A Favorite : The Birds

Today I saw my first barn swallow of the year. These beautiful little birds are my second most favorite in the wild bird world, the first being my old buddies the Crows. Once you get befriended by a crow  you are hooked.

We have a small murder (yup, that is what a group of crows is called) of 5 that spend much of their day here at the farm. The leader, or should I call him the boldest, has one wing that hangs low when he lands so he shakes it into place every time. I have had him jump onto the skidsteer bucket while I loaded manure from a pile, and pick up a mouse  then look at me and wink before flying off.

Many times I see him and his buddies catching mice in the hay field.Often times when off fixing fence or cutting wood they seem to show up and have a little conversation among themselves about what I am doing, most likely.

Seriously though, they are great communicators and if you’re a hunter they can ruin a day very fast by telling all the animals that you are in the woods. So I guess you could say that crows wear many hats; a garbage man, an Orkin man, policeman, loudmouth politician aka snitch. Now I know I know who I am votin’ for!!