Since I relocated to the west coast in February of last year from southwestern Ontario, I've seen a lot of crows (Latin:
Corvus) but especially in the last few weeks. I work near Main Street, the divide between Vancouver's east and west sides. The photos shown were taken recently about an hour or so before sunset. The large flock of crows is flying east towards Burnaby and beyond. The scene brings to mind Alfed Hitchcock's movie called
The Birds but these are nice, harmless birds. I couldn't resist the photo opportunity. Below is a closer shot of the birds as the fly east with Burnaby's Metrotown in the background.
Now this scene also brought to mind a poem that I remember from grade 9 English class years ago. That was the fall of 1969 until the spring of 1970. The poem was called
"The Twa Corbies" or The Two Crows. The poem appears below. Go to
http://www.twocrows.co.uk/twa_corbies.html to read this poem and the English version as opposed to the Scots. There is also an analysis of both.
The Twa Corbies
As I was walking all alane,I heard twa corbies makin a mane;The tane unto the ither say,"Whar sall we gang and dine the-day?"
"In ahint yon auld fail dyke,I wot there lies a new slain knight;And nane do ken that he lies there,But his hawk, his hound an his lady fair."
"His hound is tae the huntin gane,His hawk tae fetch the wild-fowl hame, His lady's tain anither mate,So we may mak oor dinner swate."
"Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane,And I'll pike oot his bonny blue een;Wi ae lock o his gowden hair We'll theek oor nest whan it grows bare."
"Mony a one for him makes mane,But nane sall ken whar he is gane;Oer his white banes, whan they are bare,The wind sall blaw for evermair."
Posts have been far less frequent now that I am back to work full-time but I have been busy taking photos on my days off (weather permitting), so there are a number of new ones to post once I find the time to download them from my Sony camera. Its a challenge trying to fit everything done before into a much smaller time frame. The photo above shows Burnaby Mountain off in the background just to the right and the one below shows Metrotown in south Burnaby off in the distance. You can also see Mount Baker, a volcano, in that one. So the next post will be about Burnaby Mountain in north Burnaby, BC. If you've loved my other photos, you'll love these (and the view) as well. Something to look forward to.
