Teach your children well

When I think back two years and recall my initial observations of the Merlin family with Spike and Thor at the helm, I have many vivid memories. None were more remarkable, though, than the evening of July 4 that year, 2008. We were assembled in the original nest neighborhood (a couple of blocks south of the current site) and watching the fledglings still very much in the nest when we saw a very large mass of crows flying our way from the southwest. This mob was easily a couple hundred strong. It occurred to us that maybe the crows had been spooked by all the fireworks being blown up all around the Sound and were trying to find quiet. Whatever the case, there were hundreds and they were aiming straight towards the nest.
What happened next blew my mind. Spike flew out of the nest tree and right into the center of the knot of crows. We poor scared mortals on the ground opined that she was probably a goner and it certainly looked that way at first sight. Crows near her attacked but she attacked back. These melees went on for a while until Spike changed tactics and started flying through the crows and ahead, around them. We watched in complete awe as she rattled and confused the crows until she was able to divide the mass into two swarms. In almost no time, the crows flew their separate ways around the nest tree and away from that ferocious, tiny bully. It was a demonstration of a mother and the steps she takes for her babies the likes of which we will rarely see again. It was a remarkable display that I will never forget.
This year's brood came earlier than the 2008 family. We think that Spike and Thor found each other late that Spring which pushed everything back a couple of weeks. This year, instead of the birds just having hatched, the "kids" are days out of the nest and, for all intents and purposes (save food), on their own. So, when the crows flew nearby tonight, the response from Spike was quite different. She stayed put in her nearby tree and just watched while one of the babies called and called loudly for the crows to stay away. And, those crows heeded the young bird's warning. Indeed, mom had taught her children well.