The Rook

We always sit and watch the birds on the bird table while we have breakfast. It is always entertaining to see which birds have the upper hand. The rooks are probably the biggest visitors and turn their heads to the side and shovel the bird food in with the side of their beaks. This also allows them to have a beady on the sky for unwelcome visitors.

The rook is part of the crow family. There are many superstitions involving rooks and crows. Alex thought it was particularly bad luck when our old cat "Merlin" brought one in to the house.

Anyway who is king on the bird table? Well I am not quite sure as they all jostle for position but surprisingly the old wood pigeon doesn't get pushed around for anything.
I started to do a line drawing of one of the rooks and then thought I would add a bit of colour I had to stop or the next thing it would be a full blown painting.

Link: one of my favourite singers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAlfrJ-9uj4