"The Crows would gather on the railing"

Mark Twain wrote a lot on crows- specifically the Indian crow. He felt they chatted about him, remarking on his clothes, his actions and why he had not been arrested, when he shooed them away they would fly up in circles laughing at him, only to return to the balcony and start the process again.
The crows at the cafe are getting more familiar, and more plentiful. I feed them on crumbs in the morning, and having done so since we opened, they now come to my whistle. I have always been fascinated by them and the stories that follow them.
Often believed to be a symbol of bad omens, war, and death they have been written about for centuries. Celts thought they heralded war- although this seems to be because they are seen flying around a battle field, after the war was over. Apollo is always associated with them, and Odin had Hugin(thought)and Munin(memory)on either shoulder to whose council he listened before battles. They are often said to be the keepers of sacred laws and tricksters. In Russia they are thought to be shape shifters or witches that have turned themselves into crows.
To me crows are clever, fascinating and amusing. They work together sometimes. One stands on the top of the bin and pulls the bag, standing on the fold each time. Eventually the base of the bag comes to the top and the contents falls out into the waiting beak of the crow that waits at the bottom.
One that has been coming to us for the last two years has learnt that speed is of the essence. He gathers four or five large bits, then picks them all up until his beak is stuffed full. He then flies to either a puddle in the car park, or the edge of the lake and soaks each bit. Thus they become soft and easier to eat, and as he's alone he does not have to hurry.
The staff often eat their lunch on the steps at the back of the building and the main crow sits and watches them. If they leave their plate the crow will hop up the steps, circle the plate, hop down one step, look around, and then hop back and take whatever is on it. One of my girls lost an entire sandwich to the crow, as she left a full plate of food on the steps while she went and had a cigarette.
We had two cases last week where crows took food off plates on the balcony- a scone from a lady who had turned and tied her dog up, and another couple nearly lost half a panini, had one of the other customers not shooed it away.
You may also see them sitting on cars. They have been known to remove windscreen wiper blades and the seals around the sunroof of cars. They are fascinated by their own reflections and will slide down the car windscreens just to hop back up to the roof. If you are getting plagued by them, either don't wash your car or cover the windows with newspaper. They only seem attracted to certain sorts of cars, I don't know how they differentiate.
You will often see the main crow sitting either on the roof of the cafe, or near the jetty if there are not a lot of sailing people about. Sometimes if we are quiet enough he will sit on the railing, or on the picnic benches. Say hello if you see him- he sometimes answers back!

Long live the Spring

The estate agents have removed the board, the planning applications have gone through and the new couple have moved in. The bird box is well and truely occupied, and the blue tits have been sitting on the shed roof, watching the comings and goings of the sailing fraternity, the chefs and the staff to ensure there is no rough behaviour in the neighbourhood. I've also seen them bring in the first few leaves and bits of greenery to decorate.
I was ten minutes late to work the other day due to the fact that I was watching two green woodpeckers bowing and dancing around each other. It was an amazing sight, one which I had never seen before.
Rosemary who comes in every day with her two daschunds, was telling me to watch the crested grebes. They bow and dance on the water, and apparantly run across the surface together. They are beautiful birds.
The Swifts are zooming over the lake, the Housemartins are arguing about territory and I am sure the Swallows are on their way. I have also seen Turns sitting on the buoys in the lake. They are more slender than the black headed gulls we generally have,and seem more graceful in the air.
Though Easter was a bit of a dull one for us, the birds are beginning to enjoy the Spring in earnest, and I think we should too. It's time to take time in the world. To just be for a while- take ten minutes to notice what happens around us, and watch how nature lives it life.