The Raven and the Writing Desk

Walking home from work, I passed an enormous ENORMOUS murder of crows, all, to borrow a phrase, flocking and a-flapping. The noise was tremendous. At first I thought I'd like to take a picture, or maybe even some video - the sound was really unbelievable, cries of crows literally filling the air - but then I wondered if I'd accidentally wandered onto a Hitchcock set and thought I'd better keep moving. A passing SUV seemed to have set them off. I have literally never seen or heard this many crows in one place before in my life. As I drew closer, I thought I saw a piece of carrion in the road that they were fighting over, but on still closer a view it turned out to be an apparently newly-dead crow in the road*. Maybe the crows were lamenting their fallen friend - I will never know, but it was an interesting spectacle nonetheless.

*Sad, of course, but crows all must, like chimney-sweepers and jellicle cats, come to dust. I wish it well in the next stage of its journey, whatever that may be.

In other bird-related news, Project Raven continues apace.