Birders,
I arose today early enough to view a crow repeatedly browsing the grassy
yard of a backyard in Arlington near Pentagon City Mall. The day before I'd
worked in the yard to remove the upper 2/3rds of two enormously overgrown
shrubs, leaving many small sticks and twigs scattered in the grass. The
crow flying off with a bill full of materials returned minutes later to
repeat.
Once the day began to lighten up, I stepped out front to eye a tall tree 3
houses to the west (towards Arlington Ridge) where about 5/6th the way up a
large collection of bedding material appeared be hosting three crows. As
the morning progressed, interrupting myself from work on the front porch,
I'd stop to check out the crow action atop that tree.
My best guess = an active crow's nest. Now, I'm a fan of these corvids but
know little about their natural history particularly related to breeding
time, nesting, etc., so I'd appreciate the thoughts of more experienced
birders.
If anyone wants more details, please email directly. As I'll return to that
Arlington residence on Wednesday, I'll get many more looks.
Bill in Fredericksburg
