The other morning I could hear cracking sounds in a tree out front and, on investigation, found two crows breaking off branches. Presumably, they are nesting and decided my largertroemia indica branches make perfect structural support for their nest.
The first guy looks a bit pie-eyed doesn't he? The second photo of him shows he has two good eyes so I think he was actually winking at me! Cheeky beggar...
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I've never liked crows and, like most people, I find their loud, abrasive call, well, loud and abrasive. "Ark, ark, ark" is not the sort of sound I like to wake up to of a morning. Or any time of the day. I know they are one of, if not "the" smartest birds in the world; able to actually solve set problems, not just talk like parrots.
Meanwhile, the missus is choosing a suitable branch for her nest. Not long after I took this shot, she was hanging upside down with the effort of breaking it off, but I missed that. Despite my dislike of the bird in general, I found it very interesting to watch them come back again and again for branches.
As the crow flies... Once it had selected a suitable branch, I followed its progress to see where they might be nesting; you can see a stick hanging from the beak.
I have to confess that, in this instance, "as the crow flies" it wasn't quite the straight run I expected.
There was a bit of swooping around but possibly because of the size of the stick chosen.
Still just in sight (just above the bright green foliage), it did a big loop to the left and ended up in this pine tree, at least two streets away. Up the crows' nest?
I can't spot the nest but I'm sure it's there somewhere. I guess they're not the only nesting pair because these shots were taken a week ago and this morning there was another crow out there robbing my tree. Word has obviously gotten around about the superior quality of my hardware tree.
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