From September 1991 to November 1995, Henry of St. Benedict's Farm, wrote a nature column that appeared regularly in the local newspaper. It received so many compliments and seemed to disappoint so many when it ceased to be printed, we offer it here in small bites. As a Texas history buff, Henry slipped in stuff about Texas and Texians all the time, and of course, as a monk, Henry had likewise to write about God. All these eventually crop up in Henry's Hollow Log.
Even the Yellow Billed Cuckoo Knows For Sure, Gonzales County Needs Rain
# 155: Editor's note: Henry wrote this piece for the newspaper June 13, 1994.
Suddenly, from the leafy depths of a large fence line tree, comes one of the most unusual, unmusical, bird calls that has ever assaulted your ears. "Ka, ka, ka, ka, ka, Kow, kow, kow, Kowlp, kowlp, kowlp." Yes folks, the Yellow Billed Cuckoo, better known as the Rain Crow has returned from its exhausting jour¬ney from the pampas of Argentina to the Post Oak Savannah woods of Gonzales County. It is time to wel¬come, once again, our fence-line prognosticator back into his summer home. That woodlands philosopher of comic strip fame, Pogo Possum, once described the call of the Rain Crow as something that you could expect that came from a bird that eats tent caterpillars and other noxious, fuzzy creepy-crawlers. After all, the bird is a Cuckoo and kissing cousin to the Roadrunner. We all know about Cuckoos, don't we?
A Crow-sized brown and white bird with a flamboyantly marked long tail, this shy prognosticating prophet is a bird more often heard than seen. Other names are: Chow Chow, Kow Kow, Rain Bird, Rain Dove and Storm Crow.
I first identified this fascinating bird at Wood Lake on the green Guadalupe (River) in August of 1984 and have seen it only a few times since, but it's unusual call is common on our farm, especially in close prox¬imity to Peach Creek. I suspect that this Cuckoo is a riparian bird, pre¬ferring to remain close to creeks and rivers. I am not sure about this, so ' don't quote me. At any rate this bird is a welcome addition to the avian wildlife of Gonzales County even if it cannot accurately predict the weather. This Cuckoo bird just keeps on prognosticating and predicting rain just like it had good sense. Hey, it looks it might rain! Wouldn't that be a blessing... Henry of St. Benedict’s Farm
2009 Post Script: 15 years later, we still need rain! Maybe the Cuckoo is praying for rain, rather than trying to predict it! I can relate to that. -- SBF Editor