like this - yours with the crow, mine with Jacko - seem to leave their mark. I wonder if such memories linger because we engage in a deeper way with the Corvid family - and their intelligence - than with other birds. 🤔
Have you ever read 'Penguin Bloom'? It's about the influence of a baby magpie on the family who had rescued her. Beautiful.
Thanks, Rebecca! It’s an interesting question - because they’re intelligent, do we feel a different bond to them than perhaps, say, a wren or robin? I do find the jays seem to listen to me more… 🧐
Making a note of that book! Sounds like a cozy read to queue for the winter months ☕️
I’d never seen a jackdaw before visiting Scotland but I loved them!! So delightfully cheeky and their chirps, adorable! Jacko sounds like a beautiful soul 🥺 what a gift to have their visits 💕
I love how jackdaws ‘chack chack chack’ - their name is so appropriate!
It’s so interesting, isn’t it? I mean, I love wrens and robins - well, all sorts of other birds too, because their behaviour is so interesting to watch - but my two favourite birds du jour are ‘our’ blackbird - who is a VERY smart cookie - and of course the jackdaws. Too bright for their own good, some of them! 🤣
I, too, was dive-bombed by a crow. I was barely a teenager, and the crow wanted my hat. Nice story again, Bryn!
Thanks, Mark! If you were north of the border I’d ask if it was a Blue Jays hat 😉
Oh Bryn, I loved this! Such clever characters, aren't they? I find myself suspicious of the motives of crows and magpies - they freak me out a little - but I love to watch the antics of our cheeky jackdaws. They're the smaller cousins of crows and seem almost playful in their interactions with each other. 'Our' very tame one, Jacko - bullied by his own kind because his white feathers made him different - adopted us as friends, and he (or she) was such a delight. He stopped visiting us back in the summer, though, and I miss him. 😢
Encounters like this - yours with the crow, mine with Jacko - seem to leave their mark. I wonder if such memories linger because we engage in a deeper way with the Corvid family - and their intelligence - than with other birds. 🤔
Have you ever read 'Penguin Bloom'? It's about the influence of a baby magpie on the family who had rescued her. Beautiful.
Thanks, Rebecca! It’s an interesting question - because they’re intelligent, do we feel a different bond to them than perhaps, say, a wren or robin? I do find the jays seem to listen to me more… 🧐
Making a note of that book! Sounds like a cozy read to queue for the winter months ☕️
I’d never seen a jackdaw before visiting Scotland but I loved them!! So delightfully cheeky and their chirps, adorable! Jacko sounds like a beautiful soul 🥺 what a gift to have their visits 💕
I love how jackdaws ‘chack chack chack’ - their name is so appropriate!
It’s so interesting, isn’t it? I mean, I love wrens and robins - well, all sorts of other birds too, because their behaviour is so interesting to watch - but my two favourite birds du jour are ‘our’ blackbird - who is a VERY smart cookie - and of course the jackdaws. Too bright for their own good, some of them! 🤣
Last year a crow used my lavender as a deathbed. I felt so honored and perplexed! https://crowandthepoet.substack.com/p/elegy-for-a-dead-crow
That was a beautiful post! Thanks for sharing it and your kind words, Lex 💕
Thanks! And thanks for sharing your story. I can’t stop thinking about the shock and wonder of getting smacked in the head by a crow. 🐦⬛