25 April 2009

Photo Hunt - Protection


The theme for this week's Photo Hunt is protection. The crow is probably my favourite bird. I have been pleased recently to hear their rasping caw of a morning as a murder descends on the roofs and chimney pots of the houses in our street. At times it is less a murder of crows than a genocide!

Sadly by the time I have worked out how to use the camera while balancing on crutches the crows seems to have thinned out in numbers, mores the pity... and the shots are not exactly great.

Crows have been the subject of much folklore, some good, but a lot more bad. Finding a dead crow on the road is good luck but crows in a church yard are bad luck, It was unlucky in Wales to have a crow cross your path but if two crows crossed your path, the luck was reversed. "Two crows I see, good luck to me" In New England seeing two crows flying together from the left was bad luck... and so on and so forth.

Given that crows were more often a harbinger of ill than good the people of Somerset at one time used to carry a protection against them. So what was this protection? Scroll down!

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The humble onion! Don't as me how it worked!

The crow folklore was found here


While my cast is off, I am still tiring very easily. Please accept my apologies if I am still not doing as much visiting as normal

47 comments:

Photo Cache said...

LOL! Oh I'm glad you're back to putting the "fun" back into photo hunt.

Enjoy the weekend.

CherryPie said...

I was thinking just how good those photos are :-)

I am curious too about how the onion would work!!!

Liz Hinds said...

'Caw,' said the crow.
'Balls,' said Milligan.

For some reason that quote hsa always stayed in my head.

Excellent photos, jams.

Hope your leg starts to regain its strength very soon.

Carver said...

I'm glad the cast is off and I hope you will get more and more energy. I am sorry you're still dealing with that.

I love your shots of the crow and also the onion. Maybe crows don't like the smell of onion and that's where the protection came from. Then again, I see crows in grasses with wild onions all the time. Interesting stories you gave us here.

Happy weekend.

Annie said...

Great post! I like crows a lot too and see them often but never get close enough to take a photo. Yours are great and the onion is funny! Love the folklore too.

Have a good weekend.

EG CameraGirl said...

What a great post, Jams.

We have crows...tons of crows. I think I'll go find me an onion. ;-)

Sue said...

Very interesting! I had not heard that bit of folklore before.

Leslie said...

Pleased to hear the cast is off. We have Australian ravens mostly here.

Have a great weekend!

http://lesliesmyers.blogspot.com/2009/02/alessandro-in-fiesole.html

ancient one said...

Hope you'll soon be back to your old self... Loved the photos of the crow and the onion...

Sarge Charlie said...

excellent Jams, entertaining

Colin Campbell said...

Yes take care. I don't really like crows, but the magpies here are about the same size. They like to hang out in our back garden.

YTSL said...

Goodness at the idea re crews being your favorite birds! I tend to think of them as pests that are prone to doing such as ripping open garbage bags and consequently causing rubbish to be strewn on streets. :S

jmb said...

I would not say crows were my favourite bird since they can't sing worth a damn but they are very impressive and the legends abound regarding them.
Take care Jams, what a pain for you.

Anonymous said...

Hehehe! Where does the onion fit in? Great shot of your favorite bird!

Happy Weekend!
http://upcountrysmiles.com

ian said...

forgive me, but to find out how well you are doing is more exciting than the photos you post hahaha but the pics ARE a bonus for us PhotoHunters- glad you are getting better =]

mmm them crows... well, one person's harbingers of doom can be another person's lucky charm =]

aren't crows the supposed residents of a castle where their complete absence can spell the end of the british monarchy? or was it ravens? what are their difference anywho?

gengen said...

Cool entries Jams...happy weekend. Mine is also ready.

julie said...

Onions! Hahaha.

Crows re said to be bringer of not so good luck plus was it the crow or a raven that Moses sent that didn't come back?

The Crow was also the movie title where Bruce Lee's son died.

It is the bird that farmers make scarecrows for.

I think crows are a misunderstood breed.

I like the band Counting Crows though :)

RJ Flamingo said...

I think the photos are great! I like crows, too, but they never seem to land here, only fly over. I find their *caws* strangely comforting. No, I don't know why... :-)


Hope you’ll stop by mine!

SASSY MOM said...

Interesting but it left me with more curiosity but I'm glad to hear that you are on your road to recovery. have a great weekend!

candi said...

Very interesting. And great take on the theme!

Happy weekend.

Randi said...

I'm glad the cast is over now - I hope you get stronger soon.
I love your fun story - a beautiful photo of the onion.
Happy weekend.

Mudhooks said...

The stepped roofs you often see are called "Corbie Steps". Corbies are crows. Presumably, they hop down them. I recall a Japanese Amime film where a child it falling from the shy, The crows come and circle around her until she is standing on them and they form a staircase she can walk down... Corbie steps!

Aileni said...

I thought you were protecting the chimney...

Becky said...

How cool. I like your shots and also enjoyed reading the folklore about crows. Thanks for sharing both.


My photo is posted here.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

I kinda like crows too, but in a cautious way. God forbid you piss off a crow's clan. They never forget.

Cool shot and nice to see you already moving out.

Have a great weekend!

Mariposa said...

Glad to know your recovery is doing just fine...sending some more good juju for you! :)

And ha, this is one fun post!

Have a great weekend!

jams o donnell said...

Thanks everyone. I know that crows ca be a bit of a pest but they are so resourceful and intelligent. I find them a delight to watch

Anonymous said...

Did they wear the onion or cook a meal and eat it for protection. Love the silhouettes...they are always a favorite of mine but sadly not the crows.

Stop by and see mine if you have the chance.
JyLnC's Photo Hunt

Gemma Wiseman said...

I too am fascinated with crows! Not really sure why except that they make great silhouettes against the moods of the sky! I am totally amazed about onion protection!

Ardent said...

I am amazed that so much superstition surrounds these birds.
:)

Rach said...

i think you're shots are great, as always!

Maddy said...

If I was flying around with my murder of crows and saw you crawling along with your crutches and camera I think I'd take off too. Didn't know that about the onions though.

Take it easy.
Cheers

Anonymous said...

I'm really curious how the onion worked in warding off the crows :P
I wonder does it work on pigeons as well.... I've got pigeon visitors everyday that enjoy leaving me their poo as presents!

Brita said...

Great post! And interesting folklore. Amazing shots.
Thanks for visiting too.

Unknown said...

How very interesting! Thanks for the information. Onions keep crows away and black pepper keeps squirrels away.

PastormacsAnn said...

Glad that the cast is off. Now you can get down to the business of getting your strength back.

These are terrific shots! So creative and interesting for our theme this week.

Sabine said...

I don't think they're bad shots at all! I like them a lot - the onion, too!!
Good to hear your leg is on the way to getting better. Get well quick! :) I meant to say this before: from reading your blog one wouldn't think you slowed down with blogging... you're a very prolific blogger!

Happy weekend!

dixymiss said...

Great shots, Jams! ThanX for the chuckle.

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

That is too funny!
We've learned something new.

srp said...

A Cooper's hawk swooped down to our feeder an caught his supper... a red winged blackbird. I saw the commotion and ran for my camera. The hawk was gracious and posed for several minutes... then flew off into the woods with his prey. Great shots. Mine is here.

Blur Mommy said...

Very interesting! It's always fun to learn new stuff during PH.

healingmagichands said...

I just like how smart they are. I've never felt like I needed proteciton from them, but the info was iteresting and you made it a fun presentation.

I had birds too, but not crows. http://healingmagichands.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/photohunt-protection/

stan said...

the onion is a v fresh take on the theme!

jams o donnell said...

Thanks everyone. SOrry if I don't get back to you this week.

Rebecca Mecomber said...

I am glad your cast is off; I hope you recover very quickly!

Oh dear, the crow is my least favorite bird. Probably because they antagonize my cats. And I dislike their crowing. I have written several humorous stories about them, though. Great post, and very interesting history!

Thanks for visiting my PH this weekend; I'm catching up after a busy weekend. :)

eastcoastlife said...

There are so many crows in my neighbourhood. I have to order a ton of onions! :D

Mojo said...

I'd say you did a bang-up job on both the crow photos -- crutches or no.

I'm actually pretty fond of crows myself. They're more intelligent than most birds for one thing, and they serve a noble function in keeping things cleaned up. Not the most musical of birds, but then I'm not all that musical myself.

Nice shooting there Jams.