Monday, December 27, 2010

Feeding Time At The OK Corral

I love crows....yes even before they were a popular motif in art I had a fascination with crows.
 Here where I live I am surrounded by farmer's fields that are largely planted in feed corn and meadows that are harvested a couple of times each summer season. Needless to say it becomes a favorite haunt of gulls, geese (as they migrate) crows and a variety of other feathered friends.
Winter is a hard time for some, the gulls largely stay down by Lake Champlain in winter, but the crows and small birds stay near the houses and wait for whatever gets put out for them each day.
During the summer the gulls come everyday for left over cat food that I throw out for them each morning but the winter belongs to the crows!
They usually leave one poor crow who keeps watch from a telephone pole and as soon as I emerge from the front door he sends out a signal call and they start to gather close by waiting.
Today there were more than usual and the cat food was gone in minutes so I went through the cupboard and got out old cereal (Grape-nuts and Corn Flakes) and threw that out on the road as well. I just had to scrape a little of the frost off the window and try to get a few pictures of them. 
With the wind chill here today it was -8 and I just had to admire these wonderful crows who brave the freezing temps and wait so patiently. 
As you can see the competition is fierce so I try to space it out on the road so all have a chance to get something.
I have a feeling I will be making a bread run to the store soon for dinner!
I want to take this opportunity to say I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with the greatest joy and peace! I am so looking forward to 2011 and I hope and pray it will be a year filled with great blessings for all of us!
Tina xo

8 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas Tina, and I know the birds appreciated the food you gave them.

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  2. I am not overly fond of crows, they get my pecans - every year! I do like to watch them otherwise, they are quite intelligent. Mostly I have smaller birds and this year I am trying to con the little finches to come to a feeder on the porch and I put a new feeder out on the post - it's for the cardinals etc, but no one has found it yet. When they do finder it, I know I will be trudging out to fill it daily.

    We had an ok Christmas, not the standard one, but it was ok. 2 of the boys came up, the phone was busy and all that. I, too, am looking for a far better year in 2011, this year has been the pits, only way to go - is up!

    Blessing for your coming year and keep feeding the crows! ;-)

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  3. I wish you a very happy and exciting 2011!!
    P.S. You're right--you can't help but admire these crows for braving such cold temps.

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  4. Thank you for visiting with me Tina and leaving your comment on my blog.I also have been enjoying bird watching.My husband esp.likes crows,I catch Him calling them boy,He says they remind Him of dogs.The older I get the more I appreciate birds.Maybe thats a sign off old age,I don't care I do enjoy it.

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  5. I'm sending you my very best wishes for a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year!!

    Lots of love,
    Susan and Bentley
    xxoo

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  6. How nice of you to feed the crows, Tina...that touches my heart. They are clever birds. I imagine the birds do it tough in those snowy winters. In our summers, we put out water for the birds because it usually gets so hot....not so over the past few months, however, where we've had tons of rain and are in flood crisis in some parts of the State. Normally, our summers are very hot and humid. It's either feast or famine.

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  7. I just found you're site .Beautiful work

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Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and for leaving a comment. It truly brightens my day to read your thoughtful remarks!
Tina xo