Some people on YouTube call these birds “knife-billed puffin”, while it wouldn’t be surprising if it caught on as a common name, in the meantime, it’s a razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (Alca torda) endemic to the North Atlantic.
For the first time in all the years that I have lived at this place, a clamour of rooks has settled in my tallest Monterey Pine.
It's spring and the cawing is romantic to my mind.
Their presence is no coincidence. A sign has been placed at the entrance to this valley asking people to be on the lookout for rooks.
Their plan is, of course, extermination.
My rooks are refugees.
Unfortunately for the poster of notices, I have already signed an indefinite lease with the rook parliament. They now hold occupancy rights to the entire top floor of the pine.
Trespassers beware.
I will defend my tenant's right to occupy.
One Kindred Spirit
Polaroid