Kathleen

Soon after I learned crows like peanuts, I threw a small handful into a clay pot hanging on a fence near our  bird feeders and our squirrel neighbors foraging everywhere they can find a morsel.  All this is hung over with November leafless tree branches.  So, I didn’t have much hope of a crow finding the peanuts before the squirrels ran off with them.  Not long after I threw out the peanuts, there was a crow pecking at and eating peanuts, hopping in and out of squirrels who were running in and taking them off.  The next day, I threw out a few more than I had the first day.  Two crows showed up and had a peanut snack.  Third day, three or four crows.  On the fourth day, there were 5 or 6 crows and they were cawing and cawing before I had come out of the house to throw them the peanuts!  I could see where this was going.  That was the last day I put out any peanuts.  They may have come back to check, but I haven’t seen any since the fourth day.  I may start again, but maybe further from the house!

The crows around here appear healthy.  I have not seen sick crows, though I have seen others sick.  I now realize how familiar I am with the crows around our house.  They must be a family.  Though I’ve seen them chase the red tail and others, I’ve never seen them be aggressive to one another.  But, now with this course, I have more to watch for and more to look forward to!

Retirement and Covid came at the same time for me.  I have been lucky to be able to be outside and love it, taking walks in our little woods and working on our little garden area.  I have taken many photos and having just discovered the macro mode on my phone  has invited me into the smaller worlds I might otherwise miss.  Drawing with journaling seems like a natural occupation for me because I often sit or stand for many minutes to visually explore and observe.  I especially liked the journals with repeated drawing of one subject as with the hummingbirds and thereby learning the significant features of the bird.  All of the examples sparked inspiration.  I need to learn about drawing techniques and can see that regular journaling with illustrations will help with that. I was so happy to find the course through eBird and am excited to get started.