A Crow Family -- Introduction (Patreon)

Hey hey,

So there's good news and bad news on the crow front.

The good news: the baby crow has taken flight and gone from nestling to fledging to juvenile. The bad news is in the good news. Singular. Last year, in June there were three young ones. This year only one. There were some hairy times. The half dozen hawks that kept harassing them. The really bad storms, wind and rain. Then one time around dusk, I heard Sweet Pea freaking out and I ran over to the shrine imagining a baby had fallen out of the nest. I'm not sure what I expected to do if I'd found it. I'm not sure exactly what tree their next is in and couldn't find anything. It seems crows usually lay three to five eggs, so one tells me there were some tragic nature events.

And it may be anthropomorphism, but when Buddy and Sweet Pea showed up with the new baby a few weeks ago, they seemed a little sad. Last year they were cawing like crazy and flying around. Look! Look! Here are our new babies! I got a real proud vibe.

This year was much more subdued. But they're still awesome parents, shoving frogs and nasty bugs and weird berries down its throat with glee. Although, that said, I strung together some short videos I took in order of when I took them and you can tell by the end, Buddy is getting a little tired of this crap. There's one point where he just went and bonked the (big) babe off the air conditioning unit. I mean, the baby can nibble for itself. I've seen it. So it's all part of the weening.

I don't have a name for the little guy yet. I'm guessing it's male. Can't be sure, but males tend to be a little bit larger and this one is quite big. Much bigger than last year's brood. Personality, too, is entirely different.

One crazy thing happened. I keep a white mug out there filled with fresh water. They love it. Then it got to record temps so I added another one. This one was blue. They didn't like the blue one. Kicked it over, etc. My guess is that they can't see and judge the waterline.

Well, cue a few days after I'd set it out and I'm downstairs and hear an enormous crash. Figured they'd kicked it over again. But the next day, I go up and the mug is gone. I checked everywhere!! Even around the house. No idea but I think they went and disposed of it for me. I'm so curious how far they could have carried it. It's heavy. 😅

Apologies for crappy video. I'm very aware of the farmer behind us and neighbors. I don' t want any of them seeing me and the crows. I don't think they'd understand. So a couple times the camera drifts because I'm keeping an eye on someone who's outside.

I'm going to start working on a Bedtime Story this week and get that up soon.

Everyone please stay safe and well. XOXO,

t