This morning, Pat stopped out front to feed the crows. It was quiet and, so far, none of the birds had shown up. She started distributing the English walnuts and bread on the driveway, but there were still no crows in sight. Becoming concerned by their absence, she gave the food cry, “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” After a moment, from way off in the distance, she heard an answering “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” Pat backed off from the food, and it was probably less than a minute before a crow came swooping down and started eating. Another minute or so went by, and three more crows swooped in and began eating.

The cawing Pat heard in the distance seemed to have two purposes. It let Pat know that she had been heard, and also summoned the other three crows to breakfast.

Dave Thomas

12/28/23

Pat was out in the garage doing laundry. She had opened the roll-up garage door to let in the sunshine and fresh air. Apparently, a crow flying by saw her and swooped in for a landing just outside the garage door. The crow pranced around and was jabbering non-stop. In a couple of minutes, three more crows landed and began squawking. All four birds seemed to be stimulated and quite excited about something. All four were looking at Pat as they pranced around and jabbered and came within three or four feet of her. She realized that the crows must have decided that she was a person of compassion and empathy and wanted to communicate with her. She started making conversation. “How’s your day going?” “Did you get enough to eat?” and so forth. The crows would listen and respond. We know that neither side knew what the other was talking about, but wasn’t that an interesting exchange? Pat had to go on to other chores but told the birds she would talk again with them.

I don’t want to make more of this than is there, but I think we can draw some conclusions. First, the Boss Crow is a leader. He may be the patriarch of a family group, or just one who is recognized as a leader by the rest of the group. (I know that a bunch of crows is referred to as a “murder,” but I don’t like the word and will not use it.) The Boss Crow is a scout who has invited the other three or four birds to join him at breakfast every day. It seems that on a tough day for scavenging, he will invite the whole flock. He’s the one who originally found Pat and marked our house in his mind so he could return.

The crows recognize Pat. This is evidenced by the fuss the one crow made over Pat at the bank parking lot.

The birds have feelings for others of their kind. We learned that when the birds took turns feeding one of the gang who was sick or hurt.

The crows are social and smart. When they find a new friend, they want to communicate.

I am truly captivated by these creatures, and hope they will continue to teach me about their world.

Dave Thomas

12/21/2023

It had never occurred to me that the crow world could be so entertaining. There is a new story almost every day. So many of the happenings center around my wife, Pat, that I am afraid she might become known as “the crazy old crow woman.” Here is another case in point.

The other morning, Pat went to the bank. It’s a neighborhood bank, only about a block and a half from home (as the crow flies.) As she walked from her car in the parking lot to the entrance to the bank, a crow swooped down and began flying circles above her head, squawking loudly. She waved at it and yelled, “Do I know you? Are you one of my guests?” I hope no one witnessed this.

Dave Thomas

12/14/2023

We have never had crows as regular visitors, so we didn’t know what to expect. Now that we have had a few weeks to observe them, we have learned that they are intelligent, friendly, and learn quickly. Pat’s new friends are very interesting creatures.

Pat came in the other day after feeding the crows and said she had just been the subject of a fly-by. I’ll describe the fly-by later. First, I’ll give you some background information, so you’ll understand what I’m telling you. I’ve read that the small creatures don’t reproduce during a drought. That has led to a shortage of bugs, toads, snakes, lizards, and rabbits. We believe that the visits from hungry crows are due to the severe drought that Southern California is experiencing. Due to scarcity of food, the crows are forced to search the urban areas for opportunities to beg or steal something to eat.

There are normally three crows to consider. The Boss Crow is the guy that comes in first and scopes out the location. He is also the most vocal. When he lands on the driveway, if everything looks good, he gives out the food call, “Caw, caw, caw, caw.” We don’t know for sure, but think literal translation might be, “I’m here. Feed me!” A few times, after the food is all gone, he gives one “Caw” as if saying “Thank you,” and then flies away. We have no identification available for the second crow. All crows are black and shiny, so who knows? This may be the Boss Crow’s mate. The third crow has a mangled foot so you can always tell who he is. He’s always with the other two, so he may be the brother-in-law. A couple of times, there have been five birds. The additional two are smaller than the other guys, so may be offspring.

On a couple of occasions, there have been 40 or 50 birds showing up. We don’t know what caused that unless maybe it was just a poor day for hunting, and they needed breakfast.

The bread that Pat and I prefer is a brown bread with English walnuts baked in. So, when Pat started feeding the crows, she took a couple of slices of the bread outside and tore them up and scattered them on the driveway. After a few weeks, she noticed that the crows sometimes just ate the English walnuts and came back later for the bread. Pat did some research on food values and went and bought a bag of English walnuts. Now, she feeds the crows bread and extra walnuts. If more than three crows show up, she puts out more than just two slices of bread.

Now, I’ll tell you what Pat told me about the fly by. She went out the front door and gave her “come and get it” sounds. “Caw caw caw caw.” The lookout crow in the tree across the street gave a sound and flew back to our side of the street where he joined his two companions who were in the liquid amber tree in the yard of our neighbors to the south. Pat continued to tear the bread into little pieces and scatter it on the driveway. Suddenly, she saw a big shadow coming across the driveway. She looked up and saw that it was one of the crows with its wings outstretched and gliding about 6 to 9 feet above her. As she watched, the three birds soared past her in single file. They continued to glide to the north side of the yard, and then began flapping their wings and flew back to the liquid amber tree. Pat put out the rest of the food, and as soon as she turned her back and headed for the front door, the crows swooped down and began eating.

We don’t know the meaning of this fly-by. Was it a sign of recognition to say hello to someone they knew? It may have been a kind of “thank you” in advance. They may have just been taking a look to see what kind of food she put down.

There have been several fly-bys since. One morning, the two smaller birds joined in, so there were five birds gliding in single file. There were a couple of mornings that Pat’s sciatica bothered her, so she enlisted the aid of Jasmin, a young lady who comes in three times a week to help with household chores. Jasmin said she got the fly-bys also, and she had all five birds joining in.

This is cool behavior, and we wish we understood it better.

Dave Thomas

12/7/2023

I was in the Navy in 1960 and was a member of Patrol Squadron Forty-eight (VP 48), stationed at Naval Air Station North Island at Coronado, California. I was an Aviation Electronics Tech, Second Class (AT  2) and an aircrewman on our P5M2 seaplane that our squadron flew.  Another 2^nd class that I sometimes hung out and drank coffee with was a sailor named Guy Coconour (I probably spelled it wrong.) Guy was from Oklahoma, and one day mentioned that his family’s home place was just down the road from Dale Robertson’s Haymaker Ranch. I thought that was pretty neat as I had seen a couple of Robertson’s western movies and enjoyed them. His TV show, Tales of Wells Fargo, was doing well at the time, also.

I got to meet Robertson at the 1991 Golden Boot Awards Banquet in Santa Monica. He was a nice-looking man, about my size, and friendly. After we shook hands and talked for a minute, I told him I had been in the Navy with Guy Coconour. Before he could comment, we were descended upon by some of Roberston’s movie friends who had imbibed a little, and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I got up and went looking for another celebrity.

Dave Thomas

12/7/2023

In 1991, I met actress Angie Dickinson at the Golden Boot Awards Banquet in Santa Monica. Pat and I had seen her in a couple of movies and, later, enjoyed her portrayal of Sgt. Pepper Anderson in the Policewoman television series.

I found Ms. Dickinson during the meet and greet session at the start of the evening. We talked about her work as we walked around the hall, and  I looked for my wife, Pat, our son, Doug, and his friend, Penny. We finally found the gang, and I introduced them to Angie. She was relaxed, friendly, and gracious, and seemed  to be having a good time and enjoying the party. It was a pleasure to meet and talk with her.

Dave Thomas

11/30/2023

Pat had some recycle objects to dispose of. It was Monday morning, trash pickup day, so the trash cans had been placed at the curb the afternoon before. She took the handful of stuff and went out the front door. As she went down the driveway, she noticed two crows circling some distance away. She had fed the crows a couple of hours earlier, so she knew they were scouting for their next meal. She dumped the stuff in the Recycle Bin, went back up the driveway, and into the house, shutting the screen behind her, but leaving the front door open. 

The crows had spotted her, so they swooped in, jabbering all the way, and landed on the garage roof. Since Pat had already fed them once that morning, she ignored them. The crows kept cawing and trying to get her attention, but she wasn’t having any of it. Being denied and becoming frustrated, the crows decided to change their game. They began jumping up in the air and landing on both feet just as loud as they could. Pat continued to ignore them though she was laughing to herself at their inventiveness. The crows finally gave up and flew away. It would be fitting to say that, but that’s not what happened. The truth is that Pat caved. She took a slice of bread out and fed her hungry friends. She felt she should reward their persistence and ingenuity.

Dave Thomas

11/30/2023

Something to Crow About

As you know, crows never stop talking. They jabber incessantly from morning to night. However, I’ve noticed that when they come for breakfast, the Boss  Crow is more restrained. He lands on the driveway, stands there for a few seconds, and then emits four caws. Caw, Caw, Caw, Caw! It’s always the same, and I’ve decided that it probably means, “I’m here- feed me!” I passed this information on to Pat. The next morning, Pat had the front door open and was looking through the screen door. The crows show up between 7:15 AM and 7:45 AM, and Pat was ready. At the appointed time, the Boss Crow came in and landed. Before he could say anything, Pat yells, “Caw, Caw, Caw, Caw!” The Boss Crow shakes his head and returns the call. Caw, Caw, Caw, Caw! At this point, I say “This is something to crow about about, Sweetie!” We have just become a multi-lingual family!

Guacamole, Anyone?

We don’t know anything about a crow’s diet. We’ve seen them eating roadkill or packing around in people’s gardens for breakfast. Pat noticed that one of the avocados she had purchased the other day was about to go bad. Not wanting to waste it, she cut it in half, lengthwise, removed the pit, and when the crows showed up, put it on the driveway for them. They went nuts over it! The whole bunch was pecking away and trying to get all they could. One crow, apparently afraid that he wouldn’t get his share, grabbed one of the avocado skins in his beak and took off. The rest of the crows worked harder and faster to get their share of the half that was left. Who knew that they would even like the thing?

Youngster

The other morning, we were drinking coffee and watching Good Morning America when, out of the corner of her eye, Pat saw some motion over our driveway. She turned to look and saw a crow making a landing. It wasn’t time for the regular crows to show up for breakfast, so Pat wondered what was going on. This crow was smaller than the normal bunch, so she thought it might be from the next generation. Her first question was “Who told this kid where to go for breakfast?” After landing, the crow started jabbering and didn’t stop. Apparently, he hadn’t been told that the code for breakfast was “Caw, caw, caw, caw!” Pat decided to feed him anyhow, so she put some bread out for him. By now, it was time for the Boss Crow and the regular guys, and they showed up on schedule and landed and started eating. The regulars didn’t seem to like the little guy. He must not have been family after all. They began crowding him and pushing him around. He got the message and flew away. We’ve never seen him again, so I guess he didn’t feel welcome.

Early

It was 6:15 AM on November 5, 2023, the first day of daylight savings. Pat and I were drinking coffee and watching NBC’s Sunday Today Show. Suddenly, we heard, “Caw, caw, caw, caw” coming from our driveway. This seemed strange because the crows were pretty regular about showing up between 7:15 and 7:45. Then we laughed because we realized the crows were an hour early as they didn’t know about Daylight Savings Time.

Dave Thomas

11/16/2023

I met Charlton Heston at the Golden Boot Awards Banquet in Santa Monica in 1991. The ceremony was an annual affair to honor the men and women who made and starred in western movies. It was created by Pat Buttram, Gene Autrey’s old sidekick.

The evening started with a meet and greet period with the movie people scattered around the hall so you could meet and talk with them. This was followed by dinner, then the awards program, and then another period for meeting the movie people.

At the end of the evening, I was still shaking hands and spotted Charlton Heston heading for the exit. I hadn’t seen him during the evening, so I hurried and caught up with him. I spoke his name, and he stopped and turned to me. I introduced myself and told him how much I had enjoyed his movies. He graciously replied and we chatted for a couple of minutes. Then, he said he had another function to attend and needed to hit the road.  I thanked him for stopping, and we parted. It was a good experience, and I enjoyed it.

Yes, in 1991 I admired and respected Charlton Heston, the actor. However, nearly 25 years later, in 2015, he showed himself to be the poster boy for the NRA. He gave a speech that mostly had to do with whining about his 2^nd Amendment Rights and AR-15 rifles. However, rather than making an effort to construct an intelligent argument to convince the rest of us that owning an assault rifle was a good thing for ordinary citizens to do, he gave us adolescent bullshit. He proclaimed that the only way we could take his gun was “to pry it from his cold, dead hands.” This information has established him as a world class class drama queen. You’ve lost me. Adios, Chuck

Dave Thomas

11/2/23

I got to meet Cesar Romero at the Golden Boot Awards Banquet in Santa Monica in 1991. It was a great pleasure for me as he had been my mom’s favorite actor since the 1930’s, and I heard about him every time he performed in another movie or on television. A big, handsome man, he played everything from Latin lovers to the Cisko Kid to the Joker in a Batman movie.

After the dinner and awards ceremony at the Golden Boot, the celebrities were still standing around the hall and visiting with anyone who approached them. I heard a lady say that Cesar Romero and Celeste Holm were just leaving. I went outside to the curb where people were waiting for the valets to bring them their cars. Sure enough, Cesar Romero was standing there alone while Celeste Holm, the Academy Award winning actress, was visiting with a group of ladies.

When I met Cesar Romero, he was 84 years old, but looked more like 60. He was still handsome, stood tall, and still had a sparkle in his eye. He was fun to talk with. When I told him he had been my mom’s favorite actor, he just responded with, “That’s a nice thing to say.” It was a few minutes I really enjoyed and knew that Mom would have enjoyed also. I didn’t get to meet Ms. Holms as she was tied up with the ladies until they left.

Dave Thomas

10/26/2023