Lou’s Pastimes

April 12, 2026April 12, 2026 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

Most of the adult crows are currently immersed in all things nest-related. Younger crows, like Lou, who have remained with their parents for a year or two, are often designated “nest helpers.”

Lou’s nest-helping forté seems to be hanging out on the eastern territorial border, keeping an eye out for Norman and Nancy (the neighbouring crows) and making sure they don’t get too close to said border.

Young crow standing with head and neck extended up in a very alert posture

Of course, Norman and Nancy are pretty busy with their own nesting efforts, so this leaves Lou with lots of time on his hands/feet. Luckily, he has many, many interests to keep himself occupied while Mom and Dad (Mavis and Marvin) are busy elsewhere.

First of all, there’s just hanging about …

Young crow hanging upside down from a branch, holding one with one foot

Sliding on bin lids …

Young crow slipping and sliding on a plastic garbage can lid, wings out

Thinking deep thoughts and gaining new perspectives …

Young crow bent over with head looking back between their legs

Young Lou the crow stands contemplatively in front of a storm drain cover Photography by June Hunter ©junehunterimages2026

Lou is never idle. He’s constantly on the move, which is probably good for his personal security, although challenging for his paparazzi.

Lou’s biggest enthusiasm is for finding things. You name it, he’s found it.
I showed him discovering coins, pebbles, berries, moss and mice in my earlier post about Lou, but that was just the beginning of his street-combing career.

He’s since found a lens from a pair of sunglasses …

The black box from a tiny aircraft … ?

A fancy hair clip …

A nice chunky eraser …

A whole delicious apple …

Of course, I only watch Lou for a few minutes a day, so I can only imagine what else he’s unearthed when I’m not around!

Apart from finding, he’s also very proficient at hiding treasures …

He did take a few moments out of his very busy schedule the other day to land on a branch beside me and make a short but eloquent speech.

While his parents are busy, they’re obviously keeping an eye on Lou and sweep by to check on him from time to time. Earlier this week, there was something alarming on the horizon …

Lou didn’t even have time to call the alarm before Dad arrived on the scene.

Nest Helper Notes:

I sometimes wonder how useful these yearly crow “helpers” actually are.
Helpfulness probably varies between individual young crows, but I know that, during the three years that Marvin and Mavis had their previous “assistant”, Lucky, with them, they had no new fledglings. It was only when Lucky left them last spring that they raised a new pair of fledglings, one of which is Lou.

I once overheard one of the volunteers at the Riefel Bird Sanctuary remark that they were pleased to see that the offspring of the sanctuary’s resident Sandhill Crane pair had moved on that spring, because the young one sticking around for a couple of years had impeded them in their breeding/nesting efforts. At the time, I wondered if that was also true of crow families, in certain cases

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Spring 2024 Crow Sagas – Part 7

April 23, 2024April 16, 2024 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 2 Comments

MARVIN, MAVIS & LUCKY

The quickest way to tell if the crows in the garden or alley are Norman and Nancy or Marvin, Mavis and Lucky is to do a quick head count. Lucky is staying very close to mom and dad, even though he’s now almost two years old.

As we’ve seen in previous posts, they’ve got a solid family strategy of outnumbering and out-cawing the local competition (most Norman and Nancy) so they’re not messing with success.

I’m not sure where they are nest building — but I don’t think they’re as far along as Bongo and Bella as I still see all three of them every day, so Mavis isn’t yet sitting on eggs.

When we were at the Reifel Bird Sanctuary earlier this spring one of the volunteers was talking about the family of Sandhill Cranes out there. The resident couple still have their colt from two springs ago (he’s called Evan) and he mentioned that having a fledgling around can actually impede the established pair’s mating process as the young one wants to get in the the act (the cranes to a very wonderful wing-flapping mating dance.) The teenager wants to join in and doesn’t know when three’s a crowd. I’m not sure this applies to crows though, but Marvin and Mavis didn’t have a new fledgling last year …

So many things I can hardly wait to get caught up on when we get back from our trip!

That’s the final update for the local crows, although I could ramble on about Barry and Beryl, who live on the berry tree street …

… and Angelo and Angela …

… but, oh dear, only so much time before we have to head to the airport, so they’ll have to wait until later.

I’ll try to post a little from the UK if I manage to sight and British Corvids.

If not, look for more local crow updates in late May!

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Spring 2024 Crow Sagas Part 2

April 18, 2024April 16, 2024 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 3 Comments

RETURN OF THE WALKERS

When I said in the last post that I’m “almost certain” that White Wing is gone, it’s because you never really know for sure with crows.

Take, for example, the Walkers. Since they both disappeared last summer I thought they were gone for good.

Mr. Walker, who used to walk with us daily, suffered an injury to his left eye at about this time last year. Wanda had already lost the sight in one of her eyes (the right) several years earlier.

I followed the Walkers’ progress obsessively through the 2023 nesting season. Mr. Walker seemed badly affected by his eye problem, but pulled himself together enough for them to build a nest and fledge two little crows. Tragically, both fledglings had very bad avian pox. Starting with Mr. Walker the whole family disappeared completely in the space of a week in July.

With no sign of any of them all of that summer, fall and most of the winter, I assumed that the Walkers were gone for good.

Wanda was always by far the more timid of the Walkers, always leaving Mr. W to be the “public facing” family member— getting out there and hustling the necessities of crow life.

Wanda, June 2019

Suddenly, this January, Wanda was back. Not only was she back, but she seems to have undergone a personality transplant, transforming from Shrinking Violet to Boadicea.

Wanda, after apparently spending winter in Warrior Queen School — January 2024

Even more miraculously, Mr. Walker is also back.

The Walkers, April 2024

But there are big changes in the Walker family dynamic — Wanda is now by far the bolder of the two, while Mr. W hangs back and observes. I fear that Mr. Walkers walking-beside-us days are over as he’s now very reluctant to be on the ground at all, probably still adjusting to his limited range of vision.

Mr. Walker, March 2024

I’m not sure now nesting season will go for them this year, as Wanda will have to rely on Mr. W to bring her food once she’s on egg sitting duty. Perhaps Mr. W will get a little bolder, or they may just decide to sit this season out until he adjusts a little more. I guess I’ll find out when we get home in a month.

As soon as we put the suitcases down I’ll be out there doing a neighbourhood crow check!

But I do love that the Walkers have managed to (a) survive (b) stick together and (c) modify their couple roles to adjust to the hand they’ve been dealt. Their story reminds me a lot of George and Mabel’s story of survival and flexibility. Mabel supported George when he lost half of his top beak and went on to be a dominant force on the local crow scene, even after George had passed.