Good Omen or Bad Omen?

Let's zoom in -

Closer -

AH HA, there's the culprit making all the racket -

Growing up I recall crows as being extremely skittish.  Usually taking flight as soon as a person would appear, or at least when I would came out.  However, seems crows today are far more empowered and bolder, seldom taking off and instead holding their ground with what seems like more of a gangster approach of what ’chu lookin’ at?

According to the Google machine, "in modern spiritualism, crows and ravens are seen to symbolize transformation, prescience, destiny, intelligence, fearlessness, mystery, flexibility, adaptability, and perspective.".  

So, I'm gonna take these symbolisms to mean that they and I have a connection, and that perhaps things are happening the way they're happening for a reason.

It's A Murder I Tell Yeah...

...a murder of crows!

We've had oodles and oodles of crows hanging around this winter.  They seem to tolerate the frigid temperatures well and not bothered by single digits.  They're a skittish bird and typically take off when startled AND they're a God awful noise bird too.  However, it's nice to see some activity outside during these cold, drab winter days.

Birds of The Snow

Our March snowstorm caught everyone by surprise.  Many birds were our during the storm to visit the feeders and fill their bellies - 

Crows foraging beneath the feeders -

A Morning Dove waiting for the crows to leave -

A Blue Jay darting in an out - 

Backyard Critter Shenanigans

All kinds of activity in the backyard in early January.

This black cat was attempting to stock these three turkeys.  The turkeys didn't seem too afraid of the cat rather more curious. They'd take turns approaching one another as they moved from right to left.

At one point the turkeys chased the cat up a tree.  Watching all the shenanigans from a safe distance high above was a crow  -

A Feathered Visitor

Had a gaggle of Crows visiting the other afternoon.  Not sure what they were after but they sure were carrying on like only Crows can do.

Actually, I was surprised this dude let me open the slider, step on the deck and snap some pics.  They typically take off once they see you.  Had he know I was going to plaster his mug all over the Internet he'd have taken off sooner...

Crow Massacre of 2014

This time of year there is very little color outside.  It's drab and dull and blah, so it was easy to spot the black and red colors of the above attach.

The cardinal didn't have a chance.  By the time I noticed what was taking place the attach was over and the crows were all fighting for the spoils.  There were at least six crows all wanting a piece of the cardinal carcass.  The crow in the third picture got a hold of it and off he flew, however, the others were not far behind.

Would have preferred to have the crows take out a House Sparrow or Starling, you know an unattractive, nuisance type bird, instead of a daddy cardinal, alas.

Finders Keepers

Crows - The American Crows, Corvus brachyrhynchos. You know the big black bird that caws and carries on.

I recall when I was a yute (a line by Vinny Gambini from the movie My Cousin Vinny) that you couldn’t get close to these birds. The minute you’d try off they’d go. I’m not talking about sneaking up and trying to grab one or put salt on its tail but rather trying to open a window to get a shot at one. The littlest sound would send them off even the opening of a window.

Now a day’s this simply doesn’t hold true from what I’ve seen. For example, the last couple of times that my dad let me cut his lawn (weeds and dirt) there’s been a flurry of crow activity. What surprises me is how bold they are these days and of course I no longer have armament to get a shot at one.

I am cutting the lawn yesterday and notice a crow not more than 15 – 20 feet away picking at something. From my vantage point, perched atop my tractor, I see what the dude is pecking at and spring from the tractor into action and make a b-line right to him. This didn’t scare him off right away and he kept picking. I closed the gap between him and me to less than 6’ before he took off and before he left he made one last grab at what he was picking at and flew off with some of it.

And do you want to know what he was picking at, hmm? Of course you do, this is a riveting story and I have you sitting at the edge of your computer desk with sheer excitement and awe, admit it.

Anyway, I digress. The dude was picking at a folded piece of paper, a receipt, with some singles folded along with it. You know singles, ones, dollar bills, dinero, bread, cabbage, clams, dough, loot, moolah… That S.O.B. grabbed two singles as he took off and I swear he flipped me the bird too. I can’t be certain of the amount but the receipt listed $4.51 as ‘change due’ and two singles were left behind – you do the math.

The good news is that I made $2.00 for cutting my dads lawn yesterday and the bad news is it could have been $4.00. In any event my cup of coffee this morning was free and a BIG thank you goes out to Mr. Crow for without him I would never have spotted the cash and come into such a windfall.

This find has also renewed my desire and compassion to continue mowing my dad’s lawn - I’ve been invigorated with the possibility of finding more cash and riches as I mow !

Peeping Crow

We were sitting by the pool the other day when we noticed that we were being watched! Now there's a little voyeurism in us all but crows are typically more skittish and allusive and seldom let you get too close or stick around too long once people are about. However, this one was acting differently and didn't seem to mind us; he was too busy checking us out - not sure if he was a boob fan or an butt fan but once he got his fill he flew off.