→ The Intelligence of Corvids

Crows, in fact, might be like us not so much because they are clever (and so are we) but rather because they sometimes engage their cleverness simply for fun – and so do we.

What’s it like to be a crow? What do they make of us? Are animals capable of moral behavior? Having been a pet owner for many years I think this is true. I feel I’ve observed it. But then again there are some folks who think that everything is capable of an existential morality, even the non-animate creation.

Crow at the Grand Canyon

Who’s ready for fall?

You can count me in, though I’m not sure “ready” is the best word for it. Summer seemed to pass by so fast this year. Barely had time to really enjoy it, it seems, before it’s practically gone. They say this happens as you get older, but I suspect in my case it has more to do with a dearth of time spent outside this year, soaking up sun and heat. That kind of thing has a way of slowing down clock and calendar. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.

Nevertheless we did get out to see some fairly amazing things in the past few weeks, which I’m very keen to show you. I took an awful lot of pics during our three days at the Grand Canyon, which was our next stop after Red Rock, and I’m quite satisified with them overall. We booked both the sunset and sunrise bus tours, and although that was a mixed bag for me due to an amateurish camera setting screwup, I still managed to get some impressive photos of the canyon, far better than last year’s set.

What made me happiest, though, was the opportunity to photograph some of the canyon ravens and crows up close this time, thanks to my P1000 and its powerful zoom lens. I edited this one especially to hang up on our wall during the Halloween season.

Here’s hoping for a better one this year.