Jorden

Observation 1, March 15, 15 minutes long

Found birds (crows or ravens) flying over nearby trees in circles. There were 6 birds, all about the same size making a slightly warbled "Craw Craw" call. They were flying in several different patterns:

Dive bomb, glide, dive bomb, glide, dive bomb, glide, flutter, repeat. (may have been feeding) Long glide, flutter, long glide flutter. short glide, flutter, short glide, flutter.

flew by barn, split into a group of 2 and a group of 4, when together flew in a hexagonal pattern. fly past tree line out of sight.

Observation 2, March 17, 15 minutes long

Saw 2 crows flying from a great pine tree and chase each other. (may have been playing or mating) They perfectly mirrored each others movements. They fly off out of sight for 2-3 minutes I hear a far off caw then they streak back across the sky still mirroring each other in perfect harmony.

Observation 3, March 18, 15 minutes Saw six crows surrounding another crow as they fly around the WAL-MART parking lot. May have been six male crows surrounding a female crow trying to mate they all stay in a flock and fly around trees. Males are flapping wings more rappidly than the female. I have made a sketch: Observation 4 and 5, 3/19, 30 total minutes between both observation 4: Saw a crow fly overhead and caw. It flew to a tree and landed on top of the tree with his wings flitting every once in a while he looks around a lot. After about 5 minutes I saw another crow fly by and land in a different tree flitting its wings a lot and dropping down to other branches sometimes. After 10 minutes the first crow left over the tree line. After 15 minutes the second crow dropped to a branch behind another branch and I couldn't see it any more. 5: On the way back from O-4, I saw a crow fly nearby and land on top of a tree and flit its wings a lot while looking around and cawing sometimes. Another crow comes and lands on a tree that is close by. The two crows have a "conversation" where the first crow calls out a "caw caw caw" and the second warbles "craw craw craw" repeatedly. They fly away still "talking"

Observation 6, 3/20. 30 min Saw two ravens and 2 crows (or juvenile ravens) outside the window by a big tree in the front yard with some dog bones. The ravens stand the bones on end and peck at the marrow. Every once in a while the crows look in as if they are wondering what the ravens are eating. The crows, when they are not looking inside bones, peck at the ground as if eating scraps of marrow the ravens drop. A car drives by and scares the crows into the telephone wires (one into field). When the ravens return to the bones, the dogs come outside and see the crows and start to inch toward the bones, The crows reluctantly fly into trees when the dogs are just barely inches away. I have some pictures you need to click on the link to see them they ARE in order

Observation 7, 4/2, 15 minutes Saw 2 crows. One stood in the road while the other stood in the grass eating regurgitated dog food. The two crows switched places about every 2 minutes. The bigger crow would take 3-4 pieces of dog food and then he would fly to the other side of the road and eat them for a couple minutes. During that time the other crow would come to the food and take 2-3 pieces of dog food until the first crow comes back.

Observation 8, 4/3, 30 minutes Saw a crow by a house in a large puddle splashing around. (May have been bathing) Sometimes it ducks into the water and bursts out splashing water everywhere. After about 15 minutes a second crow comes and bathes in another puddle but never ducks completely into the water. After 20 minutes the second bird flies away, and after 30 minutes the first flies away. Observation 9-10. 4/7, 30 total miutes.

9: Heard crows "caw". After 3-5 minutes I saw 3 crows fly out of the trees and fly in circles over a field. They then flew almost over the horizon so that I could just barely see them. Then they flew over the horizon. 10: Much later that day, in the same field, I saw too many small (Juvenile?) crows to count. They all call a trilled "kah-rrrreeee" a lot. They had an odd wing coloration: a white band with black below and red above: They like to sit on cattails and telephone poles. They never left except for about 8 of them.

I found a poem about ravens to share: []