adventures in serendipity
Is this the same bird that I saw at Roxhill School three years ago. You be the judge by looking at the old post. The post was “Crooked Beak Crow – Roxbury School” published in October of 2011. http://wp.me/p1d1cX-a5
Here he is today on the school sign begging with everyone else for another peanut. See what I mean by only being a few feet from me?
Good News today, the crooked beak crow I wrote about back in October of last year over at Roxbury (Roxhill) Elementary School is still around. I was feeding the flock that hangs out at the little school garden and there he was on the wire. I like to keep a record of identifiable crows for two reasons. One it helps us understand their territories and life spans. Second, since the ones I can ID are often handicapped it is interesting to see how they actually get along for years. Not the best picture today because I didn’t have my better zoom camera but you can see how his lower bill is out of proportion.
Here is the post if you want to read about that first sighting. http://wp.me/p1d1cX-a5 Check out the beak of the old photos and this series. Today’s sighting looks like the top bill is broken off but the distance of the bird could be the top is hidden. Same crow or not here is another example of a crooked beak.
I came across a family of crows at the small garden the children of Roxbury School planted. I was feeding them bread and got some great shots of them. The group got to about 20 members as they congregated to feed and see what the excitement was all about. Here is a photo of them all on the edge of the fence watching the party.
Then I looked up at the roof of the school and I saw another Crooked Beak Crow. It’s been months since I have seen my Beach Mr. Crooked Beak but there was another one with an extended top beak. I was a person on a mission to take more photos of him to see if he is the same bird. I got photos of him on the school and across the street on the wire.
After looking at the photos from the beach to the school, I really think they are different birds. My Beach guy has a more deformed lower beak than the School guy. Here are the photos of School Crooked Beak Crow:
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Now here is the photo of Mr. Beach Crooked Beach – see if you think it is a different bird?
Saturday in the Pacific Northwest was a dream of a spring day. It finally got into the mid 60s and the sun was shining on the beach. Add a nice low tide and what do you get? A big flock of crows to play with.
I took a different camera this trip. Instead of my little Canon that fits into my jeans pocket I took my first digital camera that has a great zoom lens. He isn’t very afraid of me anyway and sat within 15 feet of me, so with the stronger zoom you can see his beak is really crossed over.
Today at the beach I had quite a crowd. 35 or so individual crows followed me around and in that group was Mr Crooked Beak again. He isn’t very afraid of me and he got close enough that I got a better picture of him. He does have a serious overbite and snaggle tooth end to it. No wonder the others respect him and stay out of his way.
At the trail head I saw my gimpy crow Ellie and her mate in the usual area. Then when I was feeding on the beach there she was again. That confirms that they live up on the road but come to the beach for low tides and more flock activities.
I also saw a Bald Eagle scoping out the area. It is nesting time and all the birds are playing chase me catch me plus looking for nesting spaces.
Today headed to the beach and approached it from the opposite direction. All along the way I was greeted by cawing and begging for bread. (in the end I ran out).
At what I call the Peanut House on MVD where there is a large group that hang out as soon as the bread hit the street they came in force. They lined the overhead wires and I got the biggest count ever there. 35 individuals over my prior count of around 25. Noticed them sitting in the tree in pairs more than usual too. This must be the beginning of the mating season and they are getting cozy for the next building phase. Here are a few pics of them on the wires:
Today at the beach I noticed a crow with a snaggle tooth type beak. It was very long and had a sharp curved “snake tooth” end. The bottom appeared to be shorter or even a little off to one side.
The Beach now has several identifiable birds. Two with white feathers, my cripple bird (Ellie) and now the crooked beak male.
He didn’t seem to be bothered by this. In fact the other crows respected him & got out of his way. I suspect the hook at the end didn’t feel very good if you got in his way. He also came closer to me and was less shy than some of the others. (of course I have several that are not very afraid of me at all these days.
Here is his picture and Ellie’s. Notice the difference in the beaks. His is so much longer.
