For the first time in a while, I saw the crows in pairs rather than on their own - Diva, Droopy and Mrs Playground were all there. No sign of little ones. I guess it's too early for them (this is the start of May). Though I am sure I saw a jay feeding another jay the other day... though I didn't see that well.
Talking of jays, I was standing under the back lilac, trying to make my energy amenable and unthreatening, when a jay landed on the neighbour's birch less than six feet away. He or she looked at me for a few seconds before flying off. Such beautiful birds and really quite large.
Anyway, the crows. This video is hardly edited, but the light was so good that I kept it long.
On another occasion, I sat and watched Divo for a while. He starts with the small food - suet pellets and cat kibble. He takes a big beak-load and hops off to bury it. The pigeons go to the food and he rushes back to chase them off. Then he takes another beakful to bury. Meanwhile, one pigeon digs up and eats his first cache while the others sneak toward the booty. Divo is a bit cross at this stage and will chase and peck and try to grab with his feet. Then he hears a stranger crow and leaves the food in hot pursuit. At this point, a small flock of pigeons descend and eat hurriedly. When Divo eventually comes back, he has a look of shock that there is so little food remaining.
I mentioned that I have been trying to get flying shots. Camera-expert Dave said as soon as the bird's flying away, forget it, but the two shots of the low flying crow over grass... I think it was Mr Playground... are appealing because of the feather detail. In the light, the crows look like polished iron.
The crow flying above me is the Stranger Crow who circles the Rec when I am laying out food and gets chased away. This is the one I thought might be CD. She wheels around over me and often looks down.
That gallery looks like an eccentric type of chess board.
One crow regularly looks into my garden from surrounding roofs and aerials, but none come to feed. The magpies and jays do.
I always enjoy getting the park report of Corvids & others. The crows look so handsome in the video. And you've certainly caught (in the photos) how the wing feathers spread apart. You tell a good tale about the pigeons and the crows interacting. I'm impressed to hear that the pigeons are wily too.