Some Wing Things

July 4, 2023July 3, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 7 Comments

A few news snippets from the Wings.

1 — Feather Gone!

White Wing shed her distinctive white feather again on June 21 — the day I took the photo of her (above) against the blue sky. The next day she was sans feather, looking just like your run-of-the-roost crow.

But, as always, she’s quickly growing a new one.

June 25, just four days after losing the white feather

Yesterday — just under two weeks of growth

2 — Mr. Wing

I recently thought that White Wing might be carrying on with Mr. Walker when I saw what looked like the two of them getting very cosy together. Scandal in the local crow world!

A Wing-Walker dalliance did seem especially unlikely with both families in the midst of nesting season. Turns out it’s something almost as crazy — Mr. Wing has damaged his eye too — the same eye as Mr. Walker.

It’s pretty confusing as both the Mr. W’s have similarly shaped beaks and are next door neighbours to the Walkers. Currently Mr. Wing has some fluffed-up chest feathers (possibly from skirmishing with other crows) which makes ID a little easier.

3 — Parenting

I’ve been hearing Wing babies since late May, but didn’t see them for the first month . I’m not sure how many they started out with, but now I regularly see them with one lively youngster.

I’m fairly certain that this duo, seen in early June enjoying the aquatic facilities provided by a thoughtful neighbour, were little Wings. I didn’t see the parents with them, so couldn’t be positive.

It’s always hard to do a definitive fledgling roll call at this time of year. The first of the summer babies (like the Wings’ and Bongo and Bella’s) are at the “teenage” phase; relatively adept flyers, often off exploring the neighbourhood. They aren’t very cooperative about staying in one place for head counts!

That being said, I’ve only seen the Wings in the company of just one fledgling in recent weeks.

One damp, blue-eyed Wing fledgling, June 10

Same day, same fledgling — now on the move!

Fluffy Baby Wing, June 20

Baby Wing, July 1

Now that Junior is getting older, the parents try to encourage self feeding, but every once in a while doting dad Mr. Wing relents. Even a teenager needs some spoiling every once in a while.

So that’s the news from Wing World for now.

White Wing leaves you with the message, conveyed via crow semaphore.

The Walkers’ Progress

June 22, 2023June 23, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 6 Comments

I know many of you have been waiting for news on the Walkers since Mr. W injured his eye back in April. Sorry for the delayed update — there’s been a lot going on in both my crow and human worlds, so I’ve acquired a backlog of crow and fledgling info.

But let’s start with the Walkers, as they are in a bit of a cliffhanger situation.

Pre-eye injury, everything was full steam ahead for Nesting Season 2023. They’d selected what seemed to be an ideal nesting spot, and Wanda was ready to lay those eggs.

Post-eye injury, there was nothing for the Walkers to do but put the nesting process on hold. There were a couple of worrying weeks when Mr. W sat, very still and very quiet. He stayed in high branches or up on wires as Wanda kept an eye (as it were) on him.

Wanda keeps watch over Mr. W, April 30

His eye still isn’t back to normal, and I’m not sure it will completely heal. At least it didn’t get infected and, in classic crow fashion, he’s learning to adapt.

Sometimes he has the injured eye completely closed — usually when he’s more relaxed and on a higher, safer perch. When he’s on the ground and in a “high alert” situation, he can, and does, open the injured eye enough to give himself a more complete view.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, Wanda is completely blind one eye, yet she’s managed to adapt and go about her crow business pretty much as normal, so I’m hoping the same will be true for her mate. Wanda is blind in her right eye, while Mr. Walker injured his left, so between them, they have panorama vision.

The other good news is that nesting is now very much back on the agenda. Only a couple of weeks after the injury, the Walkers were refreshing the furniture in the original nest site.

Mr. Walker was, once again, feeding Wanda when she begged for food.

As was pointed out when I posted this photo on social media, you can see another possible way Mr. Walker injured that eye back in April. Wanda, with her one functioning eye, perhaps doesn’t have the best depth perception for performing this delicate feeding dance.

By mid-May, Wanda was sitting on the nest again.

Wanda sitting on the nest, May 17

The once perfect-seeming nest site is now my main causes for anxiety for the Walkers.

When they first chose this spot way back in March, it looked ideal — a covered chimney with a nice little roof for shelter from rain and sun, camouflage from passing eagles and too high for easy racoon access. Another bonus was the quiet, empty lot next door.

If not for the unforeseen delay in April, everything would have gone much more smoothly.

As it is, just as Wanda started sitting on the nest, construction started next door. Naturally, there’s been a lot of hammering and sawing; the house is going up fast. I don’t think the Walkers are particularly worried about the noise, but I’ve been nervously watching to see what happens as the builders get right up next to the nest.

Right now the workers are just a bit above the nest as they work on roof assembly. When they selected this spot back in March, I’m sure half a dozen humans banging around at eye level all day long was not something the Walkers had in mind. Somewhat miraculously, crows and construction crew seem to be co-existing — so far.

Earlier this week I was able to spot at least two little beaks pointing up to be fed. Fledglings in the nest really do look a lot like those ceramic pie vents made in the shape of blackbirds.

Mr Walker watches over the nest from a nearby washing line

The Walkers are now almost a month behind the neighbours (Bongo and Bella on one side, and the Wings to the other) in the nesting game. Both other families have very mobile fledglings who don’t yet know about territorial boundaries and keep flapping too close for comfort the Walkers’ nest. This, of course, leads to a lot of noisy inter-crow -family squabbling.

From the activity in the nest now, it looks like those hatchlings will become fledglings any day now. They have to get down from that chimney and avoid the myriad fledgling’s-bane hazards out there; raccoons, cats, cars, eagles, other crows, dogs, flying accidents … it’s amazing any of them make it, really.

I’m hoping they exit the nest during a break in construction. Evert time I see them, I advise the Walkers to try keeping those babies in the nest until the weekend.

Every crow parent works long and hard to get their offspring out into the world, but the Walkers have certainly faced and overcome more than their share of hurdles this spring.

Keeping fingers and toes crossed for whoever is up in that nest to at least make it out of the chimney and on to the next set of fledgling challenges.

For more on The Walkers:

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7 Reasons Why You Need a City Crow Calendar

June 16, 2023August 23, 2023 / The Urban Nature Enthusiast / Leave a comment

At long last, it’s done! The photo selection, writing, design, finicking, fussing, faffing, editing and proofing of the 2024 City Crow Calenda r are all finished and it’s now at the printer. Woohoo!

I’ll be picking them up (love that special freshly printed smell!) at the end of the month and mailing out the pre-orders immediately thereafter.

In the calm before the storm, I’ve been thinking once again of all the reasons why someone might not just want, but absolutely NEED one of these calendars.

Of course, they’re handy for jotting down birthdays and dentist appointments and the usual day-to-day stuff, but here are a few more reasons to consider dedicating some precious wall space to a City Crow Calendar.

GET TO KNOW YOUR OWN LOCAL CROWS

Bongo is August’s crow, as well as the cover model for the 2024 calendar

People often ask me how I tell my local crows apart, so I’ve made this a major theme for the 2024 calendar. Each month introduces one or two of my crowquaintances — most will be familiar to long-time readers of this blog — and in a NEW feature, I’ve added a guide to getting to know your own local crows.

In the Get to Know Crows Guide I explain the layers of clues I use to identify my local characters and show how you can use a similar method in your own neighbourhood. Make some new friends!

FOLLOW THE CROW SEASONS

Sometimes, living in the city, you start to recognize the passing of the seasons only by the changing nature of the items on display in local shops, or in our social media feeds (back-to-school items … must be July, Halloween décor … what, August already?)

I like to think that City Crow Calendar owners will:

be more excited to get outside to see what their own local crows are up to, and thus witness firsthand what the sky and vegetation have to say, and
start to see the crows themselves as messengers of seasonal change.

Crow seen with sticks in their beaks … aha, must be the beginning of the nesting season.

Riotous crow behaviour in fall …this year’s fledglings are finally independent and nuts and berries are ready to harvest — party time!

BE IN TUNE WITH THE MOON

When everyone is saying “That moon looks amazing — is it a full moon?” you will be able to answer sagely “Not quite, but tomorrow night will be the Full Crow Moon” and your friends will be duly impressed by your oneness with the universe.

(Really, you just had a quick look at your City Crow Calendar, but I won’t say anything if you don’t. )

BE AN URBAN NATURE ENTHUSIAST

There are any number of calendars you can own that will show you breathtaking scenery on the coast, in the mountains or in the deep woods. The City Crow Calendar (the hint is in the name) is specially designed for those of us who, for one reason or another, spend most of our time in the urban jungle.
It’s a daily reminder that you don’t have to wait and wait until you can finally get out of town to experience being really in tune with Nature — you can find those moments any day, any time by just going outside (or even just looking out of your window) and checking in on what your fellow city dwellers, the crows, are up to now.

Of course, in addition to the calendar, you can also subscribe to this blog, and/or follow me on social media for regular reminders on the wonders of urban nature.

CONVINCE THE “CROW CAUTIOUS”

We all have at least one friend who has not yet realized (poor benighted soul) how amazing crows are,

and how worthy of watching every single day.

Buy them a City Crow Calendar and see if it can sway them. Sometimes finding out why crows behave the way they do (for example, seeming a little aggressive in the nesting season while trying to protect their babies) can be the key to going from crow-averse to fully pro-crow!

ENHANCE YOUR COCKTAIL PARTY CONVERSATION

At a party and looking for the perfect conversation opener?

Friends and new acquaintances alike will be amazed when you explain to them how you can tell female crows apart from males. Cement your reputation as an eccentric (yet knowledgeable) crow enthusiast by telling them why fall and winter are the best seasons to visit the crow roost … and how they can tell their local crows apart.

The trick is to walk away if you notice eyes starting to glaze over. It’s always best to leave them wanting more in the way of crow facts!

GET A FREE COLLECTIBLE BUTTON

Each calendar comes with a free 1.75-inch wide button featuring the City Crow Calendar’s 2024 cover model — who happens to be Bongo, keeping an eye on things from a stop sign.