comments

1. Cindy Scroggins on January 13th, 2010 at 2:28 pm

   I love this.

2. Deron Bauman on January 13th, 2010 at 2:31 pm

   fantastic.

3. Sheila Ryan on January 13th, 2010 at 2:50 pm

   Wil, this is wonderful. Are they crows, or proper ravens, you reckon?

   In the States people sometimes think that very large crows are ravens, but I came to know my ravens when I lived (briefly) in a remote desert region of southern California.

   I like all members of the Corvidae family.

4. Wil Freeborn on January 13th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

   Sheila – I think these must be common crows as ravens are pretty big, I’m not sure they hang out in large numbers. I know what you mean about Ravens, once I wanted one as a pet.

   The Corvidae family are amazing, I want to see a chough sometime in my life, they have red legs and bills.

5. Jesse W. Poe on January 13th, 2010 at 3:04 pm

   a slouch of models
   a ring of jewelers
   a…..

6. Sheila Ryan on January 13th, 2010 at 3:38 pm

   I seem to recall Phil mentioning a fellow where he lives, in Bath, who had a pet jackdaw that sat on the man’s shoulder — and that Phil kind of wants a jackdaw.

7. Phil Bebbington on January 13th, 2010 at 4:14 pm

   Sheila, I do! This guy used to wander around with it on his shoulder and from time to time throw it into the air – it would circle and then return.

8. Daryl Scroggins on January 13th, 2010 at 4:25 pm

   I just love the word Jackdaw, and I love the whole corvidae family as you do, Sheila. I believe even blue jays are part of that family. I suspect that crows and ravens are the smartest damn birds in the world.

9. Cindy Scroggins on January 13th, 2010 at 4:49 pm

   I’m partial to grackles, myself.

10. Wil Freeborn on January 13th, 2010 at 4:52 pm

    I looked up grackles – what a blue.

    Whodaknown the clusterflock could be twitchers (though it is a flock)

11. Cindy Scroggins on January 13th, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    Oh, yes, Wil, grackles are wonderful–black with iridescent blue markings. And they have great attitude. Most people in Texas dislike them because they are so obnoxious–they make creaky sounds and slowly saunter across streets with a look that says, “I dare you to try to run over me.” Definitely my kind of bird.

12. Sheila Ryan on January 13th, 2010 at 6:38 pm

    I bet Phil will see some grackles when he comes to Texas and that he will take to them.

13. Deron Bauman on January 13th, 2010 at 6:40 pm

    there will be grackles.

14. Sheila Ryan on January 13th, 2010 at 6:42 pm

    P.S. There is a great book called “The Mind of the Raven”, written by a biologist whose name I cannot recall and can’t easily check just now. But his anecdotal accounts of ravens he has known are wonderful, and the book is very readable.

15. Sheila Ryan on January 13th, 2010 at 6:45 pm

    Deron, you reckon a person traveling along Chalk Hill Road there in Dallas could spot them some grackles?

16. Deron Bauman on January 13th, 2010 at 7:06 pm

    if not there, outside the aquarium early evening.

17. Sheila Ryan on January 13th, 2010 at 7:25 pm

    So long as “there will be grackles” for a visiting Englishman to admire.

    Wil, are you feeling the lure of the US of A — the prospect of hordes of grackles?

    It’s grackles made our country great.

18. Cindy Scroggins on January 14th, 2010 at 10:27 am

    That Englishman will see grackles at my house. And squirrels. Lots of them.

19. Phil Bebbington on January 14th, 2010 at 10:29 am

    Would that be inside or out, Cindy?

20. Cindy Scroggins on January 14th, 2010 at 10:41 am

    Outside.
    No, wait.
    Okay, yes, outside.
    Probably.

21. Phil Bebbington on January 14th, 2010 at 11:00 am

    Well, the whole family are chancers, so I would imagine they would be inside in a flash if an open door or window were left unattended.

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