Cord Springs

                                                               Cord Springs

                                                                         By

                                                             Linda Kirkpatrick

As a kid growing up on the ranch, all the animals, birds and livestock were my companions. We didn't have any crows around back then, but like the porcupine and coyotes they are here now. I remember wanting to see one, I had read about them but never did see one around here until I became an adult. The most memorable experience that I ever had and I will never forget it happened while I was researching for my book, Cord Springs. A friend of mine, Lee, and I went to the ranch and the pasture Cord Springs in search of a wild orchid that had been blooming on the bluff over 70 years ago. 

The moment we got out of the truck, this crow began squawking and circling us. She did that the entire time we were there. Then again as remote as the area is, she may not have ever seen a human before. She did have the attention of the two humans roaming around in her area. We went about our search for the orchid while also being stomped at by a fallow doe. Later we walked by her sleeping baby. We had definitely disturbed the peace of Cord Springs.  And the crow kept squawking. 

We finally found the orchid, unbelievable! There it was growing higher than the deer could pick, on the side of a limestone bluff. We took our photos and left it to hopefully be there another 70 years. And the crow kept squawking. 

When we crossed the draw and got back through the waist-high cowpen daisies,  mealy blue sage, and verbena, we got the binoculars from the truck and as we scanned the side of the bluff, there in a small crevice was a nest with two little crows watching their nervous mom continuing to circle the area and squawk. I think she is happy now that we are gone.