Gloomy Drought Thoughts - I Will Miss Scenes Like this Crow Among my Queen Palms

By Mel Carriere

I apologize that Birds by Mel was grounded for a few days - my wings were clipped by some sort of weird bug that got stuck in my crop and kept me snuggled in my roost as I recuperated.  Luckily I think my brain might have taken wing again; we'll see what happens as I forage along on my writing lawn, looking to pull out a tasty verbal grub or two to whet your appetite.

The drought has become serious business here in Southern California.  The Sierra snow pack is at 8 percent of normal and the Governor's shrill, constantly repeated mantra is "those days are over!  Do you enjoy a game of golf - Those days are over!  Do you like a dip in the swimming pool on a hot day - Those days are over!  Anything that involves aquatic fun is now over, per the Governor.  Do you take pleasure wiggling your tootsies in your cool green grass - Those days are over!  Yes, even that.

We here in California have been given a mandate that we have to reduce our water usage by 25% or else face dire consequences.  The almonds need to be watered, and we can't invest in desalinization plants on the coast to give us unlimited access to H2O because we really need that 60 billion dollar high speed rail through the Central Valley, even though it is mostly a depopulated desert now.

The city of San Diego, where I do not live, is apparently initiating a program where they will pay home owners $1.50 per square foot to replace their lawns with drought tolerant plants.  I imagine it will only be a matter of time before the city of Chula Vista, where I do live, follows suit.  And then, as the drought continues, sooner or later lawn removal will no longer be voluntary and the homeowner payments will, of course, cease as the funds dry up with the withering grass.

Therefore, I think it behooves me to get on board with the destruction of my front lawn sooner rather than later. I really enjoy looking at this little piece of God's green earth, even though the only time I actually wiggle my own tootsies within its soft, verdant blades is when I mow it every two weeks or so.  Most of the reason why I enjoy it is because of the feathered visitors I receive there regularly, such as this crow I found foraging among the Queen Palms this morning.  Crows are seen as morbid harbingers of death, as merciless raiders of birds nests, and as a general neighborhood nuisance whose raucous, dissonant  hawk scolding cries have put an end to many a pleasant afternoon nap, but I still like them.  Their alert eyes sparkle with intelligence and appear to be windows into a cunning, clever Corvid mind full of secrets and lore.

My wife likes crows too.  She has been trying to feed them lately with a bag of dried meal worms we have had in the pantry for a long time and that my oldest son has been threatening to eat as snacks.  Because he is eccentric enough to attempt it my wife has been desperately trying to get rid of them by offering them to the crows, but they just won't come when the dinner bell rings.  Despite the fact that they live in our yards and eat our excess food, the independence of these birds is fierce and legendary.

Anyhow, when I finally have to break out that spade and pick and rake and remove the grass I toiled so strenuously to plant I will miss crow visitations like the one I had this morning.  The bird you see above was generous above to pose for a picture or two as he scrounged for edibles in a lawn that is like a little green ocean, unruffled on the surface but full of life underneath.  The grass has been a little ecosystem all its own for about fifteen years, sustaining the Crows and Yellow-rumped Warblers that feast on its bounty, sometimes Pipits when the place was new and not so overgrown. It is hard to say, and sad to think about, whether the hard bitten desert flora that takes its place will provide an ecological climate capable of giving these same kind of pleasant avian visitations.


Photo is my own.  The Crow was very generous to cooperate, because I am always slow on the draw.

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