Who did killing?

By Lawrence Woodall - North Island Gazette - May 08, 2008

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Spring is alive, with bird calls and nest construction. Early to mid April, birds of every size could be seen repairing and building nests.

One ambitious eagle seen flying towards Duval Point had a branch the size of a log ... it was almost twice the length of its wingspan, so one can only imagine the size of the nest.

Over the last six years, we’ve had an active crow nest buried deep in ivy suffocating an alder, but this year a new nest was built just 50 feet away. Was it the same pair returning to a new location or a second pair?

But soon the familiar pair returned to the old nest to begin renovations so that meant it was a new pair in the new location. It was interesting to watch the interaction between the two pairs. There never appeared to be hostility, but it there was curiosity from the older residents who spent hours observing the new pair in the neighbourhood.

The building pair worked from sunrise to sunset, gathering branches, hopping from branch to branch. At each stop, they peered oddly at the branch before them, then either flew to a new location or started twirling the branch until it was damaged enough to remove.

Within a few weeks, the process stopped. The new nest was built higher up in an ivy coated alder, deeper in the green belt, but unlike the older nest it was partially visible.

Weeks later, rufous humming birds returned to battle for position at the colourful blooms, and the first swallows returned to control insects.

Even a hairy woodpecker has been seen sampling the local delicacies several times.

While sitting on the back deck enjoying all this, I heard a long, constant cawing from a crow, which is usually the call in this area to summon a flock. A few minutes later, a raven appeared with a murder of raucous crows in tow.

It was not unusual to see a murder of crows harassing its close cousin the raven, but the next stop for the raven was the new crows' nest where it gorged itself on the unborn.

The crows took turns diving at the raven, but to no avail. When the raven was done, it glided off with crows in chase.

The better hidden nest of the older pair was left undisturbed.

Lawrence Woodall is a longtime naturalist who lives in Port Hardy.

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Who did killing?

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