The Jackdaws of Bantry

...In and out
Through the motley rout,
That little Jackdaw kept hopping about;
Here and there
Like a dog in a fair,
Over comfits and cates,
And dishes and plates,
Cowl and cope, and rochet and pall,
Mitre and crosier! he hopp'd upon all!
With saucy air,
He perch'd on the chair
Where, in state, the great Lord Cardinal sat
In the great Lord Cardinal's great red hat;
And he peer'd in the face
Of his Lordship's Grace,
With a satisfied look, as if he would say,
'We two are the greatest folks here to-day!'
And the priests, with awe,
As such freaks they saw,
Said, 'The Devil must be in that little Jackdaw!'
Richard Harris, Jackdaw of Reims

Bright and breezy, snow on the hills, we went to Bantry, Himself to avail of a free session with the dental hygienist - nothing on earth would have made me avail of that free offer! I did a spot of shopping then wandered down to the quay where there were hundreds of birds - someone must have put out some food - gulls, terns, osyter catchers, rooks, hooded crows, wagtails, swans, herons and these little jackdaws . So jaunty and cheeky, they didn't fly away till the last moment. Did you know that the collective noun is a clattering or a party of jackdaws! Seems apt, we had six of them nesting in the garden last summer and they would congregate raucously on the roof.
A bit of the Jackdaw of Reims to go with it - hands up how many people had to learn that at school!

Alarmingly Himself informed me that the forecast for Wednesday is 'violent storms' - eeek, we haven't experienced that yet and I don't think I want to. It has since been modified merely to storm.

Sad news here. Two young men went off walking on saturday afternoon when the weather was at its wildest - they didn't return and search and resuce were eventually called out last night. One body was found this afternoon. It looks like they were walking on the northside where the weather would have been spectacular but treacherous.

And this qualifies for Mono Monday