When I looked out in an attempt to gauge just how much snow was coming down, lo and behold I caught a crow unawares on the stump. This whole season the moment I look out a sentinel starts cawing and they're gone. But not this day.
I was adjusting the camera so I'm not sure if the second crow had been there all the time behind the stump or not. I think due to the spread wing he's just flying in but that's a probably.
Stump Crow gives Crow 2 the eye. Crow 2 remains vigilant. I wonder if he is the sentinel crow? Has Stump Crow been ignoring his warnings?
Stump Crow continues to eat and Crow 2 looks tough.
It appears to me that Crow 2 has spotted me. Have crows figured out that humans are less likely to be active when it snows and that is why he isn't crying the alert?
More alert behavior.
Then a fixed stare at Stump Crow.
Stump Crow flies off and Crow 2 watches him go.
Crow 2 checks the front side of the stump.
A look towards the feeding area.
A look possibly to spot Stump Crow...
and then a second later he is gone too. It's all rather inexplicable. One would have thought that Crow 2 would at least have gotten up on the stump for a bite before leaving. But if he's on the job, he's on the job. Rather like the Secret Service Agents, that don't get to knosh off the buffet table at events after all.
From faithful contributor Robin of Illinois, the hatch is imminent--
http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html
The Hatching Process:
http://friendsofblackwater.org/wordpress/eagle10/
I discovered both of the M crows yesterday but I can't quite figure out what they were doing. At any rate there are so many pixels involved they won't all fit on today's post. They'll be up soon.
Donegal Browne
Being a crow lover, These shots got my attention! What I really want to know is how to get find an owl to get some photos or to just observe. I am surrounded by woods of mixed age growth. I hear the great horned and some others, but cannot find any nesting sites. Can anyone help me?
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It sounds like you're surrounded by bountiful riches of woodland which make finding your Owls reasonably tough as there is so much ground to cover.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't going to be easy but if you can hoof around during the daytime and find the roost spot of the male, he'll likely be exposed sleeping away on a branch, then come back and watch flyout, and manage to follow him, it could take a few days, he'll lead you to the nest as he'll be bringing food to mom and or mom and the owlets.
I've not seen a tremendous number of GHO roost spots, but it seems to me that they tend to choose tall deciduous trees which are often on a rise themselves, the trees that is. The GHOs I've seen tend to roost tall, sometimes next to the trunk and sometimes not. They do tend, just as RTHs do, to sleep with another branch over their heads so they aren't at the tip top of the tree even though they do like the long view. Why the branch above the head? They don't want to make it too easy for a grumpy Red-tail to crash through and take their heads off when they are snoozing.
Happy hunting!
Thanks for the good information. I will head out daily next week as soon as I finish a paper project.
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