Julie

The multiple banding  method and the ability to track crows for 18 years. I did not know they lived this long. This is the kind of meticulous work that reminds me of Jane Goodall tracking primates. Fascinating to know there are such personalities in crows. Admirable work. Great to finally understand why they hang out in cemeteries.

1. I would let them know that snakes and the abundant squirrels we have are more likely to be killing the nestlings, great fact I just learned from this course. 2. Our property has a large amount of open space and oak trees, we see them here all the time. I believe we have seen nests but will look more carefully now to see if the are crews’ nests. We also have seen them dipping garbage (bread, tortillas, pizza) in our backyard fountain to soften it before eating.... 3. We are in Southern California, so yes, both live hear. I will know now to look at the hard shape, tail and wing shape, and feather and flight patterns to identify. I believe based on the calls it will be easier to identify also. 4. I definitely know that other animals benefit from the “early warning system” crows provide when there is a predator in the area. We have bobcats and coyotes, and crows will often notify the entire neighborhood when a bobcat is coming through. The squirrels and smaller birds disappear. We humans appreciate the notification also, and when we hear the crows we go out to make sure the neighbor’s dog is in....

Activity 1 - well I wish I could draw! What a wonderful way to create a memory of time outdoors. I did sign in to my eBird account and make my first submission. I can see how this could become a habit. I signed up for the eBird course, so will tackle that next. I totally agree that relying on memory leaves big gaps in what you saw, for now I will just take my phone and record my notes on the go in eBird. Great and easy to use tool!l

Activity 1 - The two areas I visited are a large recreational park near our home and a state park near our home. The interesting thing is that both are about a one mile walk from our home, and they have very different bird life. The recreational park is full of nesting parrots, and ravens emptying the fast food bags. Also the usual pigeons and sparrows. The habitats at this park include sycamore trees and pine trees, and at some times of the year, a small stream runs through it. The state park is a very different habitat, it is very dry chaparral, mountainous with more lush canyons, but otherwise pretty dry.  Today we saw huge birds soaring above the canyons, there were four of them. We saw them about a month ago also, so this must be their habitat. They were soaring at a high altitude, and so I never saw anything but the profile of them in the air. I believe they were turkey vultures, although it is not out of the range of possibility that they were California Condors. We also saw quail - the California State Bird - which I have never seen in the wild before. Pretty fun.

Activity 2 - Using Merlin, three species that I see often that are here year round are the House Sparrow, the American Crow, and the Mourning Dove. Not very exotic, I know! The Cedar Waxwing is only here during the non breeding part of the year, and I have seen those here, very beautiful. Have not yet found two others that are here seasonally - will keep looking!

@Carole Adorable! Thanks for sharing.

Hello all! Here are my activities: Activity 1 - Love the Bird Wall! The video is quite inspirational, nice to hear what the artist had to say, what an interesting career. Although extinct, I was fascinated by the Ornimegalonyx, a four foot owl. We have owls in my area, and I can only imagine what it would be like to see that. Incredible. Activity 2 - Three birds I found outside and was able to identify; 1. Junco - we love these guys. Every year they come by and nest in the hillside behind our house in Southern California. I did not know they were in the sparrow group, they are lively and fun to watch. 2. Mallard - this is an easy one, but we have a mated pair that has been roaming our neighborhood, they are suburban ducks! Lots of neighbors reporting sightings on our neighborhood app. They are much loved.  3. Red - crowned parrot. We have a large flock in the area we live in, which is the foothill area north of Los Angeles. I downloaded the Merlin app and was able to identify the species. Interesting that the only area they live in outside of Mexico is here. All kinds of stories about the exotic bird farms that were abandoned in the past, resulting in flocks of parrots establishing themselves here. There is a photo of a flock attached to this post. They thrive here. Activity 3 - Favorite bird - Allen’s Hummingbird. Also using the Merlin app was able to identify this species. We have had 8 baby hummingbirds hatch and launch from our patio over the past five years. Most recent one just flew off  last weekend. This has become a favorite spring activity and this year with more time at home has brought us a lot of time to observe watching the mama build the nest, feed the baby, weather a storm, and the baby reluctantly leaving the nest. Usually they laytwo eggs, but this one laid only one. We think junior was pretty comfortable. He took longer than usual to leave and was pretty big!