Ravens have returned to England and crows have returned to our neighborhood. West Nile Virus had wiped out most of our local crow population over the last couple of years. A never ending stream of crows used to fly over the Santa Ana River around sunset every night--an amazing peppering of the sky--but they had disappeared. So had the smart birds that dropped nuts on our street and waited for cars to run over the shells before they swooped down to eat. Now they're back. I used to be a little scared of crows, used to associate them with bad luck, with death, but now I'm happy to see them fill our pecan tree in the morning, hear them fill our backyard with their symphony of squawks.