Corvus brachyrhynchos

After yesterday's bird mecca day, and the appearance of the Anna's hummingbird, I was up early to run to the store for a hummingbird feeder before the first morning rush happened. However today apparently was a slow day in the avian world. I did see the Anna's flit by, but I wasn't by the window to see if he tried the new feeder. The junco's were around all day, you can always count on them, but the first chickadee didn't show up till almost noon. I wondered if the neighbors cat was the cause, and sent the dog out at one point to "get the kitty". She knows exactly what that means, she takes off running into the backyard to find the kitty to play with. Of course the cats don't understand this, and think they're about to get eaten. Still not many birds. I go out, and off the cat runs. A quick fix of the hidey places with some chickenwire, and hopefully the birds are safer.

The most interesting catch of the day was watching two crows allopreening. I have not seen this in crows before, but apparently it's common. It makes sense since crows live in family groups, and allopreening is both for grooming and social bonding. It's very common in parrots, and all my girls love for me to groom them and I get groomed in return. Daisy will come push my hand with her head just like a dog does to get me to pet her.

Back to work for 4 days, so I won't be here to keep up with how things are going at the feeders as I'm gone from dark to dark. Bummer, it's been a fun bird/blip weekend.