Friday, May 21, 2010

Skywatch Friday - birds of a feather and a little weather


To begin, a backdrop of lovely sky blue sky...

I heard the crows before I saw them.
They were raising such a ruckus!
I knew there must be a bird of prey in the area
that they felt threatened by.
Sure enough, I snapped the picture above
of a large number of crows attacking a hawk.

National Wildlife Magazine, June/July 2010 issue
has a segment under 'news of the wild'
about how crows can recognize a face
for as many as 4 years later.
(I know some people who can't do that!)
Honeybees can also recognize one human face from another.
Bet they can remember where the good flower beds are too!

I took the next 3 pictures when I was in Massachusetts recently,
and saw more blue skies.


Above is a male ... goldfinch or is it a Baltimore oriole?
(Please click on any of the pictures to see them bigger.)
Click here for a link to Cornell Lab of Ornithology
information about orioles
.



What's your conclusion?
What's your child's conclusion?
Baltimore Oriole or American Goldfinch?


But the weather turned from blue skies
to shades of slate and charcoal,
which I found just as beautiful,
if not even more interesting than the blue skies.

For more Skywatch Friday links, click here.

Have a great weekend!

~Aerie-el

8 comments:

  1. Interesting about crows. 4 years.. what a memory! Nice pictures! I love the colors in the last one.

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  2. That's a really great set of photos. Thanks for the narrative, too.

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  3. great photos...i love it when something exciting in nature happens right in front of your eyes..i can't imagine how load the crows must've been, just one is loud enough..sure wish i had their memory...i really like the last pic too...i've been taking a few lately right after the rain and they're quite dramatic.

    Blogger is not letting me comment thru wordpress, here is the link to my blog.

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  4. That's amazing info about crows ... I recognize faces, but names constantly escape me!

    Don't real Orioles have a white filling? Oops ... I'm confused ... that's the baseball team in Baltimore -:)

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment today -:))

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  5. You have clear eyes and freely heart like a bird.
    ヾ(((o^Θ^o)))ノ"彡

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  6. I vote on Baltimore Orioles, male and female. I know a few bees who have known me and I them! I also know many birds that know my husband and me.
    I think certain butterflies also :know" me!
    Bugs and birds are so smart!
    Sherry

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  7. Holy Cow what a capture! Safety in numbers I guess. Love the last one as well. Interesting info too. Best be nice to crows.

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  8. Wonderful photos you´ve taken. You live in the nature pure. I have to watch your blog often. I am excided to see indian summer this year - I will come over :-)

    Michael

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