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Some Jackdaws I Know

 


This is Ashes. I have no idea what she calls herself (and I'm only 85% certain she's female). As you can see she's leucistic. I only see her a few times a year, but she's learned I'm usually holding, and swings by for some cat food if she sees me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's my buddy Hidden Lightning,

keeping an eye on me as he goes for a peanut. You can't see that white feather (except occasionally the tip) when his

wings aren't spread, and it makes a zigzag when he flies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cobble, here, is the daughter of my old friend Petra. Her daughter or niece -- it's unsure whether Cobble or her brother Rocky is the parent -- Granite visits my garden regularly, especially when I'm working or reading out there in summer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slim, here, is a member of the Park Clattering and is called Slim for two reasons: Slim is Dutch for smart, and this is one heck of a clever bird, and her back claws stick up like spurs off the backs of cowboy boots, so a cowboy-culture nickname seemed fitting. 

 

 

Cherry is an amazing bird. I don't walk through her clattering's territory much anymore so I don't see her often, but she swings by if she spots me. I don't know whether she was born one-legged or got that way but she does fine. She's dazzlingly smart -- she was the first one to figure out what happened to me when I walked into the tunnel, for example, and because she can't stand AND anchor peanuts with her foot, like the others, she drops them into the bike lane and waits for them to get run over.

 

This little lady is my pal No-Tail, seen here with last-year's chick. She also visits the garden occasionally, but usually sticks to the park. Because she has no tail, she is less maneuverable than the rest, so she's learned to compensate with a lot of behaviors like sticking to thicker cover, and tricks like misdirection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't see Gwendolyn as much as

I used to but when I go to the park she finds me. She's a smart and personable bird, one of the few that just like hanging out around me even if I don't have any food and we're not doing anything interesting.