more crow watching

Who is watching who? (or is it whom?)

One of the things that intrigues me about crows is that they are always aware of what’s going on around them. While the small song birds seem to focus totally on food gathering and are ready to fly away at the slightest hint of danger, crows take time to play and chat, are always watching you out of the corner of one eye, will wait until the absolute last minute to get out of the way of approaching cars, etc. and are just as likely to try to scare you away than make an exit themselves.

haiku:

from tree to roof top

black sentinels call alarm

the dog is out

 

and when they think no one is watching:

 

caws alert me

crows in the backyard fountain

splashing sunlight

 

(photo taken on a less sunny day — today they were actually jumping right in, but I didn’t get a picture)

Back yard activity

A new crow is having flying lessons in my back yard this morning, making lots of noise as it follows one or the other of its parents back and forth between the ceder trees and the roof of the house. At each stop it pauses to squawk for food, which the parent obligingly pops (or should I say regurgitates?) right into its mouth.

And speaking of hatchings and fledgings, this past Saturday I was among over 30 authors and illustrators celebrating new books at the CWILL Spring Book Hatching. You can check out a blog post and some photos of the event here.