Ravens and Turkey Vultures

The first song of the morning was as usual, the small and mighty crow of the banty Rooster below the window, reminding us all that the day is about to break. But in this case, the crow of Fantasy the banty Rooster was only the beginning! American Crows are often a part of the day in the Cherokee Mountains at 2600 feet in our rural shire. The past couple of days we have heard a very, very close kin to the Crow, of the saintly days of yore, The Common Raven! It’s croaking call can be heard echoing through the mountains as it soars through. For a fun twist in events I came across, The Raven, read by Christopher Walken, on Facebook! Definitely had to listen to that. In other bird news, we had another favorite of mine, The Northern Flicker visit us today, so beautiful the bright yellow that flashes from the underside of the wings as they fly by! The feeder was hopping with the usual stars, The Tufted Titmouse, The Northern Cardinal, the banty chicken, etc. The neighbors have cut hay so Turkey Vultures have been soaring the cool, sunny breezes over the fields, hoping, I suppose, to find the smell of that unfortunate small animal. The Turkey Vulture came very close to my dog and I, Treves passed out, sun dazed little body looking convincing giving me that opportunity to check out the birds silver primary and secondaries and tiny, red head, scanning the ground. Amidst the Turkey Vultures were some large, black birds soaring over the field, soaring, circling like the larger scavengers. Was it a murder of Crows mimicking the Vultures or a couple of Ravens looking for an easy meal? Will we know for sure, nevermore!

Fantasy on the bird feeder!