FLYday - Crow With Nest Material

American Crow, Corvis brachyrhynchos in flight with nesting material. Everybody is mating and building nests now!

April, Phippsburg, Maine

FLYday is an homage to what our feathered friends do best, fly.

Flyday - Ravens

Raven in flight, Phippsburg, Maine

 I found this bird after it had been shot out of the sky. It's legal to shoot crows. Swing low, sweet chariot. 

FLYday is an homage to what our feathered friends do best, fly.

(This post was Editor's Pick for Open Salon {Salon.com}, August 25, 2011)

Bad Neighbors - Red-tailed Hawk Attack

Crows make lousy neighbors. They throw wild parties in the middle of the day and make ungodly rackets. They harass everyone else in the 'hood and steal from them every chance they get. We are fortunate that we have great neighbors, though we do have crows. Some of our neighbors hate the crows with passion. They have wished them ill, too. If one is not a morning person, crows in residence suck. They start screaming and yelling and fighting at first light and keep it up until dark.  This one is making the life of a Red-tailed hawk miserable. Don't adjust your television set. The photos are soft due to the distance. The Crows are such agile fliers that they don't hesitate to take on the biggest guys out there, either. They seem to know that they can escape if counter attacked. They're mid-air acrobatics can be stunning.    

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This is a crow fighting with a raven for food. The raven has a Red squirrel. These shots were also taken at a long distance.

Now matter how rude they are, nor how annoying and disruptive to the ambiance of the 'hood, it is nonetheless, illegal to shoot or otherwise harm crows. They are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Some times, ya just got to put up with lousy neighbors.

  "Swing low, sweet chariot,
"I'm comin' fo' to carry you home!"

When I found this crow on the ground, I thought immediately of the dreaded West Nile Virus. Crows are the most prevalent carriers. The link underlined above has a phone number for whom to contact if you find a crow or other bird that has died without explanation. When I picked the crow up (I was wearing gloves, but not my bathrobe), I saw right away that it had been shot. Under its wing was a bullet hole. Is was not stiff or buggy, so I suspected it had been shot in the air then plummeted unceremoniously through the trees to its death. It seemed a tragic ending for the magnificent flyer that irritated its neighbor just one too many times. American crows are the birds most susceptible to West Nile Virus. WNV causes neurolgical symptoms and encephalitis. It can be transmitted to humans from the birds by mosquitos, but NOT from the birds directly. Holster your weapon, please.

Click on this link for More Crow Stuff - good reading!

Dare To Compare - Raven & Crows In Dogfight

For a week or so, these three American Crows have been nesting in the woods adjacent to our house. They go back and forth, south to north along the shore line in search of material. Occasionally, I see them mobbing a Raven. The aerial combat which ensues is a dramatic dogfight.  This morning, I heard the Blue jays making a tremendous racket in the trees. That's always a sign that something really interesting is about, like a hawk or an eagle. I rushed out in my bathrobe, of course, to investigate. I could hear them, but not see them. Then I heard the crows join in. This meant that whatever was going on was BIG news for them to all join together to mob a threat. There was a magnificent cacophony of screaming, screeching, and cawing. This was punctuated with a Raven's "cronk, cronk." I thought, "Ah ha! This may be my lucky day! I'll get to photograph those crows dive-bombing a Raven!" And, sure enough, they all came zooming by. I could see that the Raven had some food item and that's what all the fuss must have been over. Close examination of the photographs revealed that the Raven had a rodent of the rat variety, or possibly a Red squirrel. I have heard the Raven in the trees in the same area where the crows are nesting. That's where it was headed with its furry morsel. I'm wondering if it also has a nest in those woods. So, I'm going to have to investigate that, but not in my bathrobe.

American crows are about 17" long. The Common raven is larger at around 24". These shots show the identifying difference in tail shape, as well. The crow's tail is straighter across the end. Ravens have more distinct wing 'fingers' and thicker bills. Double click on the image to the right and you'll see the rodent screaming for help.

As Common As Kale And Crows

When dining out, kale is often slapped onto an entree plate as a garnish. Restaurants use it because the leathery, blue leaves have a long shelf life. I've only ever known of one person to eat the uninspired garnish and that was my daughter. She would eat the kale from everyone's plate and then move on to the lemon wedges if available. She'd eat this stuff before even thinking about her entree. Her father and I often joked that we shouldn't bother to order a dinner for her but simply ask for a garnish plate. The purple stalks of growing kale are beautiful and can be delicious with a little bit of thought to the preparation. It is very high in fiber, vitamins K, C and calcium. Kale is regarded as a highly nutritious member of the cabbage family with anti-oxidant and ant-inflammatory  properties. Kale is usually cheap, too as it's not too popular as vegetables go. I make a soup of kale, cannelloni and garlic that I can't get enough of. The following is not so much a recipe as a cooking technique.

Kale  6-8 big leaves
two cans of cannelloni or about 3 cups of gnocchis
about 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
(also fabulous with stock made of beef neck bones with the meat pulled from the bones for the soup)
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
big onion, chopped
slug (about 1/2  cup) white wine or balsamic vinegar- about 3 TBLS
olive oil
salt, pepper to taste
a few flakes of red pepper
sauteed, crumbled bacon - optional
crumbled goat cheese or feta - optional

Strip the leaves from the kale by folding then in half along the stem like the spine of a book. Chop the stems coarsely, chop the leaves. In olive oil, saute the stems until tender. Add chopped onion and saute until lightly brown. Add the chopped leaves, saute until soft. Add garlic and saute until you can smell it. Add to pot of heated stock. Simmer until it all smells good and the kale is soft, then add the cannelloni. I add the cans juice and all which gives a little thickness to the soup. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes then white wine or balsamic vinegar and simmer about 10 more minutes. If you like bacon, you can throw that in just before serving. If you want the cheese, serve that on top of each bowl as you serve it. If you want to get really decadent with your kale soup, have bacon and cheese! Kale stands up well to strong flavors like balsamic vinegar, goat cheese and bacon. You can eat this until your head blows off because it's really good for you. If you have fiber issues, you may want to ration yourself. Of course, if you added bacon, and/or cheese, it's not so benign.

Kale is marvelously adaptable. It's great roasted as a sort of potato chip alternative. Strip the leaves from the stalks. Discard the stalks or save them for some other dish later. Dry the leaves, brush them with olive oil and then sprinkle sea salt on both sides. Place on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Place in very hot, 450 degree oven. Watch closely so they don't burn. When lightly browned, turn them over and roast until brown. Serve immediately. This is good crumbled onto the soup above. 

American Crows and European Starlings in the bird world are as ubiquitous as Kale in the garnish world. Like Kale, they are tough and highly adaptable. Both birds have been very successful on the planet, especially the Common Starling, or just 'Starling.' In European urban areas,  their roosting flock numbers are in the thousands. As they roost for the night, they swarm together in tight spheres that settle and rise repeatedly into the sky. The 'bird balls' undulate into odd shapes against the setting sun. In Denmark, the phenomenon is called "Black Sun." Starlings prefer insects,  but will eat anything if given opportunity, as do crows. Both birds are highly intelligent and will mimic the calls of other birds. Crows and Starlings are noisy, often troublesome birds regarded by many as pests. If you can just look at them as birds, though, they have their own beauty, like kale. However, I do not recommend adding crow nor starling to kale soup, though chicken might be nice.

European Starling