Crow

Crow and I

By Gitie

A couple of years passed and we had moved to another farm, when Darren came home with a baby crow that he had found on the road.

I named him “Crow” this crow was even nosier than Camry (Darren said this one must be a girl).

Crow lived in our sun room, Crow was very smart she new she wasn’t allowed to enter into the kitchen so she would just sit in the doorway and poke her head in to see what we were doing.

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Camry The Crow - A Real Friend

By Gitie

Camry Crow and Darren By Belinda Elbourn

When Darren and I lived just west of Ceduna in South Australia we were very lucky to have shared our lives with 2 very special crows.

The first one to arrive on our door step was Camry, at first Camry was very shy little bird.

But after a day or two soon became a very demanding, cheeky loud little bird.

He spent the first couple of months in our enclosed back veranda.

As we had a huge enclosed fruit tree cadge (Darren and Camry are standing in it in the top photo) we thought it would be best for him to live out there, plenty of room to fly and hide.

Camry soon became very close to Darren, if was to go out to the cadge to feed him he would hide in the orange tree and would not come out.

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Breaking Through The Communication Barrier With Birds

By Gitie

by Francesca Doria (British Columbia)

In spite of all our New Year’s wishes, 2008 hadn’t begun well for my sister and I. Our Mum was bone-marrow transplanted and had been through a hard time, and our cat Émile, that had shared half of our lives with his endless care and reassuring love, was about to die of kidney failure. He had held out to help our mother and the two of us, but now he was wearing out, silently fading away. At the time our mother’s house had been restored, my sister and I had lived in until the inner works had started, so we had to move to our own flat where our mum already dwelt.

While I was staying with our mother and Émile, my sister Paola got back to the big house to tidy up and put in order everything. She immediately called me, informing that there was a jay she was feeding every day on my window sill and a pair of magpies building their nest on the top of our secular magnolia tree.

At first I was thrilled: I had always loved those elegant, intelligent, funny and noisy birds, and that news had surpassed my wish. But being in anxious state of mind, I nearly forgot both magpies and the friendly jay, until I came back home along with our mum, Émile and our other four cats.

The magpies were still at work: the male brought branches and other items, the female observed/examined them carefully, tried them out, sometimes discharged them, and he flew back and forth trying to find the best things to fit.

The jay was still coming, curiously watching the new incomers. There also was a couple of large hooded crows, that were the undisputed owners of that territory, from a bird’s point of view.

We came back home on 4^th March 2008: Émile made a huge effort to visit once again all the rooms of the house; although many things had changed dramatically (my sister’s room had a different entrance, one of the bathrooms had been rebuilt and much more) he recognized his house, blessed it and stood with us quietly and warmly as he had always done.

On 16^th March he was put to sleep: until that day the sky had been beautifully crystalline and blue, the sun had shone bright, the moon at night was big and white in a starry sky, the sea was stunningly navy blue and glittering with sun sparkling, there were breathtaking sunsets. But that day the sky grew dark, and heavy drops of rain began to fall. They got heavier and heavier, like a machine gun; although I was dazed with grief, I couldn’t help thinking of the poor birds outside, especially the pair of magpies, whose nest was under that torrential rain. The female sat on her eggs and never moved; the male brought her food.

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Cloudy Skies Make Greener Grass

By Gitie

The birds and wildlife have had a wonderful summer this year, inf act the best in over a decade. New wildgrasses have sprung up covering the hillsides due to the extended rains and are providing plenty of food and shelter this season in contrast to years of dry, burnt summers. Check out the pics below to see what they have been doing.

(click on the 'next' button to forward through the slides).

Previous Slide 1/36 Next Willie and Nellie learning to sing against the cloudy skies Lush green grasses fill the paddocks The eagles are a hunting up above while Rainbow lorikeets are sorting out territorial boundaries below The babblers have moved in having negotiated their rights The wallabies are enjoying the rich pickings along with Bertie Vicky Mindy and Kenny Billy's family is happy too Larry and Harrie are singing to glory The Crested pigeons are thrilled to boots Maggie's son Monty has found new friends Kenny wants to get up close and personal Gabriel Tuks joined the bat creche and returned to the colony Charlie Girl is fully recovered and adores Pete Jack is much happier now he can fly further Wallabies relax in the shade at the Long Grass Wildlife Refuge Jack adores Gabi Wild grasses spring up along the roadside the whole valley is green - for a few weeks at least One eyed Curly the currawong is looking healthy and well Gumnuts are a plentiful Butterflies delight Billy's brood is growing up Frieda is all black and white but still as friendly as ever Noisy miner is planning another clutch 2 eggs in here while the nest is being fortified wild grasses abound filling the bushy landscape to the joy of the birds and animals The galahs are keen to show their nest and pose for the camera The peewee too wants to be seen read more »

Gitie's blog

Emerging Plans for the New Season - June 2009

scly-breasted lorikeets Can you spot the two scaly-breasted lorikeets with their lispstick red beaks? They've just taken off after a drink and a bath at the lilypot. read more »