The drama in the park

(This was written, obviously, some time back - while I was still at home, not in Doha.)

Over recent days, as soon as I have fed the Divines and headed over to the Flyings, another crow starts circling above me, round and round. I have mentioned this before and also how one day there were four, not three, youngsters with the Divines.

But usually, this crow elicits a loud and energetic response from the Divines, the Flyings and also the Brave Three. They chase her away. She flies south, crossing the road. None of the park crows bothers to cross the road in pursuit. They wheel back and resume whatever they were doing.

Often, she steals peanuts from the Flyings, so they are especially reactive.

There are some odd things though.

One is that today, it seemed that when a Flying was chasing her, it had turned into play. You couldn't tell which was leading and which following. They flew as if in synchronicity, diving, swooping wheeling, turning. It was beautiful. The same happened soon after with one of the Divines. In the play part, the cawing stops and the chase, instead of being essentially from park to road, becomes a mid air dance.

The other thing is that she seems unwilling to land. She hovers above the food, about five feet up, stretching down her feet as if preparing to land, then rising again. It may be that she feels more insecure on the ground. But she would do this in front of me, up and down, repeatedly, as though... performing for me. As her flying around me in circles seems performative. There is no threat in it. It's like she's saying, 'Can't you see me? I'm here! I'm here! LOOK!'

Finally, today, she did land. By some food I had left for the Flyings. They were there - one about 30 yards off, the other 45 - and they ignored her completely. The Divines had been following me on foot in the hopes of more nuts and were perhaps closer. They too ignored her. She stood there. Pecked at the grass. Then the seagulls, who wanted the food, scared her off - but she landed again, on the Flyings' patch. Again, everyone ignored her. Like when she, I am sure it was she, fed with the Divines some weeks back.

The peace only lasted for a short while. Then, suddenly, a Flying started cawing and launched into the air to chase her off. She flew across the road.

That suggests that she may be one of the Feisties - I do recall that last year a crow used to fly around like this - though less flamboyantly - and that was one of the Feisties, who gathered in the trees at the southern edge of the park. They have not been back this year. Apart from this one, if it is one of them.

Of course, I hope it is CD. If so, the new Brave Three are hardly welcoming - they all chase her. Especially Four, this year's fledgling.

I can't work out the crow politics, the crow society.