Raven Fun at the Beach

Off we went to Bodega Bay for three days to enjoy the ocean and look for ravens, of course.  While over there, we visited a state beach called Goat Rock along the Sonoma Coast.    It is steep drive down the hillside to the parking area next to Goat Rock.  Goat Rock is quite large and sticks out from the steep hillside.  It must have been MY day because there were a pair of ravens flying around the rock area.  There were also quite a few sea gulls in the area.  I had come equipped with hunks of sour dough french bread and nuts of various kinds for the ravens.   On my first try to feed the ravens, the sea gulls immediately came swooping down and got all the food.  The ravens just don't compete with the sea gulls- much like the crows and the bluejays.  They will fly at the sea gulls to try and get them away from the food, but meanwhile another sea gull flies in and gets the food.  What to do, what to do.  There was a big rock about 10 feet tall near the cliff where the ravens were perched.  So with stealth ( oh yeah) I sneaked around the back of the rock which faced the ravens and stuck hunks of food in some rock crevices.  I then slowly sauntered away from the rock and then watched the ravens.  They came down and got the food without attracting the sea gulls.  This worked two more times and then the sea gulls got wise.  They started sitting on top of the rock and that was the end of my subterfuge.  Well I did have some fun with the ravens of Goat Rock.

The next day we went to Doran Beach to look up the raven pair that live there.  As soon as we drove in the campground we saw the raven pair flying over the dune area near the ranger shack.  They were headquartered in some big conifer trees by the entrance road, the ravens NOT the rangers!  I thought, how am I going to attract their attention?   So I decided to lay a sesame cracker trail.  I put crackers on the sign posts which were located down the side of the road.  I also held some up over my head as I walked.  All the while- I was yelling RAVENS!  The ravens were sitting together in the tree watching this performance.  Ravens are very nosy and were probably enjoying this strange human behavior.  I dropped some crackers on the ground also and then walked a distance away to watch.  The ravens flew back and forth over the food sources, coming down and then flying up.  They finally landed near some of the crackers and nuts on the ground.  They did the usual raven thing, jump forward and then jump back- to see if the food was alive.  They finally picked up some of the crackers and flew off.  After the third trip of picking up food- oh no- the seagulls caught on and tried to take the food away from the ravens while in flight.  It is a jungle out there!!!  All and all it was a great trip to Bodega Bay.  Some rain and some sun and a great place to eat at River's End in Jenner by the Sea.  I highly recommend it.
When I got home I checked my feeding station on the pole.  Something had eaten the egg and left part of the shell.  Hum- who did that?  A crow or a blue jay?  A raven might have done it but they usually pick up the egg and fly off with it.  One can only hope it was a raven.  I will put another egg out today and see what happens.  I have a squirrel baffle on the pole so that squirrels and raccoons cannot get up to the platform feeder.  So I am still on a raven watch at Crystal Court.