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Posts Tagged ‘rookery’

The McCaws

You are not going to believe it folks, but we have new residents here at Oldfarm, Redwood.

And you all thought that pigs were noisy????  Forget it.  Pigs are such quiet things compared to our new residents, who we hope will turn out to be guests…. and will leave soon.

Meet the McCaws.

Mr. and Mrs. McCaw

Mr. and Mrs. McCaw

Yes, we have 2 rooks staying with us.

They fell from their nests in a really bad storm a couple of weeks back.  We rescued them from being decimated by the dogs.

We had heard that rooks are intelligent birds, and these two certainly have proven that theory to be correct.  They come looking for us when they are hungry.  They sit at the kitchen door, making a rumpus when they want food.  (Watch feeding time )  They’ve been known to peck at the window to draw our attention to them.

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As we work around the grounds, they fly and land nearby.

They have mastered flying.  Landing was the bigger problem, but they are getting better at it.  It is fun to watch them ‘talk’ to each other… they seem to have different ‘tones’ that they use.

I will be expecting the ‘men in white coats’ to come to the door after I type this next bit….. but, yes, we can tell their call as distinct from the other hundred rooks that live in the trees about us.

Did you know that it is supposedly very bad luck to get rid of a rookery?  At last count we have over 60 nests in the trees at the front of the house.

The feeding thing is the next hurdle to overcome…. we are trying to teach them to peck at the ground.

You see, you now have confirmation.  This is a total mad house.

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Sounds of Spring…

Although this afternoon is anything but Spring-like, we have been having the most amazing weather all through April.

There are little joys in not having to go out to work each morning… and last Wednesday morning I thought I should try to share this with you.  Since we’ve moved to Redwood, I am often asked what do I miss about living in Dublin.  To be honest there isn’t much I miss.

Theatre, cinema and fresh fish.  That’s about it!

However, one thing that always strikes me when I go back to Dublin on a visit is the noise level!  I know I never noticed it when living there, and if I comment to friends they say ‘what noise’?

Living in Redwood… our noises are so different!  And that is what struck me last Wednesday morning as I sat here at my desk with the windows wide open!

I cannot share sounds with you (unfortunately), but I tried to capture the sounds in photographs!

We are extremely lucky to have a Rookery.  Yes, the rooks are noisey… and again, city dweller visitors have said the noise would drive them mad, but we’ve grown very used to them…. they wake us in the morning, and make a lot of noise again as they settle down for the evening!

A rookery is a very lucky omen!

I wish I had a better zoom on my camera to show you… but there are between 30 – 40 nests out there in the front garden!

On the same morning, the newly released cattle were having a rare old time, galloping around the field and splashing through the pond.  And every so often giving a grand old moooo!

Ooh to be out in the green grass

These guys are in the field right beside my office window!

The closest we were to industrialisation and ‘civilisation’ was our neighbour, Lar, preparing his field for crops.  This was happening two fields away from us.

One man and his dog!

The dog ran in front of the tractor all day, leading the way!

All in all a very peaceful, rural morning…. interspersed with the occasional ‘grunting’ of Perky ‘talking’ to her piglets as she fed.

It truly was a beautiful morning.

And then by late afternoon… although we are at least 2 hours from an airport…. this is how the skies were!

And even though we are 2 hours from an airport, because life is so quiet here… we can hear the drone of the planes even when they are at that height!

It may all be too peaceful for others but we love it…. and boy you should see the skies at night… so many stars and absolutely no light pollution!

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