A birdie day

It's been a day of unusual birds for me today. It started with a bird song in the yard that I didn't recognize. Hopefully I'll hear it again and will be able to identify it.

On our scoot, Liza and I encountered this crow, which isn't unusual, but it did let us get very close and I was able to take a lot of photos, which is. They usually fly off at the first hint of a lens and rarely allow this proximity. There was another crow above us vocalizing the whole time, probably trying to warn this fellow about us. He was busy tossing leaves and finding morsels under them to eat.

Here's a shot of Liza contemplating a run at the crow.

Later in the day I heard several crows in alert mode and looked up to see them chasing a raptor; I couldn't identify the raptor, but up higher than these birds, I spotted a bald eagle soaring over! Eagles aren't rare in Portland, but I've never seen one in our neighborhood. It was thrilling!

I've started reading a book called Gifts of the crow : how perception, emotion, and thought allow smart birds to behave like humans. I know how intelligent corvids are, including the ability to make tools. I look forward to learning more about these fascinating birds. (I do take exception to the subtitle; I'm not so sure behaving like humans is particularly smart.)

Check out the crow in LARGE.