Rolf Devinci

After a supper time run mixed with some sprint intervals I was home to my usual perch on the front deck. For no intended reason I find myself drawn to relaxing in the deck chair with glass of red just watching the world pass by. The fog moved in and actually felt nice after the humid trail run and once the rain began I popped the umbrella and enjoyed the sound of rainfall on plastic. Is there anymore relaxing sound than that? The city was surprisingly quiet and I began remembering a song from the past. Been awhile since I heard Rain In The Summertime by The Alarm. Great band that never got the recognition they deserved...long live Wales! My local murder of crows payed me a suppertime visit looking for a meal. One crow in particular has discovered that a particular perch on a certain street light means he/she is aligned directly with my deck chair.  No missing their presence now and it always means a feeding. Tonight was p...

 My local murder of crows were very vocal this morning looking for their breakfast so as I began assembling some food scraps it wondered whether they had any food preferences. Like us crows are apex omnivores and will eat darn near anything but I'm sure they have favorites;either within their natural diets or human foods.  No better time for a little experiment. I laid out three equal piles of food; raw beef trimings (left), whole wheat bread with peanut butter(centre) and Friskies dried catfood(right).   Now to determine what the crows would prefer. I led the first crow in to the test piles by baiting him/her with peanut butter sandwich cubes. Takaways...... A - The bird that followed the bread trail was the only one to really eat the sandwiches. No surprise since he/she already had a taste for them. B - The two birds that finished off the beef trimmings despite the proximity to the car and a potential predator in hiding. Th...

A cold Sunday morning in January meant the local murder of crows were probably really hungry so off to the feeding stump I went with todays offerings of PB&J sandwiches. Grabbing the camera I figured I would shoot some video and placed a small table next to the stump to facilitate the shoot. Crows are intelligent birds and right from the moment I walked away it was evident that they sensed something was different. On a frigid morning like today they are usually diving upon the feast before I have even departed the back yard. Not today. Acutely aware of their enviroment they knew something was afoot and were quite skittish about the table and camera. So I had some fun with the video.......the caws seemed to comprise a conversation so I ran with it.

 Today is probably the coldest day yet as we awoke to a dusting of snow and -6C temperatures made all the worse by a windchill.My adopted murder of crows were hanging out in the back yard awaiting breakfast and I did not disappoint - on the menu this morning were trimmings from a cross rib steak, a dinner roll and peanut butter sandwiches.Once recognized(yup - they know me) the sentinel crow then "caws" the dinner bell and the rest of the posse arrives in short order.   Fortunately they enjoyed the steak and leftover roll before the gulls made the scene and gulped down the sandwiches after having chased off the Starlings. Gulls are definitely the T Rexes of the local bird population.Two of them singlehandedly finished off the cubed sandwich in short order. Generally my crows will either pick up a cube of sandwich or offal and scoot off to enjoy the meal or fill their beaks and then depart the scene completely. My understanding is the male crow wil...

 With Fall my neighborhood murder of crows are back begging for meals. Surprisingly intelligent creatures I'm positive they recognize me and have become quite bold while demanding I distribute some treats their way.   Maybe it has something to do with the top of the line food scraps I send their way. Generally I cannot afford grass fed steaks so grain fed cuts is the best it usually gets. As a result I tend to trim excess fat on the store cuts rather than eat it like I do from grass fed animals. Seems a damn shame to garbage it out so out to the feeding stump it goes along with other table scraps. I will also make them peanut butter sandwiches cut up into beak sized bites.They really like them, sometimes more than the meat. I also buy bags of cracked corn to help them through the winter.   Tonight they got some sirloin steak. I had to go find them with a walk through the neighborhood and after a "caw caw" greeting I got ...

 A couple winters ago I decided I would help out the neighborhood birds and began to supplement their diets with three bird feeders in the backyard. I keep them going year round but it is during the winter that the feathered critters ready need the extra food. I offer them a mix of black sunflower seeds, Niger seed and a commercial songbird mix.  Here are some pics of the local birds...... https://picasaweb.google.com/Rolfdevinci/ClaytonParkBirds #  I soon realized after watching a crow struggling to maintain it's balance on a small feeder that I had unknowingly left out the larger birds so scrounged a stump and placed it in the centre of the yard just under the large willow tree. I call it the feeding stump where I place meat/fish scraps, breads, black sunflower seeds and cracked corn. Not only can I now offer something to the larger birds but they now leave the smaller feeders alone so the Chickadees, Juncos, Goldfinches and Warblers do not get bullied of...