Quench.
This hooded crow was quenching the thirst, drinking from a puddle in the sidewalk, in Hakaniemi, Helsinki, between the round Ympyrätalo and triangular Arena building. I’m guessing the puddle was less salty than the sea (which isn’t all that salty, about 0.5 % salt) and definitely less salty than the water in the puddles on the lanes for motor vehicles.
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Hooded Crows are so beautiful. I’ll never see one for real, so I’ll have to make to with wonderful photos.
I wonder if they can smell the saltiness of the water.
That’s a good wonder. Never thought about that before.
That was a great choice for the letter Q! :)
Gorgeous bird. I’ve never seen one for real either.
Thanks, Caine and Nightjar!
Finnish and Swedish have almost no q-words (my Swedish-Finnish dictionary has only one, “quisling”), aside from Swedish last names like Qvist or Quist (archaic spellings of the Swedish word kvist = branch or twig). English is another story. I think some blacksmithing stuff by Charly or Marcus got me thinking of quenching and then about quenching the thirst.
I don’t know which is a bigger factor here for the choice of the crow, salt or not having to dodge cars, buses and trams. Research has indicated that crows are capable of understanding traffic rules.
There’s a tram stop in this place. It is advisable to keep a hand on your hat if the wind is from north or south as the wind squeezes through and speeds up in the gap between the convex wall of Ympyrätalo (circle house, a commercial/office building) and the straight wall of the Arena building (which has residential apartments, shops, restaurants and a comedy theatre).
Gosh, what a pretty crow. Ours are totally as black as soot and large. They are also very smart. They move around town based on our garbage pick up schedule and then work in teams with some as lookouts, some as bag openers and some controlling flights in and out to feed. I love to watch them.