Blue Fri! Wow what a week!

It is Blue Friday, a day of tranquility.
Well, maybe yes and maybe no.

Tax season is never tranquil, but we have had some lovely rain. I love taking pictures on rainy days because the colours just seem to pop in the pictures!
The geese love the rain, the chickens look pathetic. Poor Crazy Pat, my rooster, always looks the worse because he has such long tail feathers.
I had wanted to make Fri my bird day. There are so many birds here on the property that it was not easy to choose a first but I think I have settled on the Crow.
We have a mated pair here that have been spending a great deal of time constructing their nests. Ever year they have hatched a young one. The first year it was quite sad. He fledged and seemed to be doing ok and then I noticed he was faltering. A few days later I found his body and discovered why he did not thrive. He had a large growth on his beak that seemed like it would interfere with his ability to eat.

Crows have their good sides and bad I guess. I find their intelligence fascinating, but I am not enthralled with their eating of small birds. I know it helps to keep the bird population in check, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Last year a wild mallard hen laid and hatched a clutch of eggs. Eight cute little duckings called her mom. One by one the crows picked them off. A week later mama duck left. The Mockingbirds dive on them because they do not want them by their nests.

The true crows are large passerine or perching birds that form the genus (classification just above species), Corvus in the family Corvidae.
Corvids are large to very largeperching birds with a robust build, strong legs. The sexes are very similar in color and size. Corvids have strong, stout bills and large wingspans.
In the United States, the word "crow" is used to refer to the American Crow. The crow genus makes up a third of the species in the Corvidae family. Other corvids include rooks and jays.
A group of crows is called a "murder," though this term usually appears in poetry rather than scientific contexts.

I hope you had a glorious Blue Friday!
Kathleen