I was delighted this morning, while dropping my son at school, Fig's mom happened to be perched atop some scaffolding they had up around the premises. She spotted me right away, and swooped down to accost me from a wire, tail fanning, head bobbing. Her dad came to join in, but he is no where near as interested in berating me. The mother followed me two block on my bicycle, swooping wildly up and down the center of the road. I had not encountered her all winter. She has seen me out with Fig on the day after she fledged, but broke her wing, and maybe two or three dozen times following. I suppose there really are not too many blond guys in Japan. I tried greeting her with the friendly call that Fig has taught to me, but she wasn't having it. She did not seem angry. She was just letting me know that I am not particularly her favorite son in law.
I have seen many interesting Crow goings on recently, some of which I have forgotten. I saw a Crow swoop over a river, and drop a large twig into the water. I've seen them stealing food from Hawks in flight a number of times. Once a Hawk dropped its food, and a Crow dove straight down like a Falcon and grabbed the food from midair just inches from the ground. I saw two dead Crows in the forest by my school, and called the health department. They said to call back when there were ten. But they showed up and collected them anyway. I saw men checking the woods today as well, so perhaps we are in the middle of a bird flu outbreak. They said they were not looking for Crows however. I saw two Crows standing next to a large cat in a field. Right next to the cat. Like they were picnicing. I think the cat had discovered a cache of fish, and they were poitely intimidating the cat to amscray. I have seen them do that before. Utterly fearless! Fig, however, is ultra cautious of our cat. I think she knows she cannot fly, so she chooses safe places to roost. There is a pair that seems to own a swath of rice fields near my school. They are the only pair I ever see foraging there. Delightful couple. So peaceful together. They stand very close to each other which is somewhat rare. They are a pair of farmers. I saw a Japanese Magpie on a wire by their fields a few times, but it never seems to venture into the fields. It is definitely their spot. It's three full blocks of field land. Seems a bit much for a pair of Crows. Then again, fields in winter are pretty barren. I guess they are after grain, worms, and hummingbird moth larvae, but who knows? I also like to watch Crows wading about in the river I cross on the way to work. The water level varies with the ocean tides, though the ocean is a mile away or so. I never see them eating anything, but I sometimes catch them bathing. It is quite the lifestyle if you ask me.
There is a pair of Crow near my school that inhabit a busy intersection in the morning. They walk around on the ground, and seem particularly obsessed with one patch of road. I cannot help but wonder if an off-spring was run over there. They walk about in the morning rat race with the hustling bustling people, which I have only seen one other time. Then they perch on the signs, and in the bushes around the intersection for an hour or so. There is no food there that I can tell, and they don't seem to be guarding a stash. I need to go and observe; curiosity is killing me.
I heard a Crow call a call I have never heard. It sounded almost exactly like the Three Stooges Gnyuck Gnyuck Gnyuck. I tried to tape it, but the Crow flew off. They are all allergic to iPhones for some reason. Fig picks up local Crow calls each season from her balcony, so I hope she will pick that call up, I rather like it. Mating season is a highly vocal time before the silence of nest building and rearing young descends. She manages to converse with family members perching nearby quite frequently, and she can spend all day listening to them as they migrate out in the mornings, and back in in the afternoons. I am glad she has some level of wild existence to occupy her mentally, but I am amazed at how well she gets on spending quite a lot of time on her own. She is very independent, but I do need to give her time each day with unfailing regularity. In the winter, we lose our time in the morning because she would rather sleep late in her warm, insulated box than get up for a shower with me when the air is cold. I invite her out, but she pecks my hand lightly to say, "I'm gonna sleep in, thanks. See you tonight." She will stay in her box until 10 or 11 if it is really cold. Her family, on the other hand, are all up at 5am. Such a lazy thing, Fig. I'm glad we have that in common. When she first came into our life, I thought I'd have to start getting up at 5am to sift through the neighbor's garbage with her.
Fig is a lone Crow, and she sleeps alone. That's rather sad and unnatural. It is also scary for her to be alone at night. For this reason Fig gets to sleep in a warm, soft blanketed very well temperature, and sound insulated box for a safe, cozy, quiet, long nights sleep. She can get out, get up, whenever she likes. I keep her up until ten p.m. recently because she then sleeps later, avoiding the cold mornings, and cutting three hours from the time she would be alone during the day, and increasing her evening social experience. It is a trade off, because ideally Fig should wake with the wild birds outside, but it works well to keep her spirits a bit higher.
Recently, I had a flu, or cold, so I avoided contact with Fig for two days, just talking to her from a distance. She was rather put out about that, and she gave me strong feedback bites/pecks on my hand for a couple days, and yelled at me a bit to let me know that she did not appreciate my stand-offishness. I took her to the park, and cuddled her in my sweater, and that soon had her back in her usually calm and peaceful mood again though. She is such an emotional creature. A feedback peck is where I let her peck my hand to indicate her stress, or happiness level, anxiety, etc... It is one way Fig and I communicate. It is the bird equivalent of a high five.
I have seen many interesting Crow goings on recently, some of which I have forgotten. I saw a Crow swoop over a river, and drop a large twig into the water. I've seen them stealing food from Hawks in flight a number of times. Once a Hawk dropped its food, and a Crow dove straight down like a Falcon and grabbed the food from midair just inches from the ground. I saw two dead Crows in the forest by my school, and called the health department. They said to call back when there were ten. But they showed up and collected them anyway. I saw men checking the woods today as well, so perhaps we are in the middle of a bird flu outbreak. They said they were not looking for Crows however. I saw two Crows standing next to a large cat in a field. Right next to the cat. Like they were picnicing. I think the cat had discovered a cache of fish, and they were poitely intimidating the cat to amscray. I have seen them do that before. Utterly fearless! Fig, however, is ultra cautious of our cat. I think she knows she cannot fly, so she chooses safe places to roost. There is a pair that seems to own a swath of rice fields near my school. They are the only pair I ever see foraging there. Delightful couple. So peaceful together. They stand very close to each other which is somewhat rare. They are a pair of farmers. I saw a Japanese Magpie on a wire by their fields a few times, but it never seems to venture into the fields. It is definitely their spot. It's three full blocks of field land. Seems a bit much for a pair of Crows. Then again, fields in winter are pretty barren. I guess they are after grain, worms, and hummingbird moth larvae, but who knows? I also like to watch Crows wading about in the river I cross on the way to work. The water level varies with the ocean tides, though the ocean is a mile away or so. I never see them eating anything, but I sometimes catch them bathing. It is quite the lifestyle if you ask me.
There is a pair of Crow near my school that inhabit a busy intersection in the morning. They walk around on the ground, and seem particularly obsessed with one patch of road. I cannot help but wonder if an off-spring was run over there. They walk about in the morning rat race with the hustling bustling people, which I have only seen one other time. Then they perch on the signs, and in the bushes around the intersection for an hour or so. There is no food there that I can tell, and they don't seem to be guarding a stash. I need to go and observe; curiosity is killing me.
I heard a Crow call a call I have never heard. It sounded almost exactly like the Three Stooges Gnyuck Gnyuck Gnyuck. I tried to tape it, but the Crow flew off. They are all allergic to iPhones for some reason. Fig picks up local Crow calls each season from her balcony, so I hope she will pick that call up, I rather like it. Mating season is a highly vocal time before the silence of nest building and rearing young descends. She manages to converse with family members perching nearby quite frequently, and she can spend all day listening to them as they migrate out in the mornings, and back in in the afternoons. I am glad she has some level of wild existence to occupy her mentally, but I am amazed at how well she gets on spending quite a lot of time on her own. She is very independent, but I do need to give her time each day with unfailing regularity. In the winter, we lose our time in the morning because she would rather sleep late in her warm, insulated box than get up for a shower with me when the air is cold. I invite her out, but she pecks my hand lightly to say, "I'm gonna sleep in, thanks. See you tonight." She will stay in her box until 10 or 11 if it is really cold. Her family, on the other hand, are all up at 5am. Such a lazy thing, Fig. I'm glad we have that in common. When she first came into our life, I thought I'd have to start getting up at 5am to sift through the neighbor's garbage with her.
Fig is a lone Crow, and she sleeps alone. That's rather sad and unnatural. It is also scary for her to be alone at night. For this reason Fig gets to sleep in a warm, soft blanketed very well temperature, and sound insulated box for a safe, cozy, quiet, long nights sleep. She can get out, get up, whenever she likes. I keep her up until ten p.m. recently because she then sleeps later, avoiding the cold mornings, and cutting three hours from the time she would be alone during the day, and increasing her evening social experience. It is a trade off, because ideally Fig should wake with the wild birds outside, but it works well to keep her spirits a bit higher.
Recently, I had a flu, or cold, so I avoided contact with Fig for two days, just talking to her from a distance. She was rather put out about that, and she gave me strong feedback bites/pecks on my hand for a couple days, and yelled at me a bit to let me know that she did not appreciate my stand-offishness. I took her to the park, and cuddled her in my sweater, and that soon had her back in her usually calm and peaceful mood again though. She is such an emotional creature. A feedback peck is where I let her peck my hand to indicate her stress, or happiness level, anxiety, etc... It is one way Fig and I communicate. It is the bird equivalent of a high five.
