Have you heard of Storm Chasers?   Like them today was about searching and chasing Baby Crows.   Not only their parents but this Crow Watcher too.

I actually ran into three families who were watching their child fledge.   I think this is a pretty terrifying time for them.   The little ones are the same size as a regular crow but have no street smarts or idea of what is dangerous or not.  They don’t fly very well and are still dependent on their parents for food.  They cry and bring attention to themselves which adds to the chances that a predator will hurt them.

The first baby I heard was close to where Marine View Drive and 35th Avenue join at the hairpin corner.   I had feed the adults some bread and was moving around the corner by the park.   Then I heard the little guy crying.   He was on the roof of a house about a half block back from where I came.   I  ran down there pulling my zoom camera out & getting it prepped.   Time is a wasting when you see wildlife and want a good shot.   I didn’t get a very good picture due to lighting but here it is:

The next baby was up in the Madronas.   The parents were cawing and generally agitated when I started down the path.  They got even crazier when a lady came up with her black dog.   They don’t like dogs & she told me they were dive bombing her puppy at the beach.

Once I got to the beach I could hear the baby and when I got ready to leave it sounded like it was in the bushes there on the beach.  I dug around a bit to see where he was and realized the voice was bouncing around the bluff.   The baby was really up in the madronas.   So, I decided to head up a rarely used trail that I thought would get me closer.   So much for that idea, not only did I get all wet from the tall grass on this unused trail but the family of crows was not happy with me at all.   I got some pictures but they are too shaky since my zoom had to be at max & that is always a challenge for good photos.

Then I started home and right across the street from the nest I think a first time crow couple had a baby I heard the little one crying.   After looking around a little & being cawed at by his parents, I saw the baby in the flower bed to the side.  They came very close to the top of my head & if they hadn’t known me I bet they would have clawed me.  They were besides themselves with the baby on the ground.  However, because of that I finally got the Baby Crow Chaser pictures I was dreaming of!   These following photos show all three features of a baby; blue eyes, pink mouth & fluffy head with some pin feathers still trying to clean up.

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