Cronus and Rhea

I met Cronus and Rhea a while back, perhaps even before I established a relationship with Perses and Asteria. Cronus and Rhea live at the bottom end of the park I usually walk. I have been walking on and off on that strip of man-made woodland for several years and I would always bump into them foraging the grass - only in those days I was far too busy so I would just walk past, seeing them but not really acknowledging them as such. 

It's been a year since the pandemic struck and the UK has been in lockdowns on/off. With the gyms closed, my only exercise is walking and I take a considerable amount of time doing this every day - more so now. I learned to make a little more time for a hello and a peanut handout, see how they are doing, and yes, I talk to them because they talk back at me - Cronus actually clicks at me all the time, a signal of affection, it seems. On the other hand Rhea is very shy - she hardly approaches me. 

If I ever miss to see Cronus on my rounds, he makes sure I know he is around. The other day he met me a few meters down the woodland area, looking down at me from a rooftop aereal. When I noticed him and went back to his turf, he followed me back, jumping from roof to roof. He then flew by my side whilst I walked,  until I dropped a few peanuts for him in our secret place - him landed on a tree branch right above, analysing the peanut quality perhaps. Cronus and I have a special bond, and Rhea... well I will win her over with time, I am sure. 

Cronus playing hide and seek with me (March 2021)

Rhea (left) and Cronus (right) eating some peanuts.

They have built a nest in a nearby tree over this last month and Rhea spends a lot of time there now... with Cronus never too far off. This week they haven't been coming down from the tree as I visit, which makes me think that they may have little baby crows on the way. 

With nesting season upon us, I am a little worried as well as cautious. For a couple of days now, some crows from the murder I feed in the park have started to follow me into other crows' territories, no flipping care in the world. I fear that this will inevitably attract other birds that could prey on Cronus and Rhea's eggs - or worse. This week my walks near that area have been almost done in supersonic speed - trying not to disrupt whatever is going on with those two. 

I miss my little interactions with them, but I know things will be back to normal as soon as the little birds fly off the nest.