6:28 a.m. (sunrise two minutes earlier than yesterday). 21 degrees, wind WNW 2 mph. Sky: clear at 4:30, the platinum moon in the west, easing through a pine strand, an atmospheric lightbulb cutting through the gloom. By 6:00, gray and snow riddled. The long fingers of dawn grow a little longer. Companion of the shadow world, barred owl hollers, embodies the slow advance of the daylight. Permanent streams: upper, almost open; lower, shuttered . . . still. Wetlands: snowflakes straight down out of the low ceiling, endless white lines against a dark green wall. Pileated drums in the pines, chickadee calls in the alders. Pond: not for strolling, either too slippery or snow too deep.
Raven, slicing across relentless snow, headed northeast, croaking. White-breasted nuthatches singing, red-breasted calling. Chickadees, no time for song, more chasing than feeding. Cohorts in motion. Jays in the background of the morning. A real change of pace.
Unseen crows engaged in raucous discussions. Loud, attention-getting, agitated screams, I found-an-owl-numbed-by-daylight kind of cry. Makes the world notice. It's three crows beyond the far side of the pond. But . . . there’s no owl (or hawk). One crow perches on a pine limb, two on the snow, wings akimbo. All three vocally engaged. Birds on snow in motion, black bobbleheads. Scavenging a carcass? Ripping chunks of frozen meat, the unintended gift from a coyote or bobcat? But . . . there’s no food.
Activity, however, just as primordial. The pair of crows on bedsheets of snow, mating.
Crow on the limb makes a pest of himself. Then, all three leave. All three return shortly. Again, one crow in the pine, chiding, watching. Two on the snow. One on top, tail to the side. Both birds scramble, slide, scream, wings like fans, steadily sweeping. I would have no idea if the same birds assumed the same rolls—menage a trois, perhaps, the ultimate proxy. I just have no idea.
Ruffled snow, the calligraphy of mating. Footprints. Feather and beak imprints. Coming together in late February . . . the emergence of spring, and the circle of life.