While there’s just one crow flying above her now, Leah Wilson will never forget that day the sky was full of them.
“The crows were dive-bombing over here,” Leas says pointing across the street. “And circling this house.”
Leah was told a crow was stuck in the home’s eavestrough, but nobody had a ladder long enough to save it.
“I was really distressed,” Leah said. “And I knew I had to do something about it.”
So, after noticing a fire truck parked a couple blocks away, Leah raced over to ask the firefighters for help.
“I was like, ‘Hey! You look like you want to save a crow today,’” Leah recalls with a laugh.
The firefighters agreed, before raising their tall ladder and rescuing the crow.
“The firefighters were so gracious and wonderful,” Leah sighs. “My heart was so full.”
Then, Leah drove the injured bird to the wild animal rehabilitation centre. In her car, the pair connected.
“He latched on to my finger and held on,” Leah says. “That was life changing.”
Leah didn’t know how life changing until a few days later, when she was told the injured bird had been released back into the wild.
“I was going for a walk with my dog,” Leah says. “A crow flew down and dropped this beautiful, feathered bundle at my feet.”
And it definitely didn’t feel like a fluke.
“I was like, ‘Wow! This crow has given me a thank-you gift.”
Since then, crows have left more than half a dozen items for Leah—from sticks to balls of moss to a smaller bird’s nest.
Leah, who’s Métis, has received each one with gratitude.
“I grew up with understanding the importance of having a relationship with the natural world,” Leah says.
And now, whenever Leah and her dog go for a walk, all sorts of crows join them.
“It feels so good,” Leah smiles as a few crows swoop near her along every block. “It’s like visiting my friends every morning and knowing they’re going to be there.”
And that includes the crow she saved.
“There’s the star of the show,” Leah points to a crow she easily recognizes because he received a metal band on his leg after being rehabilitated. “He’s the highlight of my day.”
And thanks to the efforts of the whole community — both the people and the birds Leah points out — the crow appears to be thriving.
“When we are aware of what is happening around us there is so much potential to come together and beautiful things can happen.”
