I love the colourful collective nouns I discovered recently and feel ashamed they’d passed me by all my life until now. There are so many to choose from but below are a few I want to share with you. Hope you enjoy them: whether collective noun pro or a novice. Enjoy.
Whilst trekking through the jungle (or sailing in a small boat across the ocean) there is the risk of being assaulted by an ambush of tigers. Creches around the world entertain the young children by a storytelling of ravens. The floral display of flowers will never seem the same again after witnessing a bloom of jellyfish and continuing on the herbaceous theme, those poor 
plucked game birds; not bad enough being shot, now they risk becoming a bouquet of pheasants. Maybe the sight of them caused the gaze of racoons or resulted in a bellowing of bullfinches. What about those majestic circus performing African mammals, clambering precariously on top of one another until you have a tower of giraffes. After witnessing all their strenuous effort the sleepiest of animals slowly dash for their pillows and duvets and as their eyelids battle with drowsiness there is soon a bed of sloths. Not all animals are so lethargic 
as the magnificent nocturnal birds of prey swoop to create a parliament of owls. Imagine them holding court over the country, power of the land in their stately talons – and who knows, perhaps much wiser lawmakers than their human counterparts. The most appropriately collective noun must surely be a flamboyance of flamingos as they gather in their thousands (or at times over a million) on the African lakes. One of our busiest rodents are a scurry of squirrels as they dart about the land, collecting nuts and seeds, stopping occasionally for a swift glance around before leaping away, up the tree, over the fence, down the alleyway. Finally, let the past be safely stowed away within a memory of elephants.
“in every landscape the point of astonishment is the meeting of the sky and the earth.”
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
This is such a wonderful post. “A storytelling of ravens, and a gaze of racoons resonates with me. Thank you and best wishes.
Oh, I’m so glad you found this one, Johanna. I wonder what stories the ravens tell?
I was once told that they listen to the human conversations, watch and listen to the fellow animals and species, observe all that transpires on the planet and hold it in their memory. As a collective they have the entire story, and the wisdom of being aware of all that transpired, and pass it on generation to generation among the ravens.
That is beautiful – I’ve never heard of this before but love that idea. Who knows? Thank you so much, Johanna.😀
Annika! Those collective nouns are like paint for your paint brush, the computor is your canvas, and you have turned all those combined words into a beautiful collage. Brilliant!
I can see how much you enjoy writing my dear. It is so much fun watching the artist in action. Thanks for letting us look over your shoulder while you paint.
I love the image of me painting away Barbara. In real life useless with a paint brush (unless it’s for decorating purposes!) but I thoroughly enjoy writing and it is a lot of fun. Thank you so much.
Thank you for this flamboyant posting. Entertains with
wit, fun and beauty. I am still smiling.
The pictures are great too.
Mirja, Glad it makes you smile. It was fun to write and finding the photos was hugely enjoyable and time absorbing – I could have chosen so many photos it was hard to limit myself.
I love those! Thanks so much for sharing.
I’m so glad you liked them. I’m beginning to realise there is a whole unexplored world of collective nouns out there!
I suppose if your parliament of owls joined with a parliament of rooks (the opposition?), you could end up with a murmuration of starlings, an unkindness of rooks, and finally a murder of crows (gulp). Fascinating stuff.
Wow…I feel inundated by all your selection of collective nouns – these all wonderfully bird based – or braced. My mind is spinning…
Very interesting and it’s made me think more about collective nouns too – like a muddle of wombats or a passel of possums ( I had to look these up!). Love the pictures too.
Keep up the good work
Mike
A couple of Australian collective nouns here I notice! Glad you like the post and yes, they are interesting and thank you for the new ones.
Another great post Annika! This post certainly wasn’t as messy as a clutter of cats. In fact, I’m sure it could have taught a school of dolphins. Hopefully, they won’t get attacked by an army of frogs, but they might want to fight their enemies, a mob of kangaroos! That’s about it from me. Looking forward to your next post!
Thank you Sammy. I am holding up my hands and surrender to your superior collective nouns collection. Brilliant. Don’t fancy fighting that mob of kangaroos!