The Clarion Crow

I have a crow who comes every morning at about 7:30 AM.  I call him the Clarion Crow.  He makes alot of noise to let me know that he has arrived and it ready to EAT!  This crow has a white spot on his tail and on one wing, so he is easily recognized.  Once I have delivered the food to the platform feeder, he lets all his buddies know that chow is available.  The crows like to sit on the top of the green arbor which is near the feeder.  They sit and look and check it out for some time before they fly over and light on the feeder.  I feed them the same foods that the ravens on Mt. Veeder liked.  Raw chicken eggs, left over meat scraps, old crackers, left over cat food, trimmed chicken fat, black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts are all food that the ravens liked.  Usually the ravens would go for the meat and fat first.  The crows usually go for the peanuts first.  The ravens and crows have similar behaviors.  I watched a crow try to stuff 3 peanuts in the shell into his bill at once.  A raven could have done it.  The crow tried mightily but could just manage 2 peanuts at a time.  He seemed quite disgusted.  The crows are getting used to me.  I talk to them and they watch me and do not fly off like they use to do when I go outside to join them.  The other day when I was working in the yard the Clarion Crow was up in the redwood tree over my head.  He started clicking and clacking, making sounds very similar to the sounds that ravens make.  The crow sounds are at a higher pitch but clicking and clacking away.  It was so nice to hear that sound.  I don't hear it very often from the crows.  I wonder why? Later that day the stealth raven flew in to grab up a big hunk of chicken fat.  He is still around but wary due such a raucous bunch of crows in the neighborhood.
It has been raining the last couple of days.  This has caused Redwood Creek to start running again.  I love to listen to the creek music- so much like my days on Mt. Veeder.  I am lucky down here- I have large redwood trees and a creek nearby- it is not so bad living in the valley when I think about it.  There are benefits, close to grocery stores and NO wood moving and the Clarion Crow.