Wow, Do you know if any live in McCleary. That is amazing and I am going to google where to spot them. I bet its Nisqually. Interesting. Husband and I have a relatioship with a nice big murder of crows. They feast here in winter, and guard the roof and out houses of all other birds the rest of the year. Intelligent and cocky, unafraid they fascinate me. Thank you for the tip. You are making me realize how little I know.

Laurie, they're always around, near the water. Just go for a little junket out to Puget Sound and hang out for a while, you'll see them for sure.

I grew up in Vancouver BC and my parents had a sailboat. We saw the herons and egrets all up and down the coast all the time wading and fishing in the shallows and tide pools.

I've loved birds for a long time ... so many different shapes, sizes, colors and vocals! It wasn't until about ten or so years ago after my husband bought me a book on Florida birds that I really got interested in reading and learning about them and trying to identify a (new to me) bird from searching my book and googling.

There's a map on this page showing important bird areas in Washington, looks like there are quite a few! http://wa.audubon.org/conserva...

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention if you ever visit Vancouver, there is a large established nesting colony of great blue herons in the famous Stanley Park, too. The park has a beautiful outdoor theater called "Theater Under the Stars" and they present musicals and plays all summer. It was always fun to hear the herons squawking randomly during the performance - one of their nesting trees is right outside the seating area.

In fact, Stanley Park has always been a fantastic place for bird watching in general, come to think of it. There are two large water bodies, Lost Lagoon and Beaver Lake in the park and a fantastic array of birds (although usually way too many Canada Geese) in and around both.

One of these days I'm going to visit that beautiful area of the country (and British Columbia too.) I've always wanted to see that part of the North America!

We always go visit family in August, Lin. It's very nice to escape the oppressive heat here then, and the weather in the Pac. Northwest is excellent into early September.

Laurie, did you send your murder of crows down here to me? I was out in the backyard with the dogs a little while ago and heard the loud cawing ... there must have been 50 or more crows flying over ... and boy were they loud!

That's funny, I had a whole bunch of crows here an hour or so ago, too. Must be Crow Convention season?

Maybe some type of bug that they really like is getting ready to proliferate? What the heck do crows eat anyway? In nature, I mean. I know they're fond of dumpster diving, and will eat carrion too but .. what else?

They also raid birds nests and eat eggs and baby birds.

What I've noticed about crows:

Crows are one of the birds that will gather and roost in flocks over winter up in this northern part of Texas. They seem to move away over the summer and show back up around this time of year. I'm not sure if they migrate or just move to another nearby location. I'm pretty sure they have recently established their winter territory since I've seen the crows running off a couple of hawks. Then again in early spring, they will make lots of noise, have territorial battles between them and the hawks or owls that may be threatening their nests.

I don't think crows are picky about what they will eat. On a good note, they'll eat grasshoppers. They also eat seeds, nuts, acorns and whatever else they can find. The crows around here will frequent the chicken feeders until the rooster or the dogs run them off.

I do not like crows or ravens, they are noisy, especially the youngsters in the summer, and besides what Lin said, I have seen them grab unsuspecting small birds as they were on the ground eating seeds. I don't care how smart they are I don't want them hanging around my house and yard.

I am a crow lover here.

They are happy the suet is back!


Titmouse

Crows and Ravens can eat one of my suet blocks in 10 minutes, so I have a large caged feeder.

FYI, don't forget to check the Black Friday ads for good deals! I saw Ace Hardware had suet and bird seed on sale. I think they might have had some decorative seed feeders, but that could have been Lowe's. Haven't seen Home Depot's yet. It was up, but they sent out a legal request to have it taken down.

My camera has been shipped off for repair and my old one is not nearly powerful enough to zoom in on my little feathered friends. I've got Carolina Wrens hopping around in my bushes, and this morning I saw a small flock of Palm Warblers flicking their tail feathers around the yard.

The Gray Jay has won The Royal Canadian Geographic society's selection for the national bird of Canada, took 2 years. The top 3 were the Common Loon, Snowy Owl and the Gray Jay, the jay won because it is found in the boreal forests in all provinces, and territories, stays year round, it is known for it's friendliness and intelligence. The government will need to pass legislation for it to be official. Dh and I were really pleased as we love these sweet little birds.

Oh Margaret, that is one pretty bird .... I'm so happy that one is being named as the National bird ... what a beauty! Love those photos, especially the second one with it's tail feathers fanned out!

The only birds I saw here today were Mourning Doves; there were a few on the ground when I walked into the side yard and of course they all scattered hither and yon. I got this not so good picture of one that flew to a branch in an oak tree:


And this female Red-bellied Woodpecker was perched on a power line across the road:


We've been hearing Barred Owls in the late evening just after dark lately and sometimes during the night when the windows are open. Their vocals are really interesting; I would love to be able to get a picture of one of them. My sister lives down the street from me and she says they've been seeing a huge hawk lately, apparently he perches on their wood fence and just sits for quite awhile, surveying the surroundings. Her house backs up to a preserve so it's probably waiting to spot dinner. My sister said it's bigger than the hawks we usually see in the neighborhood so I think it might be a Red-tailed Hawk which is also a year round resident here in Fla. I told her to call me the next time they spot him and I'll go down and try to get a picture.

Thanks Lin. The photos were taken when we were camping in June, they would visit twice a day for peanuts and bread, breakfast and dinner.

Sounds like the Blue Jays we have here ... they love peanuts!

Lin, I think they like bread better than peanuts, we give them a choice of nuts and whole wheat bread. Now the Steller's Jay they will choose peanuts over bread any day.