Did you know crows are a lot like humans in how they socialize with one another? According to the Humane Society,

Offspring spend up to six years with their parents, helping to care for subsequent nestlings and learning parenting skills. Most crows do not survive past the first year of life. Those who do survive often live 17 years or more. (The oldest known wild American crow was 29 years old.) [This is the equivalent of human youth staying with their parents through their teens and longer!] The groups of crows in your backyard are extended families, usually numbering six to nine, which gather into larger groups to roost, a practice that protects them from predators.

So, it makes sense that crows are so protective, cawwing and swooping when you come near their family members or that they remember when you were standing by a crow that died or if you harm or threaten a crow. It makes sense why a mother crow would seem absolutely crazy flying straight towards you despite your ability to harm her—just to protect her young.

I say to the mother crow, good for you, fearlessly love them while you can!

I feel crow-like this week, this month, this year, this life. I feel fiercely protective and unable to resist the urgent rise of worry that forms as inherently in me as breath. And I am swooping, hovering, and crazed in my attempts to keep you safe. I’m tired but never too tired. Never too tired but sometimes alone. Perhaps I’ll tell it to the crow…maybe they can understand.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is so profoundly sad. It is causing widespread damages that we cannot even begin to access or understand accurately. It is such a shame. And most people feel so helpless… what can we do?

Well, when 5th grade Olivia Bouler heard about the oil spill in the place she vacations with her family, she sat down to write a letter with an offer to help the birds…

http://www.aolartists.com/profiles/olivia-bouler/

And so began “Save the Gulf” operation between Olivia, her drawings and the Audubon Society. As of today, June 11 2010, she has helped raise over $80,000 to help rescue the birds from the oil spill still happening. You can read the news story here. Or visit her AOL artist site and enjoy her drawings here. And you can donate to help save the birds here.

http://www.aolartists.com/profiles/olivia-bouler/

It only takes a willingness to help. And one person can make a difference. Thanks Olivia… you give hope to the future! I look forward to seeing you become an Ornithologist one day. The birds are lucky to have you!

(Originally posted elsewhere on one of my other sites for birds. However, I felt it worthy to share as many places as possible.)

This is such a fun game! You should play…it is available on iTunes as an iApp.

Angry Birds

Click here to get it –>    <– Click here to get it!

I find the simplest things in life are most enjoyable. I love reading, writing, good conversations. I love researching my ancestry and the ancestry of those I care about. I like to read the stories of yesteryear, tales of Scottish lords and English peasants. I treasure time spent with people I care about in whatever way I can get it. I like to laugh and love and live. I have been on the quest for meaningful interactions with others. Genuine engaging conversations. Talking of everything that is real and avoiding that which is not. I find comfort in the warmth of silence enveloping the end of a satiating conversation. I like to read aloud to those who will listen and I love to be read to, particulary whilst falling asleep.

This past year I have returned to simpler motivations. I want those I care about to know why I care, why I enjoy their company, why I choose them to be in life. I also want to steer clear of overconsumption, of wasteful spending, of collecting things I do not need. I decided for birthdays to get creative, to get personal. I will make compilations of music that are thought out and relevant. I will make gifts and cards that say, “you are important to me”. I will give my time, my attention, my thoughtfulness. I will share of myself more. I have already started this… with the birthday Cardis (Tardis), handmade Valentines, a homemade custom birdfeeder and handwritten journals filled with descriptive reasons I like a person. I’ve jotted down things people have done that made me smile or feel warm and fuzzy. I’ve typed them up on notecards and filled them in small boxes…sharing them like love-filled recipes of how to appreciate the more important things in life.

It is time to return to a time where people mattered more than things. And I don’t mind being in the forefront of this change.

In keeping with the going trend…I will post another time about books and birds. This week’s bird of the week is a female Pine Siskin and Anna’s Hummingbird.

Female Pine Siskin

Female Pine Siskin

Female Pine Siskin

Female Pine Siskin

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

I really enjoy these little birdies. =) They are fun to watch, relaxing even. I would be hardpressed to think of a better day than a breezy Spring day relaxing with a good book and an unobstructed view of the birdies. These are the books I am currently reading—I know I haven’t given a thorough review of my last ones yet but I will get to it eventually.

I have always enjoyed handwritten correspondence. I like paper, envelopes and stamps. I like the impression left on the paper with the pen filling with ink on the paper. I like the feel of the paper under my hands. I like to post them and I like to receive them. I am always searching for new pretty paper with matching envelopes. I even use holiday paper… I know, I am a geek. =) I also like to pick interesting stamps. I have for many years. I think the flag stamps are boring (patriotic but…boring). I used the Breast Cancer Awareness stamps as default for a long time. Each stamp meant a few more cents towards Breast Cancer research. I am a sucker for a good cause coupled with something I enjoy—like writing letters or sending mail.

I’ve slacked a bit in my writing the past few years. Tsk, tsk. I will try to work on that.  I did order some stamps recently. I had some of the Breast Cancer Awareness stamps and some Edgar Allen Poe stamps (because I love his work) but I wanted to buy a bird stamp (to celebrate International Migratory Bird Day 2009) so I went to the UPSP site and started looking. Here is what I ordered.

The 2004-2005 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp—the Redheads (in my honor hahahaha). It is a $15 stamp but it is not mailable. It is purely for conservation means. The money is donated to the National Wildlife Refuge System to help maintain the 5-million-plus acres of habitat.

2004-2005 Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp

Next, I came upon the Alzheimer’s stamp and thought of my dearest friend whose grandfather is struggling with memory issues. Naturally, I ordered them.

Alzheimer Awareness Stamp

And last but not least I got some stamps from my birth state. I will leave you guessing on that one.

I am still in pursuit of some cool new paper but I am simply not finding any. However, I did find this most interesting journal. I ordered it for someone special. It arrived yesterday. It is plantable. Brilliant idea. It is symbolic as well as earth friendly (made with post-consumer recycled paper and plantable!). It is perfect for anyone who needs to grow through some pain. Write it out and plant it.

Two constants in my life are books and birds—that is not to say there are not other constants but these two stand out for me right now. I wish to share the books I am reading with you and the birds that are coming to my feeders. I have four feeders and 2 bird houses. This is quite the feat considering I live in an apartment and all of those are on my balcony. Hahahaha. I do so love my birds.

Anna's Hummingbird

I have better photos but this one I took just a few moments ago — and so I thought it would be the best to share. I will also share a photo of a female house finch that visits regularly.

Female House Finch

I really enjoy watching and listening to the birds. This week has been sunny and they haven’t missed a note in enjoying the newly come spring time weather. They were flying in elaborate aerial patterns trying to impress potential mates. They were singing pretty for all to hear. I like spring and I like birds.

I am currently reading the following books.

Women of the Asylum by Jeffrey L. Geller and Maxine Harris

This book is a collection of personal accounts by women who were locked away in the mental institutions against their will. It is sad but revealing. Not so much has changed for women and mental health.

Lover of Unreason: Assia Wevill, Sylvia Plath's Rival and Ted Hughes Doomed Love

This is the biography of Assia Wevill—Ted Hughes’ second wife who committed suicide, taking her daughter’s life with her own. I will let you know in detail what I think of this book when I finish it.

I am reading a few for classes but I won’t share these with you unless you really want to know…then you can leave a comment. I will also give thorough reviews of these books when I am finished with them.

Yes, I am a fully trained-human. The crows have me trained. I started feeding them on a regular basis a few months back. I put bread out on my porch and they take it. I did this daily for a few weeks. Its fun for me, I know, I am a geek. At any rate, I discovered the crows prefer peanuts to bread and so I switched to leaving gobs of peanuts every morning on my porch. There has been a learning curve here but not for the birds, for me.

They caw, then wait for their peanuts. This is a daily routine.

Lesson 1 in the crows training program was teaching me their preferential diet. I learned they preferred peanuts over bread. They would leave the bread for last and gobble up the peanuts like they were going out of style.

Lesson 1 (a): Neighbors do not appreciate when you leave peanuts (or bread) on the shared walkway/porch. They get angry and show this anger in passive-aggressive ways, such as sweeping aggressively outside your door while hitting it repeatedly and forcefully with each stroke. Then later opening the door quickly trying to “catch” you feeding the birds, only to smile and shut their door calmly as if it doesn’t matter, never saying anything to you. I learned it was better to place the peanuts (and/or bread) on the ledge of the porch, rather than the walkway, and sweep up the mess after every feeding.

Lesson 2: Scheduled feedings. I have an irregular schedule. The birds…not so much. It just so happened that I would feed the birds in the morning when everyone left. It was a fluke really, not intended to create a pattern. The birds thought otherwise. One day I forgot to put peanuts out and they began cawwing. How cute. =) It reminded me to put the peanuts out, and so I did. A few days go by, I remember to feed them, no problem. Then, I fell asleep on my couch one morning and did not put peanuts out for them, oops. They tried to cawww outside my door but I was too sleepy. I thought to myself, “self, they can wait.” This didn’t go over very well with the crows. They cawwed and cawwed for about a half hour. Then they decided to take it a step further. They went onto the roof and to my chimney and started cawwing down it. It echoed down my unused fireplace and throughout my acoustically-amplified apartment. They were determined to get me to feed them. And I did.

And now I am officially trained. They know how to get me to feed them and do so on a regular basis, much to the chagrin of my neighbors. =/ Oops.

I think a peanut dispenser is the logical next step for us, the birds and me. Any suggestions on how I can train them?

Reap what you sow, McCain.

It would seem McCain doesn’t want to discuss the economy anymore. He would rather “turn the page” on this issue (he clearly doesn’t understand how important it is right now) and start his ridiculous lying campaign against Obama again. This is stupid. McCain WILL NOT and CAN NOT help us economically, he is corrupt. He was almost convicted once of an economic crime at what he described as the lowest point of his life. He is not trustworthy.

Read all about it for yourself.

THE KEATING SCANDAL

The ABC’s of the Keating Scandal

“Like bones to the human body, the axle to the wheel, the wing to the bird, and the air to the wing, so is liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect.”

– Jose Marti