It’s only early January, but the first sign of Spring has arrived at Punchinello Prairie! Our resident Crow couple – Piano and Patty – have nesting on their minds. They won’t begin yet; March is their preferred nesting month. They will then build a large nest high up in one of our 30 ft. pines and raise another generation of Pianopats. This land is their chosen territory, and for 7 years they have built their family dynasty here.

During the fall and early winter, Piano and Patty mostly tolerate the presence of hawks and even other Crows on their land. A hawk is casually observed but not chased. But it’s a different story when nest planning is in progress! For the past several days, this power couple has begun readvertising their ownership of Punchinello Prairie. They are spending time just sitting in the towering Cottonwoods at the back of the prairie, showing themselves as the sole rulers of their domain. Today a Red-tailed Hawk showed up there to roost and try to warm up in the very early light.

And the Pianopats strongly disapproved! They got in the poor hawk’s face, screeched bloody murder, and eventually chased the hapless raptor away.

A small sign of the season of rebirth just waiting on the chilly horizon.

Nikon Coolpix P1000

Tweaked noise reduction and exposure