Nature Pics

[Frelga]

V, who is your friend? A hawk, I am guessing, do you know what kind?

Lali, So sad.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Red-tailed hawk.

Lali, thank you for caring.

[RoseMorninStar]

Oh, that is awful Laly. Are they recommending not filling bird feeders in your area?

[Lalaith]

It is awful. ODNR has not put that edict out yet, but I saw it as a recommendation elsewhere. (They also haven't responded to my notification of the dead waterfowl, so I'm not sure what they're doing.) So, even though it's not affecting songbirds at this time (last I read), I decided to leave my feeders empty for a couple of weeks.



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[Voronwë the Faithful]

Yes another friend (red shouldered hawk)



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[Lalaith]

Just lovely!

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[Voronwë the Faithful]

Today's friend





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[Voronwë the Faithful]

Today's neighbor (I really like this picture)



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[Frelga]

It looks like it's giving you a side eye and judging all your choices.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[RoseMorninStar]

It looks like it's giving you a side eye and judging all your choices.

Of course he is. He's saying, 'If you want photos you'll have to pay in peanuts!"

[Snowdog]

My Raven buddy 'Maw' taking treats out of my hand. You can see his 'pirate-limp' from when he got mauled by a dog a year and a half ago. I thought he was a goner then, but he healed up and returned.

Here are Maw and Crowley's fledglings of 2024. I named then 'Aud' on the left, and 'Ghost' on the right. They were taking refuge with Maw and Crowley in the shade with me as it was 41°C/106°F out. Their open beaks are how they try and regulate their internal body temperature, similar to a dog panting.



Here is the whole clan from back in November.

[RoseMorninStar]

Wow! I don't think my crows will ever get that close. They are so jumpy, even when I've left the food on the deck and gone back inside.

[RoseMorninStar]

Snowdog, what do you feed your crows? Mine seem to be a bit picky.

[Frelga]

That video is so cool!

[Inanna]

Those are big crows! And beautiful.

[Snowdog]

Wow! I don't think my crows will ever get that close. They are so jumpy, even when I've left the food on the deck and gone back inside.

Maw and Crowley took to us rather quickly after we moved in. I suspect the former owner of the house fed them. After some wariness, they warmed and would tap the front window with their beaks to get our attention. Slow movements, observation, and talking to them seemed to get Maw to trust me more. Crowley still wont get closer than a couple feet to me.

Snowdog, what do you feed your crows? Mine seem to be a bit picky.

I feed them dry cat food. I checked with a local wildlife center about it and they said the basic young adult cat food was actually good for them. They store them up in their gullet and will either drop them in the water bowl or regurgitate them when they soften. Quite resourceful.

Those are big crows! And beautiful.

They are Australian Ravens. One thing I learned yesterday is the American Crow's young have blue eyes that darken to near-black as they mature. Australian Ravens are the opposite. Their eyes start off near-black, and slowly change to brown then dark grey before lightening up to blue at adulthood.

[RoseMorninStar]

Fascinating. The crows in our yard don't seem to enjoy cat food. I've been making them a mixture of lard, cracked corn, cat food, and chicken bits (what is left from making chicken stock). I scoop it into little balls & set them on 'their' plate on the back deck in the morning. It's very cold here and we often have ice and snow so I don't sit outside waiting for them to visit. In summer I will.

[Inanna]

Here are some pics from our Feb trip to Arizona. Petrified National Forest is really amazing:

[RoseMorninStar]

Arizona/the Southwest has some very unique geography and culture. I hope you enjoyed it very much. Love the photos!