Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Little Red Rooster !

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Over at World Bird Wednesday today the one and only Mr Springman has produced a simply awe-inspiring piece about the elusive Green Heron which he tracked and trailed through Michigan swamps and vales bringing home in his digital game bag a series of photos which cannot help but leave one subdued and moved by the pure grace of this ornithological wonder. Once again, bravo to the Pine River Review, where WBW is hosted.
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As some of you seemed to enjoy the rust colored hen I posted last week in order to participate in my own small way in WBW, I am returning again to the farm where the free range hen was running loose when we stopped by there in early July, on the high plateau of the Causse Méjean, in south central France. Where there is a hen, there is usually a rooster somewhere not far off; this farm was no exception. He was a bold, brazen bird, as most roosters are. He displayed his strutting cockiness of male dominant behavior as he chased off intruders who dared not cry fowl lest they risk the wrath of his sharp claws and beak. No wonder the cock (coq), otherwise known as the Gallic Rooster, or Gallus Gallus in Latin, is the French national bird. Here he is in all his crested glory.
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Not long after we met the rooster, I was poking around the farm a little to see what other feathered or furry creatures might be seen, when I saw that some hens had been locked up in a coop, they were peering out from their prison, no doubt wondering when their jailor with the red crested head would be back to harry and harrass them.
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I was tempted to set them free from their dingy dungeon, but with this sharp-eyed fellow lurking around, no doubt they would have been rounded up quickly and faced even more dire punishment once our backs were turned. As we wandered off a resounding "Co-co-ri-cooooo" rang out, no doubt audible for miles around, striking fear into the hearts of the hardiest of hens. 
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A spot of music to go with this, Little Red Rooster, the origins of which go back into the blues of the early 20th century, but whose more recent version was written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howling Wolf in 1961, which since then has been performed by the likes of the Rolling Stones, the Doors, the Grateful Dead, and many other fine performers ; many versions can be found on YouTube... what can't be found there ? Enjoy ! 
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22 comments:

mythopolis said...

Well, I think roosters are magnificent. I had five, but frankly, passed them on to a nearby farmer. They are rough on the hens...I mean to the point you have to doctor the hen's wounds, at times. So, now I just have a cloistered harem of virgin hens who can peacefully lay eggs just for me!!

Nice shots!

Patricia said...

The image of the trio of hens through glass is sublime.

Unknown said...

Fun post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

French Girl in Seattle said...

I think it's perfect that the French picked the rooster as their "official bird", don't you? ;-) So flamboyant, so loud... They like it enough to put it on the French soccer team's jersey! Love your roosters Owen. Beautiful colors. Veronique aka French Girl in Seattle

Steve said...

That's a rooster with 'tude!

the fly in the web said...

Let's put him up for President in 2012....

Springman said...

"I just had to laugh, I saw the photograph..."

That, is a mean old daddy rooster Owen. And the nature I see in it is so gravely amusing! Here, frozen in the two demensions of your sublime pictures is the jist of the testosterone bible. The mean glare, the dominated and abused passivity of the victims. This is no recent insight into the similarities between the affairs of man and chicken, it was noticed long ago. There is fair warning in the ancient annals of folk literature for the man who would endevour to pull off a rooster like feat of controlling ten women. The Russian proverb goes like this: Rooster today, feather duster the next.
Believe that Frenchmen wannabes!

Bless you Sir!

theconstantwalker said...

A lovely series...

Amanda said...

Lol "Springman".

Neil said...

Great post.

holdingmoments said...

Excellent post Owen, and a fine looking rooster.

Great song from my youth too ;-)

eileeninmd said...

Awesome photos, the color sjust pop. I have always loved roosters. Great photos and thanks for sharing.

Lynne with an e said...

When I look at the harried, worried hens peering through the glass the Dylan line comes to mind,

"When the rooster crows
at the break of dawn
look out your window..."

But don't cluck twice,
it's all fright.

Roxana said...

the first one is impressive enough, with his red crested head against the yellow tree bark, but then the second one is sooo lovely, if one could say that a hen photo is romantic, then you achieved that!!! :-)

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Fabulous photos! Which just go to prove that ALL hens should be free range. The alternative is too obscene for words.

Sondra said...

A very pleased looking Cockadoodle do...I love Chickens they are so Beautiful!!

Pat said...

He is a marvelous-looking fellow! I can just hear all the chatter about him in the henhouse!

Stickup Artist said...

That's the beauty of discovery thru photography. Often one does not realize how amazing something or someone is until caught on camera.

Tiago Braga said...

muito detalahdas e com optimas texturas, prbns :D
os galos muito curiosos a espreitar pla janela :P

Owen said...

Ah, good people, one and all, friends... I thank you for each and every word here, wise, witty, or wicked. Cannot tell you how much your minutes, hours, days, months, years spent here mean to me...

I'm a bit quiet at present as totally busy doing what everyone should do when on vacation : a whole lot of NOTHING...

Well, ok, I fib a little bit every now and then; actually, I've been out and about in Britanny with the camera, storing up lots of nuts like a squirrel to last me all winter ! Many adventures to come in these pages before long. In the meanwhile, be well, be healthy, happy, and have fun wherever you are this summer, even if for some of you, summer is winter ! Cheers...

Owen said...

PS ... If a rooster crows (at the break of dawn), why doesn't a crow rooster at the fall of dusk ???

Elliot MacLeod-Michael said...

That rooster is so alpha it's silly. Awesome post.
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