crows

Pink Blossom and Snow

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 6 Comments

Yesterday, I saw my first twig-toting crow of the season, heralding the start of nesting season.

Plum blossoms bloomed a full month early, and humans are considering spring wardrobe and patio-dining options. The crows, clearly, think it’s spring — so we were all a bit surprised to see Vancouver get its first snowfall of the entire winter this morning.

Still, we had fun, the crows and I. Especially this youngster who spent at least ten minutes trying to catch every single falling flake in her beak.

She seemed determined to catch them all — great goalie potential!

Lou seemed a bit dubious about the white stuff at first …

But soon got into the swing of things!

There was a special kind of beauty, seeing the big snowflakes dancing with the pink blossoms.

The snow is all melted now, so it seems as if I might have dreamed the whole thing.

I’ll be back on the lookout for twig-carrying crows tomorrow!

 

© junehunterimages, 2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Happy Crowsgiving

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 1 Comment

With apologies to readers of my blog who may be wondering where I’ve been for the past few weeks, here is a very short Crowsgiving greeting.

I have been going on many long crow walks, and there is so much news for the crow-verse, it’s hard to know where to start relaying it all.

But for now, on this Canadian Thanksgiving, here is a little round-up of the past week or so with some of the local crows.

One of the most joyful things this year has been the number of crow fledglings making it through their risky first summer — many more than I’ve seen over the past few years. Several youngsters seem to be sticking with Mom and Dad for the fall.

Lucky II is Marvin and Mavis’s fledgling from this spring and seems set to stick around, replacing Lucky I, who stayed with his parents for three years before moving on to start his own family this year. Lucky II is already a forceful personality!

Barry and Beryl, who live on the street with lots of berries, have Baby Berry and Fearless Fred (and his more conservative mate, Florence) have both of their fledglings with them, learning Fred’s fearless ways.

Crow harvest festival has been in full swing, with nuts being hauled out of trees and the road being used as a nutcracker. If dropping their bounty from a height doesn’t work, the crows wait for cars to run over them and then race in to scoop up the fragments — hopefully before the squirrels or other crows get their first.

Now that the nuts are almost all gone, it will be time to move up the street to harvest the berries on the dogwood trees. After that, it will be Persimmon-fest, when the big orange fruit reaches bird-snacking perfection in November. The persimmons are a big favourite with the starlings, but the crows manage to get their share, of course.

I hope your Thanksgiving is sociable and bountiful too!

Lucky II on bin day — the crows’ weekly fun fest!

 

 

© junehunterimages, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

The Crow Helpline

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 9 Comments

Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off with crows in charge.

While photographing my local corvids, I often make small talk.

I ask them how they’re doing, if they’ve picked a nesting site yet, how the night at the roost went — general neighbourly chit chat.

Sometimes, I tell them what’s going on in the human world.

Partly for my own sanity, I’ve been working on a new series of crow portraits which, at least in my own imagination, offer snippets of practical advice for living through these “interesting” times.

The series is called THE CROW HELPLINE …

CROW COMMENTARY

This is Dolores, mate to Dennis and mother of Tufty, the 2024 fledgling suffering from avian pox, Dennis and Dolores have kept Tufty going through several cold and snowy weeks this winter. Dennis acquires food for Tufty and guards him or her, while Dolores acts as lookout, cawing out loud warnings of any impending danger.
To the casual observer, she may seem to be just a loud crow — but, as with all crow commentary, there is always a deeper meaning behind it.

RISKY BUSINESS

This is Norman, taking the tricky route along the picket fence.  Sometimes everything seems fraught with danger, but you just have to take one tricky step after another and conquer the challenge.

CROW OF DISCERNMENT

Dennis could be described as a skeptic. He likes to double check his facts in this complicated world, making him a role model of good judgement and sense.

WADE IN

Sometimes the situation seems overwhelming — so you just need to take a deep breath and wade right in to get to the other side. This is Earl, a particularly inspiring crow.

TENACIOUS

Earl is an elderly and very photogenic crow of my acquaintance. He and his beautiful mate, Echo, have produced several generations of local crow characters. Once Earl makes his mind up, he’s an immovable crow — the epitome of tenacity!

MINDFUL CROW

“Be mindful” is such good advice — so why do I find it so hard to follow?

Watching mindfulness practiced by my local crows may be my best route to inner peace!

WISTFUL

Sometimes it’s OK just to feel sad and a bit confused.

HANG IN THERE

Crows are experts at adapting to challenging circumstances with aplomb. We can only aim for a small fraction of their graceful flexibility in our own lives.

BE ALERT

It is always wise to be on the alert, as Earl knows all too well.

SPEAK OUT

When things are wrong, don’t be afraid to speak out. Bongo is never a bird to keep his opinions to himself.

PERSPICACIOUS CROW

Norman the crow likes to get a view of things from all angles before reaching important decisions.

OUT ON A LIMB

Sometimes, you may feel as if you’re out on a limb.

As precarious as things may feel, Norman recommends adapting to the situation with as much nonchalance as you can muster. Fake it till you make it!

STRONGER TOGETHER

Earl has one crooked leg and Echo is blind in one eye but, together, they are  local crow power couple; parents, grandparents and great grandparents to many other crow characters. They have each other’s backs at all times.

PHILOSOPHER CROW

I include Philosopher Crow with the theme of this series although it’s an older portrait. Mavis, with just that slightest tilt of the head, seems to suggest a world of crow philosophy. Mavis remains, after many years, my best-selling print.

You can find all of these new prints in my CROW CHARACTERS gallery.

Oh, and one last comment from Bongo.

 

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© junehunterimages, 2025. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.