The start of the adventure with ravens

October 1, 2009

Today is the first day of a new month and the start of a new adventure, the recording of my adventures with a wild raven pair who live in the wooded hills above the Napa Valley.

The adventure started about four years ago. I had a couple of old chicken eggs in the refrigerator and I did not want to just throw them out since some creature could eat them. So I put them out on the ground outside my kitchen door. Imagine my surprise when a BIG black bird landed on the ground near the eggs, picked one up is his beak and flew off!! He came back a little while later and picked up the other egg and flew off with it. I couldn't believe my eyes- the strength of this bird! Being a backyard birder most of my life- I thought it was a raven but went and checked my Peterson Bird Guide and sure enough a raven it was! WOW WOW- I was excited. So the next day I put out another egg and sure enough the raven came and picked it up and flew away with it. This singular event started my daily adventure with the raven pair that live in the un-named canyon, along the un-named creek on the USGS map in the hills above the Napa Valley.
I call my raven pair- Bold Raven and Shy Raven and sometimes I call Bold Raven Mr. Cuervo- but when I want to call them I just stand on the deck and yell RAVEN and if they are in the vicinity they come and take a look to see what the crazy human is yelling about. The ravens arrive at my bedroom window at 6:30 AM each morning and sit on a little tree branch so that they can see in the window. They are very polite at first- making their little cooing noises to each other- but- if I don't get up and take a look that start up with the raven racket! So I get up and get my cup of tea and give the ravens their morning treat. This is usually 2 chicken eggs or some dry dog food. I keep an 18 pack of eggs in the refrigerator and a bad of dry dog food handy most of the time. This is cool- wild pets who come everyday and I don't have to walk them!

What I love about the ravens is that you know there is a thinking being of another species looking at you. They know me and I have learned to really appreciate their intelligence and their spirit of fun and adventure. So this blog is about adventures with the wild ravens and observations of their daily activities that I can see from my house located in a small canyon/creek setting in the redwood and Douglas fir forest.