These photos are for you. I took these photos in my yard at Burringbar, New South Wales, Australia, where I live.

The baby crows in the photos are my friends. The three baby crows live in the trees beside my house, with their mother and father.   Baba O’Riley is the eldest child.  Benoit Mandelbrot is the middle child, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is the youngest.

Baba is a very brave young crow. He has already chased a big sea eagle, high into the clouds above my home. Benoit is the brightest of the crow children. Lucy is just young and cute.  The crows like to eat grasshoppers, rats, snakes, mandarins, avocado, peanuts, orange, barley seed, corn, snake and bird eggs and earthworms.  They like to chase kookaburras, eagles, hawks, owls, cats and goannas.  The baby crows really love flying about with their mother and father.

I hope you like the photos! love al.

Below are the Chart Art links to the Burringbar Crows –  Baba, Benoit, Lucy and their Mother & father, plus stories of some of their adventures + more pics:-

Crow Magic

Crows Ash Tree

Children of the Crows

Baba’s First Big Flight

More Crows

Benoit Mandelbrot – A very Smart Crow

Benoit Mandelbrot at home in Burringbar

Benoit Mandelbrot the Crow, Figs, Swans and the Synchronicity of Symbols

Benoit is Back!

Corvus in the Midheaven, Mars Rising

(from the Jeffers Collection at the Mary Norton Clapp Library)

Reflecting and learning through nature can lead to increased understanding and awareness of the nature of humans and our relationship with our world. Masanobu Fukuoka, is one such iconic 20th century example of how this can be achieved through his writings on sustainable farming in Japan.

Human history abounds with oral and written stories concerning human interaction with animals, plants, places and natural events. Australia, including the Mt Warning Caldera Region , is rich in such written and oral history.

Over the years, it has become scientifically recognised that in Australia (and the rest of the world), the presence and activity of birds and other animals within any given environment reflects the state of that environment and its ecological components. Environmental status, health, wellbeing and resilience can be reflected by the bird activity within any given environment.

This is not a new idea. Cultures of past and present ages throughout the world have practiced closely intertwined rituals and nature based ideologies. This has been as a matter for survival, cultural education and environmental wellbeing. New concepts and practices forming around nature and learning are crystallising and modernising age old practices, bringing ancient concepts to a modern scientific understanding. Janin Benyus, author of “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature” (1997 William Morrow, NY), is just one of many recent advocates of a natural approach to environmental management and education. ( Nature’s 100 best )

Meanwhile, I would like to talk more about birds. Take for example, the expression “a little bird told me” .

The Phrase Finder website gives a possible reference to the expression as “Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter” from Ecclesiastes 10:20 King James Version. GOD is the King.

Think carefully at all times where your mind leads you. Should a “little bird” take that thought far on the wind, and spread it beyond your life, into the world. Daily practice of loving thoughts have a widespread healing implication, nearby and far. Creating a prayer, for yourself, that a bird may carry, can set it free, on the winds of time.

The vision of a future where birds are happily living on this planet, and prayer to go with this vision, may be a good starting point to healing this planet with love. Furthermore, understanding nature and reflection on birds may be as simple learning to birdwatch.

Bird watching can be a simple, relaxing past-time, relatively cost free and extremely rewarding. There are many Bird websites on the internet to explore. Bird identification, information and resources can also be found in most libraries and second hand bookstores.

Bird Links

Papers of Judith Wright (1915-2000)  at National Library of Australia