Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Crow

There were two of these American Crows sitting on my back fence two days ago, 1 August 2016, making a whole lot of noise. Not sure, but I think both were juveniles. Or maybe not, as I've just read the information below, saying that "when Crows molt, the old feathers can appear brownish..." Caught this one just as it was ruffling up all its beautiful feathers. Grabbed my camera just in time to get two or three shots and off they flew. Local Crows used to nest in my neighbour's Spruce tree, but the last few years they have been nesting somewhere else. "American Crows are familiar over much of the continent: large, intelligent, all-black birds with hoarse, cawing voices. They are common sights in treetops, fields, and roadsides, and in habitats ranging from open woods and empty beaches to town centers. They usually feed on the ground and eat almost anything – typically earthworms, insects and other small animals, seeds, and fruit but also garbage, carrion, and chicks they rob from nests. Their flight style is unique, a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides. American Crows are all black, even the legs and bill. When crows molt, the old feathers can appear brownish or scaly compared to the glossy new feathers." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/id Monday was mostly a quiet day at home - it was a long weekend and I didn't really want to be doing a longish drive with a lot of traffic on the roads. Late in the afternoon, I did get out to see a pair of Swainson's Hawks and also drove to a local Osprey family, that I think has three youngsters still on the nest. Seeing the Hawks was quite an experience - I was dive-bombed three times in the two minutes maximum that I was there! A friend had told me about this family, but didn't have the same experience as me! Yesterday and today, I have been without my vehicle, because it suddenly developed a really bad, noisy muffler problem. It was going to be a major expense ($4,660) to repair/replace the various parts and I have just heard back that one part is no longer available. To find one would mean being without my car for two weeks! So, I think I will collect the car and just drive within the few roads by me (groceries, etc.) with an extremely noisy vehicle. It looks like I will have to buy a new car - something that I have been thinking about the last few years, as the car is now over 17 years old. Not something I wanted to do on the spur of the moment like this, though. Unfortunately, I will have to cancel my plans to take my daughter to the mountains tomorrow. For years and years I have longed to drive there myself and finally plucked up courage to go with my daughter to help me navigate.

Took myself off for a short drive along the backroads SW of the city yesterday afternoon (20 April 2014), partly because the sun was actually shining, but also hoping to give my painful arms and shoulder a bit of a rest. Not sure that it helped, though, as I had to keep starting and turning off the car, which may have been worse, or just as bad as, mouse clicking, ha. One of the times I pulled over was to catch this (unfortunately, "eyeless") Crow, perched along one of the gravel roads within the city limits. I don't usually get chances to photograph these large, black birds., but there were several of them flying low over a field. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Crow www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_crow/id A few minutes ago, I discovered how to open two separate screens in My Pictures, simply by holding down the shift key before clicking on My Pictures. That discovery should save a lot of unnecessary mouse clicking, which is greatly to blame for my excruciating arm and shoulder pain.

We were lucky yesterday to see 11 majestic Bald Eagles at one time - there may have been others in the area. They had found a dead Canada Goose on the ice along the edge of the Bow River - the far side, of course, ha! - and adult and juvenile Eagles were busily feeding on it. Crows and Magpies were also joining in. Despite the size difference, Crows will pull on the tail feathers of an Eagle, to distract it from feeding. Taken on 31 January 2013 at Carburn Park. A total of 25 bird species was seen, including a male Ring-necked Pheasant and a Killdeer. Until maybe 8 or 9 years ago, when I bought my very first digital camera and eventually got into "birding", I had no idea that we have Bald Eagles in Calgary - lots of people are still very surprised when they learn this. How lucky we are! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/id

Noticed this wild American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) at the Calgary Zoo a couple of weeks ago, while the trees still had their autumn leaves. I so rarely get a photo of these birds. "The American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. In the interior of the continent south of the Arctic, it is called simply "the crow", as no other such birds occur there on any regular basis. It is one of several species of corvid that are entirely black, though it can be distinguished from the other two such birds in its range—from the Common Raven (C. corax) by size and behavior and from the Fish Crow (C. ossifragus) by call (but see below). It is also distinguished from the Raven by its smaller, more curved bill than the parallell bill of the raven, and its squared tail. American Crows are common, widespread and adaptable, but they are highly susceptible to the West Nile Virus. They are monitored as a bioindicator. Direct transmission of the virus from American Crows to humans is not recorded to date, and in any case not considered likely .... Most wild American Crows live for about 7–8 years. Captive birds are known to have lived up to 30 years." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Crow#Description talkaboutwildlife.ca/profile/?s=219

The Grizzly ended up with the tiny fish! My eyes are always drawn to the size of those claws! Sorry if anyone has left a comment on this photo before reading that I took it at the Zoo! Of course, if it had been in the wild, I would not have stopped long enough to even take a photo, LOL!

A family of Crows nests each year in the Spruce tree at the end of my neighbour's place. This is one of the young ones - yesterday was the first time I had seen any sign of young birds. It was sitting on my fence and one of the adults arrived to feed it - I'm trying not to wonder what it was given, judging by the food remnants around the adult's beak!!

This is one of the new young American Crows that fledged from a nest in a neighbour's tree. It was the first time I had seen any sign of young ones. This one sat on my fence, giving me a pretty close view - even if through a filthy window (which amazingly doesn't seem to show!). Love its beautiful blue eyes!

The local Crows had young ones that I photographed back in 2005. This one looked as if it was performing gymnastics on my garden fence.

These two young Crows were using my back fence as a balance beam in July 2005. I was surprised at how brown they looked in the sunlight. Not sure why that happened, unless young ones do have brown in some of the feathers.