Friday, March 30, 2007

Crowssbill in the crowssfire

As I lazily lounge in bed in the morning waiting for the moment when I feel I have enough energy to reach four feet for the tea which is sitting on the windowsill, I like to stare out of the window at the bird activity in the air and on the rooftops near our house. There is a particular aerial which attracts birds all the time: Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Starling, Greenfinch, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Blackbird and House Sparrow are so far on its official tick list.
A pair of Carrion Crows have been doing a lot of calling displaying and general territorialising. If I can summon the energy to lift my bins, I sometimes use them to watch these birds. And I noticed a couple of weeks back that one of the crow pair has overlapping tips to the bill, like a giant elongate crossbill. Naturally, this crow is called Crowssbill, and I'm hoping a. it survives, b. its bill can correct itself (I'm not sure if this ever happens (?) c. it and its partner are successful breeders.
However, today, while Crowssbill was dominating the aerial, a new pair of Carrion Crows moved in and saw him (let's call him him) off.
There was a bit of circling around and a potential big battle is about to commence.
I'll keep you posted (and will try and get a shot of Crowssbill)...

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