Folk omens about birds - weather prediction. You see a starling - you know it’s spring at the porch When the rook arrives in what month

Orthodox Church March 17 venerates Saints Gerasim of Vologda and Gerasim of Jordan. The latter was helped in his labors by a lion, who, after the death of the saint, died at his grave. In the folk month, the date was called Gerasim the Rooker.

The church holiday in honor of St. Gerasim coincided with the arrival of rooks - one of the first signs of the onset of spring. People said:

I saw a rook - welcome spring.

Rook on the mountain - spring is in the yard.

Gerasim the rooker leads the rooks.

The rook is the first spring bird.

The rook pecked at the winter.

March 17: traditions and customs of the day

March has already gained full strength, and is moving faster and faster into summer. It's time for the rooks to return home. After all, if the rook has arrived, then real spring has come, and what it will be like is judged by the behavior of these migratory birds.

On the day of Gerasim the Rooker, bread was baked in the shape of rooks. This ritual was supposed to not only hasten the arrival of the first spring bird, but also emphasized the connection of the rook with field work and bread.

There was also a rather interesting ban for this day. The peasants did not put new bast shoes on Gerasim. It was believed that whoever disobeyed would have a creaking neck all day.

According to popular beliefs, spring not only brings long-awaited warmth, but also cleanses and renews nature, driving away the evil spirits that triumphed during the long and harsh winter.

What evil spirits are cast out on March 17, the day of Gerasim the Rooker?

The Day of Gerasim the Rooker was considered the only time of the year when it was possible to drive the kikimora out of the house: “ Gerasim not only brings rooks to Rus', but also drives away the kikimora from Holy Rus'" They said that by this time she was especially obedient and meek, and in the house where she settled, she had already done so many things that the owners were waiting for the day of Gerasim the Rookie with great impatience, hoping for his support and help.

In the mythology of the Eastern Slavs, kikimora, or shishimora, is an evil household spirit, a small invisible woman, perhaps the brownie’s wife, who lives behind the stove. There were many versions of where this spirit came from: from a swamp, from a forest, or somewhere else. In appearance, the kikimora was very skinny and awkward, she was so small in stature that she was once again afraid to leave the house so that the wind would not blow her away.

Unlike a brownie, the presence of a kikimora in a home is not necessary, and is not at all desirable, because it is capricious and capricious, often causing all sorts of minor troubles (for example, it can break a pot, throw onions from underground, break dishes, pluck chickens, etc. ). Most of all, the kikimora loves to mess around with the yarn: either she will tangle or muddy the threads, or she will set the tow on fire. True, the housewives themselves are to blame for this: a kikimora will never touch a tow, spinning wheel, or spindle if, upon completion of the work, the spinner crossed herself and crossed the handicraft left for the night.

Kikimora, in a sense, helps maintain cleanliness and order in the house. Sometimes she even helps good housewives (she lulls small children to sleep at night, helps the dough rise well, washes the pots unnoticed by the household, etc.). But she doesn’t like sloths and slobs and harms them in every possible way. Sometimes the kikimora’s pranks are not motivated by anything, then they try to drive her out of the house.

According to legend, the kikimora disturbed small children, tormented domestic animals, and the sounds of its spinning in the house promised trouble. It was believed that she was able to survive from the owners' house and was especially hostile towards men.

Sometimes the kikimora left home to live in a chicken coop or sheepfold. From that day on, neither the chickens nor the sheep knew peace. Some ran around the village without tails, she tore out tufts of wool from others - for yarn. The peasants, noticing that the rooster was missing feathers in its once luxurious tail, hung the chicken god - an amulet stone with a hole in the middle - from the perch. Sometimes, instead of a pebble, they used an old bast shoe or the neck of a broken bottle. After the amulet appeared in the chicken coop, the kikimora stopped torturing the chickens, finding something else to do.

According to the old people, a proven remedy in the fight against kikimora was camel hair, which was placed under a pole. However, the most effective was the conspiracy that our ancestors read on this day:

“Oh, you goy, brownie kikimora, leave my house quickly, otherwise they will tear you up with hot rods, burn you with fire and pour black tar on you. My words are strong and molded from now on and forever. Amen".

March 17: signs and beliefs

1. If the rooks have arrived, then in a month the snow will melt.
2. Rooks are frolicking - good weather.
3. If birds fly to old nests, spring will be friendly.
4. Rooks hover in flocks over their nests, worrying about changeable weather.
5. Rooks scream - it means rain.
6. Whoever meets the rooks first in the morning will have good luck.
7. If the arriving rooks work together to repair old nests, in a few days there will be good and warm weather.
8. Dreams from March 16 to 17 will come true in twelve days.

Video: March 17 – Gerasim Rooker

If the rooks fly straight to their old nests, then the spring will be warm, friendly, and the hollow water will run away at once. "The rooks have arrived - the snow will melt in a month.

If wild ducks the fat ones have arrived - the spring will be cold and long. Birds build nests on the sunny side - for a cold summer. If hares shed for a long time in the spring, wait for the cold weather to continue.

Geese fly high - there will be a lot of water, low - there will be little. The early flight of bees means a red spring. If there are a lot of cobwebs flying in the spring, the summer will be hot. When many mice appear in the spring, this portends a hungry year.

The rooks have settled into their nests and will go out to sow in three weeks. If bees land on cherry blossoms, the cherries will be born; if not, there will be no cherries.

In the spring they catch beetles and note: if they have more embryos on their front legs, then in the summer they should sow earlier, and the sowing will be better; if in the middle, then it should sow in middle age, and if on the rear, then late sowing will be more profitable.

V) Flora

If the birch tree becomes pubescent, expect a dry summer; if the maple grows forward, expect a wet summer.

If in the spring the birch leaves in front of the alder, the summer will be dry, if the alder is in front, it will be wet.

The bark that cracks a lot in the spring on birches and other trees predicts long, good and dry weather for the future.

If the dandelion blooms in early spring, the summer will be short.

Short term weather forecast

A) Weather phenomena

Crimson dawns - to the winds.

The moon with its horns downwards means warmth, the horns of the moon are bright and steep - towards frost.

If the clouds are floating fast and high, it is a sure sign that the weather will be good. If the clouds move quickly in one direction, it will be hot.

If cloud caps are visible in the morning or afternoon, and stratocumulus clouds appear in the evening, then thunderstorms can be expected.

The visible movement of clouds against the wind is a sure sign of bad weather.

From the north, cumulus clouds - towards the wind, from the west - towards bad weather, high - towards the wind. Clouds are rare - it will be clear and cold, blue - for warmth and rain. By noon clouds will appear - towards the bucket, from the west - towards bad weather.

Clouds appear in clumps - the rain will not last long; the clouds seem flat - the rain will drag on for a long time.

Whitish clouds over the water, quickly disappearing at sunrise - indicate clear weather.

The clouds came together in one heap - bad weather.

The clouds are falling - there will be bad weather.

If during cloudy weather in the evening the cloudiness decreases, the wind subsides, and visibility improves, it means frost.

In the morning, fog rises to form clouds, indicating rain, and if it falls to the ground, dry weather.

The water flows, foaming, and it will rain soon.

Bubbles in the water mean more rain.

Smoke with a rocker means warmth.

Before the onset of wet weather, leather items become flexible and soft, salt becomes damp, tobacco becomes damp.

b) Fauna

Birds sit on the ground - towards warmth, sit on the lower branches of trees - towards the wind.

The birds have fallen silent - wait for thunder.

Crows bathe - to bad weather.

Crows bathe in early spring - to the warmth.

The crows will start playing on the fly - wait for the buckets.

The rooks are playing - the weather will be good.

The cuckoo crows loudly and often in the spring - warm weather is just around the corner.

The swallows have arrived - soon the thunder will roar.

The seagull has arrived - soon the ice will begin to melt.

If you meet a white hare in the spring, snow will definitely fall again.

March

Frequent fogs in March foreshadow a rainy summer. The early arrival of rooks and larks means a warm spring. If a woodpecker knocks in March, then spring will be late. The edges of the circle around the tree are steep, so the spring will be steep, and the slopes will be long.

If the water doesn't flow in March, the grass doesn't grow in April.

Updated: 03/11/2015

It was the rooks in Rus' that were always considered the harbingers of spring. These migratory birds are the first to return from the south to central Russia. This usually happens in mid-March, closer to the second half of the month. If you believe the folk calendar, rooks return on March 4 (March 17, new style) - on “Gerasim Rooker”.

As explained by AiF.ru Candidate of Biological Sciences, ornithologist Vadim Olegovich Avdanin, not all rooks fly to winter warm regions, some of them remain to spend the winter in Russia.

“The overwhelming majority of rooks fly south, but some of them still spend the winter with us. Literally in some areas of Moscow, in some places, there are rooks, but basically, in most of the city you will not find them. So, how can you understand that the right rooks have appeared? They appear in unusual places. Just on March 4, we observed rooks near our house in Izmailovo, where there were no rooks in winter. Thus, we can state that the rooks have already arrived,” the expert said.

Where do rooks come from?

Rooks fly to the southwest in October. Birds move in huge schools to Turkmenistan, the Caucasus and beyond. Flocks of these birds fly along the Black Sea coast of Transcaucasia, stretching for kilometers. During their migration, they feed in corn fields. Some birds fly even further - to Africa, Afghanistan and India.

Nowadays, due to global warming and climate change, everything more birds become sedentary and remain for the winter in large cities in central Russia.

Does early spring affect the timing of birds' return?

Alexey Savrasov “The Rooks Have Arrived” (1871). Photo: Public Domain

According to ornithologist Vadim Avdanin, early spring does affect some bird species. “There are birds that winter nearby, and they react very clearly to the progress of spring. Literally, as soon as the ice on the rivers melts, the arrival of ducks begins. The swans are the first to arrive, or rather, they do not fly to us, they fly through us. Rooks and white wagtails appear very early. There is such a sign: a wagtail breaks ice with its tail. That is, its appearance usually coincides with ice drift. And long-distance migrants who winter over long distances fly literally according to the calendar. For example, swifts, which always appear between May 9-15. Sometimes, somehow, they still “find out” that the weather has warmed up early, and their appearance shifts to earlier dates, but the spread in dates is still small,” the expert explained.

What signs are associated with rooks?

Since ancient times, people have been tracking the arrival of rooks and their subsequent behavior, which could be used to predict the weather. Folk signs are associated with rooks: “If the rooks have settled in their nests, then in three weeks you can go out to sow,” “If the rooks fly straight to the old nests, there will be a friendly spring: the hollow water will run away all at once,” “The rook has arrived - in a month there will be snow will do”, “The rooks are playing - for good weather; they fly screaming, sit on their nests and fly again - the weather will change.”

If the rooks arrived earlier than March 4, this was seen as a bad omen, foreshadowing a hungry year. To speed up the onset of heat, on the day of Saints Gerasimov they baked birds called “rooks” from rye sour dough.

This day also had its own prohibitions. The peasants said: “Whoever puts on new bast shoes for Grachevnik will have a creaking neck all day long.”

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Gerasim Grachevnik - March 4 (March 17, new style) in the Russian peasant calendar received the name Gerasim Grachevnik. The day is named in honor of two Christian saints - Gerasim of Jordan and Gerasim of Vologda. It was believed that it was from this day that rooks began to return to their native nests - “Gerasim the rooker brought the rooks.”

In Rus' it has always been believed that when the rooks arrive, it means spring is coming. They are her messengers. And this happens in the second half of March, namely the 17th day of this month is called “Gerasim Grachevnik” according to the folk calendar.

Several folk signs are associated with these birds. When (directly to their last year’s nests), they immediately begin to repair them. This is a sign that spring should be friendly and warm. And if they remain on the nests for a short time, it means that the cold will still persist.

The rook bird is very similar in appearance to a crow, so many people confuse them. By the way, rooks can often be found in a flock of crows. But they have one characteristic distinguishing feature - an unfeathered ring around the beak. True, young individuals do not have such a ring. The color of the bird's feathers is black, with a metallic blue tint (below is a photo of a rook).

When the rooks arrive, there is not enough food for them yet, so they wander through the thawed patches in search of seeds from last year’s grasses and emerging ground beetles. As soon as plowing begins in the fields, the birds follow the tractor, collecting earthworms.

And with the appearance of May beetles, they begin to gather in groves and forest parks and are engaged in the destruction of harmful insects. They collect them from aspen and birch leaves. These rooks bring tangible benefits, because they rid the forest of the larvae of cockchafers and click beetles, wireworms, turtle bugs and weevils.

But birds also cause some harm (by pecking and sown agricultural seeds in the fields). And in summer time birds can cause significant damage to fields of sunflowers, peas and corn. Yes, and melon fields may suffer, because rooks love to feast on melons and watermelons.

Rooks nest in colonies in trees; such rook colonies can exist for several years. One large tree can contain several dozen nests. The favorite habitats of these birds include linden parks, light birch groves, old gardens or forest edges that are located near fields.

Rooks make their nests at a height of 15 meters from the ground. They place them near the trunk of a tree or in the fork of thick branches. Nests are built from branches of the same trees. The lower part of the nest consists of well-connected thick branches, and the upper part of thin twigs. The bottom is lined with soft grass, scraps of wool or some found rags.

Nesting occurs in April - May, the clutch usually contains from 3 to 5 eggs, they are green in color with brown spots. Only the female incubates the chicks. After 16 - 20 days, the chicks appear; they have no plumage, so the female has to remain in the nest for a long time. All this time, the male feeds first the female, and then the emerging chicks.

After about a week (or a little more), the female begins to fly out and take part in feeding her brood. After a month, the chicks gradually fly out of the nest; their parents continue to feed them for some time.

A colony of rooks can be heard from afar, noise and din are heard throughout the area. Birds do not pay attention to changes in the landscape, even to the fact that their settlements are almost in the center of an overgrown city.

And, despite the fact that these birds make a lot of noise, when the rooks arrive, people’s souls warm. This means that warm days will soon come, nature will begin to awaken, because it was not without reason that people said: “The rooks have pecked at the spring.”