It's 8:00 a.m., Sunday, November 9, 2008, and it's a beautiful day outside my den. [And no, there are no birds in the above photo...as usual, I was too slow.] I've been sitting at my desk alternately reading online and thinking of all the things I have to pack on this, my next-to-last weekend in this condo.
A couple of months ago, I started being able to HEAR the birds and crickets outside even with the windows closed. But this morning all my little friends were being very quiet. So I was sitting here just on the point of reading today's Truthout.org, when I heard "caw, caw, caw." Then another "caw, caw, caw."
Where could that sound be coming from? The playful, imaginative little girl on the third floor makes some interesting noises, and the dog right above me occasionally barks, but this didn't sound like them.
Then I heard another "caw, caw, caw...." That couldn't be a crow, could it? I've not seen a single crow here since West Nile virus wiped them out of this portion of Rock Creek Park about 5 years ago. An NPR report last year talked about the decimation of the crow population, particularly. Nearly half of the total crow population in the U.S. were felled by this virus, and the three crows who had been visiting our side yard daily at morning twilight since I moved here in 1998 were gone.
I heard another series of caws, looked out my window, and saw a big CROW flying through the trees in the cemetery out back. A CROW!!! OMG, a crow!
I'll have to tell ASCAR about this!! I've barely glanced at the past couple of issues of its wonderful newsletter. It was too painful to think that we may have seen the last of crows here. Some people expressed skepticism about the death of so many birds in Rock Creek Park. The person thought we'd be up to our ankles in dead birds, but no. I did see two dead crows lying on the soccer field at Gallaudet, but the ubiquitous DC rats made short order of their carcasses.
I've got my camera out, and if I hear any more cawing, I'm not giving up until I get a photo of such a miraculous visitor.
Oh man am I glad you told us there wasn't a bird in the picture. Good luck with your move!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get the picture! And good luck with your move!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased that #1 you had a crow and #2 you could hear it!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it'll give you another opportunity to see him/her!
speaker, kay, peggy....thanks for your kind words. i plan to a) get up earlier every morning till i move, b) attach my C.I. at once, and c) go into the den right away just in case i hear or see the crow again. in the past, the same ones came around daily. if this is not a simple fugitive from northern virginia, where the total boneheads have been killing crows for some time, and has truly set up housekeeping hereabouts, it'll be back!
ReplyDeleteI bet there'll be crows in your new place. They are smart little birdies and hopefully they are coming back to join us...and now you are conveniently located near a giant park where the trees are high and bush is thick and oh it was so glorious there today.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the crows will be there, too.
Cat
As you know, I have a CI and am always happy to hear any kind of bird (or any sound for that matter). I recently had my CI mapped again and it has improved my hearing. Only another CI user can understand how exciting that is.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have crows here, but cactus wrens are loud.