Category Archives: Crows

Please Let It Snow

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Sunrise IMG_9126_1

Sunrise, 1-4-13

 January finds us in a winter drought. The lake level is so low, the shallow water froze overnight as soon the temperature dropped, something that normally takes weeks…

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and even the ice looked like it was caught by surprise…

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jagged, disjointed,

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delirium…

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and the water stains on the sides of the harbor show just how low the water is.

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There were no diving ducks Friday morning, only some Canada Geese and a few gulls sitting on the ice. And a handful of crows came to my party.

Hot dogs always go first.

Hot Dogs First IMG_9156_1In weather this cold, make as few trips as possible. Cache and carry.

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All You Can Stash…

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Hold on for dear life.

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Windblown Crow

I didn’t realize until I developed the photograph below that the sculpture pays tribute to the ferris wheel at Navy Pier…!

Wheel IMG_9192_1

Anyway, I’m glad I finally figured out the new image editor.

Briefly, on the home front, here’s a quick rendition of the Gigue to the Bach A Minor English Suite recorded yesterday afternoon when I was trying to see if I still remember it. If you can last until the end (it’s only about 2 minutes total) one of my spice finches sings a final note, and I decided to leave my appreciation of his contribution in the recording.

Chicago Lakefront Longings

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Crow IMG_7859_1

A couple weeks ago I went down to the lakefront before work, to reconnect with whatever crows I could find, and see if there were any interesting waterfowl present.

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It was a nice, if crisply cold, sunny morning. New was the addition of some sculptures.

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The revisions to the park where a lot of the crows used to hang out continued apace.

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Not half as many crows as I had before the demolition of Daley Bicentennial Plaza began. I can only imagine they have dispersed up and down the lakefront.

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In addition to the obligatory Canada Geese…

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there were some Common Mergansers and a few Common Goldeneye too far away to photograph, but not much else.

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Common Mergansers

Some lifeguard chair…?

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How to Be a Hawk

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Every year it seems Grant Park gets a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk or two, and this year was no exception. If the crows have been even noisier than usual, most of the time it’s because Junior is in the area.

Toward the end of an afternoon walk I decided to check out a number of Juncos and White-Throated Sparrows feeding on the lawn to see if there was anybody unusual with them. The young Cooper’s Hawk decided to check them out as well…

He blew it.

Fortunately for me, while he was still pondering his mistake, he posed for a number of pictures. A bit less fortunately, the midday sun was strong behind him, but still I was quite close to him.

Maybe they’ll stay still next time…?

Where did they go?

This is frustrating…

Off to the next opportunity.

C’mon, Crows!

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One of the first times I went down to the Daley homestead elms to see if I could get pictures of the warblers, I ran into Jerry Goldner with his amazing lens. You can check out his fantastic photos on his “Profiles of Nature” flickr page here.

I had been down earlier that morning on my weekly foray of the parks at dawn and had somehow managed to not unload all the hot dogs to the crows. The crows were too busy forming a “murder” which is the rather derogatory, scary name for a congregation or flock of them.

a subset of the “murder”

I counted roughly 40 crows flying over at one point, taking into account that ten years ago it was all I could do to find two or three. I was moved by the site of so many crows and feeling somewhat responsible for their comeback, but their carrying on seemed to have little to do with my presence, unless they were showing off to me their strength in numbers.

Not wanting to leave the hot dogs, which I always store in used quart yogurt containers, in the office refrigerator, I was eager to distribute them to their intended recipients when I went on my lunch break (I can hear those unaware of my crow connection, if there are any such people left on the planet, talking now: “She always eats so healthy, I can’t believe she’s secretly eating hot dogs!”). So when the crows started following me around and making noise while Jerry and I were trying to see the warbler action, I did something I’ve never done before. And will probably always live to regret. I walked away from the action toward the south end of the park and called “C’mon Crows!” And wouldn’t you know, they followed me immediately as if they had been waiting for this day their entire lives.

The downside of bringing the crows back from the brink is that as they increase in numbers, it gets harder to train them, if you will, to be quiet and tread lightly while I’m stalking migrant visitors.

Bench Crow

At least I got rid of the hot dogs that day, which is usually not a problem…

when earlier that day, the first crows of dawn met me on the bridge that goes over the train tracks between Michigan and Columbus avenues…

Bridge Crows

Best to let my body language dictate the protocol, I guess. I did manage to get a few crows to follow me around slowly and quietly Friday afternoon, much like this pensive crow.

Pensive Crow

And soon as the migrants are gone, the crows will have me all to themselves again, to spoil them rotten with treats throughout the winter cold.

I know I will too, especially when I come back from my vacation (which is barely two and a half weeks away), tropical birds in my head, but guilt over leaving my crows and pride over the expected greeting they will give me upon my return.

 

The Decimation of Daley Bicentennial Plaza

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The decimation of my favorite stomping ground has begun. No trees have been uprooted yet, but holes are being dug.

The crows must find the overturned earth interesting. I first found them foraging for grubs and other delicacies.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

The weather has changed, progressing into autumn with a push of colder air and rapidly shortened days. Warbler migration is all but over now, save a few Yellow-Rumps.

Swamp Sparrow

Sparrow migration is here. A beautiful Swamp Sparrow flew into the native plant area in the middle of the park. Then I found the first-year White-Crowned Sparrow below, hiding behind the cage that still protects a young tree in the park, although it seems ironic now. The tree will soon be gone.

Juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow

Destruction crew

The crows have seen this as an opportunity to reclaim the park, and me, at least for a short period of time. I ran out of peanuts too quickly this afternoon but it didn’t matter how often I showed them the empty bag, they still followed me almost everywhere.

So I snuck off to Peanut Park, the lower-elevation area that runs between Daley and a portion of Lake Shore Drive, and found a first-year Hermit Thrush among several others.

First Year Hermit Thrush

When I came back up the stairs the crows were waiting for me. I promised to bring more peanuts tomorrow. They still think I have the power to produce food for them at will.

We are going to miss the trees. What next?

Crow Clash

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I went down to the lakefront early last week and brought the standard fare, hot dogs and peanuts, for the crows. The downside to feeding the crows like this is that now their population has increased enough for them to split up into tribes, and I am still not quite sure where the boundary lines lie. To complicate matters, I’ve been going down lately to look for migrants, so I haven’t been paying my usual attention to the crows.

As it turned out, there were hardly any migrants that morning, but I did capture this altercation between an intruder crow and a perhaps-lower-on-the-totem-pole crow.

How many crows IS this?

Bathing Crow

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We got a little more rain last week, complete with a pleasant drop in temperature on Tuesday, but I wasn’t able to get out to the park for lunch until the following day when it hit 100 degrees again. I walked slowly and sat down on a bench near the tree I’d put peanuts under for the young crows. It seemed like a pretty usual, hot day with nothing much going on, maybe too hot to even take a picture. The grass was noticeably greener from the last time I took pictures, but it’s grass.

Then I noticed some European Starlings bathing in a nice big puddle that was left from the rain the night before. I like to see birds bathing, even Starlings. To see anybody bathing after the prolonged drought and heat was good enough.

I wonder if one young crow was new to the idea though. I personally have never seen a crow bathe. I started taking pictures of this crow when he first stood in the water. I wondered if he’d gone to wash off a peanut or something, which is one way I’ve seen crows use puddles, but he seems to be contemplating his reflection instead.

Or maybe this was the moment of decision about whether to bathe or not, because after he tasted the water, the next thing he did was start bathing in it.

And he was so delighted with himself, he looked right at me as if to say, “yes, it’s as fun as it looks.”

Then he proceeded to bathe again. For the full demonstration, this is how it’s done.

Bend your knees (birds’ knees bend exactly the opposite of the way humans’ do, by the way – do not try this at home). Put your head face down in the water (reminiscent of your first swimming lesson, perhaps).

Down. (“Now put your head in the water.”)

Now start flapping your wings.

Voila!

Thirst: Send in the Clouds!

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Drought Crow

Visiting the crows all week in the parched park has been an exercise in heat tolerance for all of us.

I have been taking a plastic food container with me to fill up with water from the drinking fountain. The crows know about the water fountain, but they don’t know about plastic containers.

I fear I have destroyed millions of years of inherited distrust of unknown containers and possibly contaminated liquids, by getting the crows to finally drink out of a plastic dish. As much as they trust me, it was not easy to override their inherent caution, which is so inbred and has served them so well for millennia. Perhaps I assumed too much by thinking they were paying attention as I filled up the container with water from the very drinking fountain they frequent. I had to pour a little water out onto the ground to show them that it was indeed water, something they recognize. And then I sat on a park bench and watched, and waited.

White-Wing was the first to sample the water as early as last week, but she was still cautious. However, Friday before an unexpected downpour, it was so hot and dry in the park the birds were doing their equivalent of panting.

And so when White Wing took a sip, she relished it. And the word spread.

The crows were visiting the water I provided. I had crossed a new dimension with them.

And then suddenly the wind picked up, the thunder and lightning started, and the crows scattered. The rain swell, although brief, was enough to soak me thoroughly on my way back to work without an umbrella. I stood under a few buildings here and there but I couldn’t wait out the entire downpour. Such as it was, here was the rain I had been praying for, and it was not possible to scold it for inconvenience. I dried out when I got back to the office. And by the time I got home, I was praying again for rain.

So this afternoon we got lucky again. Briefly, again. The clouds do so much better of a job than I can with the water hose.

rain-splattered sidewalk

With any luck these scattered downpours will become more frequent and we will survive this terrible summer. I don’t miss the mosquitoes but I find myself worrying about the plight of bats and Chimney Swifts, to name a few creatures who must miss them terribly.

And I have to get this gutter fixed!

A crow’s garden of hot dogs

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Hot dogs 101

Friday I decided to surprise the new crow fledglings with a few hot dogs cut up in small pieces. Their cousins, who were fledglings themselves just last year, helped themselves.

It was a hot day to be a crow. I felt sorry for these all-black birds, and here I was bringing salty hot dogs. So I also brought a little plastic container and put water in it, but only one bird figured it out by the time I was ready to leave.

Got a sip?

However, they all know there’s a little water left in the drinking fountain.

Family Portrait

As far as I can tell there are three fledglings. I took this picture on Wednesday. The parent bird is the second from the left. They have been weaned in birth order, the oldest first, the next day, the middle child and on Friday, the youngest was still begging.

Feed me…?

Finally, the fledge discovered a pile of pre-chewed hot dogs waiting for him.

Gotta think fast here…

and he could not resist. He picked up the whole pile.

Now what?

But then he was wondering what to do with it.

Mom? Dad?

There were no coaches available. He was on his own.

A day in the life.

Bring on the Baby Crows

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Although I am certain I heard the first begging cries of a baby crow almost two months ago, only to have the park grow quiet again, this week I was fortunate enough to see my first fledgling. And the crows seem to be glad I’ve stopped hunting for migrants and can devote more attention to them.

There may have been a sibling close by stuck up in the trees, but this youngster was determined to get in on the action when I showed up with my usual bag of peanuts.

The begging never stopped.

I suspect by the time I see these youngsters, they are already well on the path to being weaned. 

Almost as if mom (or dad) is saying, if you’re big enough to come down here and harass me you can start feeding yourself.

Begging, begging, begging and getting nowhere. Part of the problem might have been my presence with the camera. Although the birds are really used to me, they have to observe some wild protocol. The fledgling finally got a morsel only when hidden behind the fence. I loved hearing that squeal of delight from the youngster when the parent’s beak entered its mouth. I wonder if the parent crows find the sound delightful too…added reinforcement for the behavior?

But oh, how a bird’s life changes the moment it figures out how to get its own food. The quest for food leads to endless discovery and the world becomes the crow’s oyster. Someday our youngster will grow up to be a beautiful “pinup” crow like the one below.