Last Day in Paradise

Today is our last day in Shell Beach and I will have to say goodby to my two crow friends.  It has been interesting to watch their antics.  They have many characteristics in common with ravens.  I had never paid much attention to crows before, so this vacation was a great opportunity to watch them up close.  Each morning I put out bread crumbs on one corner of the deck railing for the white crowned sparrows.  On the other end I  put out meat scraps for the crows.  Occasionally a seagull would cruise by to see what was what but I would go outside and scare him off. 
The crow pair sit on the telephone wire and wait for me to disappear before they come down to get the treat.  One at a time they come down and get their snack of the day.  There is not a shy one in this pair.  They are both bold as long as they can't see me.  Now they are both sitting on the telephone wire when I come upstairs in the morning to get my cup of tea. How soon they learn where the good stuff is!!
I am very anxious to get home and see the raven pair.  Will they remember me?

RAVEN DEPRIVATION

It has been 19 days since I have seen a raven.  I am raven deprived!!  I have searched the skies of Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo to no avail.  Nary a raven in sight. I miss Bold and Shy and their morning visits at 7:30 AM on the nose.  It is my punishment for going off and leaving Bold and Shy that I have not been able to find a raven.  It is so strange because I always see ravens wherever I go.  HUM- there are brown pelicans, starlings, oyster catchers, blue jays, sea gulls a plenty, surf scooters, buzzards, sparrows, crows, hummingbirds,  egrets, they are all here at the interface of the land and the sea- but no ravens. Well I will keep looking and scanning the skies.   I did see one thing that was so marvelous.  Looking out to sea I saw something sitting on a raft of kelp.  With further looking- it was a grey blue heron riding on a raft of kelp quite a ways from shore. That is something I had never seen- quite something- not as good as a RAVEN- but pretty darn good!

Brother Crow in Pismo

Here we are in Pismo Beach looking for ravens.  Bold and Shy are almost on their own.  They will get some treats while we are gone from the house sitter. Then there are the two compost piles they frequent everyday and of course all the squirrels on the road.  I bet they are MAD- no one to feed them at the strike of 7:30 AM!  I better watch my back when I get home!!

The first night we were here Chuck noticed a big black bird flying by.  We could not see the tail in flight to determine whether it was a crow or a raven UNTIL- CAW CAW!!!!  We put out a piece of meat on the railing to see what would happen.  The big black bird came down and did the same motions as a raven.  He sat on the telephone wire and wiped his beak back and forth on the wire numerous times.  Jumped forward and backwards until he got the nerve to fly down to the railing and get the meat.  I could not see his beak very well or his neck but thought it was a very large crow.

The next day I put out some meat on the railing in the full sunlight.  This way I could see the bird clearly if he came to collect the food.  Within 10 minutes- here came two large black birds- one flew down and got a piece of the meat.  No tentative sitting on the telephone wire this time. I got a good look at its tail in flight- definitely a very large crow.  No wedged shaped tail for this guy and lots of Cawing.  The other black bird then came down and got the rest of the food. So it looks like we will have crow friends for the duration of our stay.  These crows have a pretty good spot- right by the beach- several large trees to sit in and survey the landscape and lovely weather- what is not to like for human or crow?