Day Four: Stillness

Day four of crow-watch and sadly still no takers; I stood outside making clicking noises while holding my peanut bag at around 10:00 am (all the while trying not to look like a lunatic), and while I did hear/see the occasional songbird overhead, the area was woefully devoid of corvids. I left a small handful of peanuts on the walkway in case any hungry birds wandered through later on and went back inside. About a half-hour later, I did see a crow fly overhead in the backyard, but to where I'm not sure. They're definitely out there, but the stillness can't be denied - it's a quiet morning, and though it's decidedly less windy than yesterday, we're on the cusp of some snow today. Probably won't be getting much, but it's enough to be a nuisance, I'm sure. 

Yesterday while walking to work, I did hear/see a few crows in the distance, near the pond. I'm sure that area is a haven for birds, having seen my share of geese and ducks there even on brisk winter days. My favorite regulars, though, are the turkey vultures - now those are cool birds! (I joke that they tend to congregate near the senior center, which isn't untrue...) They're beasts! I have a habit of becoming interested in animals/plants that other people consider irritating or 'bad,' and turkey vultures aren't exempt...but I can't help it, the wingspan on those suckers is fierce. There are times I'll glance upwards at the high-set library windows from the circulation desk, when it's quiet and I can afford to turn my attention elsewhere, and I'll occasionally see a large, silhouetted bird, wings spread, swooping past the window like a mythical giant (or Julian, for those who've played enough 'Kentucky Route Zero'). 

I know they're somewhat gruesome in the way they feed on so many deer and other kinds of roadkill, but can you imagine how much worse off things would be if they didn't? I have respect for the scavengers in nature - it's not a pretty way of finding your next meal and scavengers are often written off or disregarded, occupying the lower rungs of the food chain in many cases, but they do important work in breaking down dead and decaying matter that would otherwise accumulate. I like to think of it as being resourceful. Have you ever seen documentary footage of a whale carcass being picked clean once it hits the ocean floor? It's fascinating, all these bottom-dwellers coming out of the woodwork to feast on something they might otherwise rarely see in their lifetimes. All manner of fish and crab coming together to feed, one giant animal's body becoming energy for hundreds of others - it's survival, but there's also something poignant about that. Everyone's doing what they can to get by. I wonder what the crows are finding in these quiet times.