Birding Buffalo Calf, Part II
No, the first day of hunting season is not a state holiday in West Virginia–but it was a time for celebrating when the Lord provided two deer for us. As Monday drew to a close I had another cause for thanksgiving too–a variety of birds enlivened the vicinity of my tree stand and reminded me of the times birds are mentioned in Scripture. One bird that flew over was a bird I had identified only recently. In the past it was natural for us to pass it off for a crow. Then it struck me one day that the bird’s call was not crow-like at all, rather a rolling ‘k-r-r-r-o-c-k’, the call of a Raven. While hunting I had the chance to verify a second field mark: it’s long tail. A double-check with Peterson’s field guide provided a few more clues: mountain forests, expanding range southward. . . . There were more identification marks to look for such as it’s flight pattern and wing shape so I’ll look forward to making many more observations on a bird that I should have noticed before now!
I wonder how long they’ve been around here. They sure make some strange sounds, which I don’t think I heard here (or at least didn’t hear them very much) until the last year or two.