Rooks in a Holbrook Thunderstorm, 7th July 2024

Rooks are a wonderful, if inescapable, part of my daily life. At the north end of the village there are at least four rookeries to be found high in the trees, and our home is sandwiched between two of them. The power of their cawing choir is astonishing as they call to both greet and bid goodbye to the daylight. They seem happy in all weathers but my favourite is their aerial display in squalling winds where their sheer number can obliterate the sky. Last year, whilst walking in a neighbouring village, I witnessed two rooks working in tandem to force a much larger buzzard to beat a hasty retreat. Rooks have featured in my previous podcast recordings, but here they take centre stage during a recent thunderstorm. Late one Sunday afternoon, I could hear the sound of thunder in the distance. In anticipation I grabbed my recording kit and set up in a covered area of my patio. For a few minutes the rooks cried hullabaloo before quieting down. Were they anticipating that the storm was moving our way? Who can say, but this recording captures how around each clap of thunder they cry havoc before heavy rain drowns them out. This episode was made possible through funding from Arts Council England through their Developing Your Creative Practice grant.