Towheeblog

On our morning dog walk this morning my wife and I stood and watched a clamorous gathering. Crows were bunched in the bare top of the tallest cottonwood in the vicinity. It provided a fine 360-degree view of the neighborhood. When we first noticed, there were about twenty. More arrived to raucous greetings. The discussion continued. Were they agreeing on the day’s assignments? You check there, we’ll go here, they can cover that place….these birds normally share food discoveries if the source can feed many. The flock reached at least thirty, then after a few more minutes of cawing and hawing, small sub-flocks departed in different directions–three that way, two here, four up the street. The crows despise the local red-tail and at least six members of the flock were later seen chasing this red-tail out of the area. There is little evidence that crows physically injure the chased hawk. Mobbing is to make the raptor leave, not harm it. Crow control is the goal.

MOLTING AND MOTTLED
Male American Goldfinch on left, changing into his spring outfit:

THere was drumming at daen today. Flickers on utility poles, this Downy up a neighbor’s birch tree:

When there are peanuts “Junco-jay,” named for his bold white tail stripes, is one the most aggressive of our local nut-grabbers.
The female Bushtit has the pale eye. So was the male’s arrival some kind of come-on? She soon left.

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Mar 8, 2022
20 species

Eurasian Collared-Dove  1
Mourning Dove  4
Red-tailed Hawk  1     pursued by crows
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Steller’s Jay  1
California Scrub-Jay  6
American Crow  X
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  2
Bushtit  20
House Sparrow  2
House Finch  2
Lesser Goldfinch  15
American Goldfinch  10
Fox Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  30
Golden-crowned Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Townsend’s Warbler  1