Who is getting the eggs?

I have been putting whole raw chicken eggs out in my platform feeder and they have been disappearing.  I know it is not the crows as they can not pick up an egg of that size.  It is not the squirrels because we have the platform set up so that they cannot get into the tray- although they try.  The squirrels are so much fun to watch as they shimmy up the pole only to be thwarted by the squirrel baffle attached to the pole.  I have yet to see what is carrying off the eggs.  A RAVEN perhaps- I sure hope so!  I hear raven when I am working in the yard.  There are many fences around here, therefore I cannot follow the sound to the source.  Time will tell.  If it is a raven, I will catch him at egg trolling eventually.

My crow pair appear to have a nest in the live oak tree next door.  The one crow sits as a sentinal in an adjoining oak tree.  I can watch him from my bedroom window.  He has many of the same habits as his big cousin.  The crow likes to bang on a branch with his beak and then CROW.  This bird flies into the adjoining dense oak tree periodically to deliver food.  The other garden birds have vacated the area.  My feeders are empty of visitors.  I wonder if it is because of the crow's nest nearby?  It has not deterred the blue jays however.  They come for their morning peanuts without fail.

The other evening we went to the Audubon Society meeting because the program was on "Crows and Ravens".  Right up my alley.  The speaker was very interesting, an eco psychologist.  I had never heard of this discipline.  She investigates the relationship between nature and humans.  Her talk included tales and myths surrounding ravens such as Odin's birds.  Odin, the great Norseman, had 2 ravens who traveled the world and reported back to him each day.  I would like a pair of ravens like that.  The speaker also had a lovely voice.  She sang us two songs.  One was the Power of Raven- Good Wish, a blessing.  The other was an old Scottish Song- "Two Corbies".  It was all enjoyable.  I got to show off my heavy shirt from Cabella's on which I had hand embroidered a large regal raven on the back.  All in all it was a great evening with bird loving friends.

The Crows of Maple Cottage

I have decided to call my abode Maple Cottage due to the very large red Japanese maples in the front of the house and a lovely green Japanese maple in the backyard.  Every house needs a name that evokes it's spirit.  So there it is.  A pair of crows has taken up residence at Maple Cottage.  They are in the trees in the front yard when I arise in the morning.  They are waiting for their peanut treat.  The blue jays and the crows share the peanuts that I put out every morning.  The pair of crows often alight on the platform feeder and eat the egg or seeds.  They are not big enough to pick up an egg and fly off with it like the ravens can do.  So when the egg disappeared completely, I think the raven got it.  I really HOPE the raven got it.  The platform feeder has a baffle on it so that mammals cannot get up into the tray.  So I don't think a squirrel, raccoon, possum or rat got the egg.  I have only seen squirrels around here.  We are so close to Redwood Creek that I would expect other mammals to be about the place but I have not seen any.  We have least 5 gray squirrels running around our yard and in the redwood trees.  They are very acrobatic and amusing.  I especially like it when they bang their paw up and down when they are angry- like when there is a paucity of peanuts on the ground.  Very demanding little fellows.  I just got the Ultimate Squirrel Proof Birdfeeder.  We will see if the claim is true.  The squirrels are very ingenious fellows when it comes to birdfeeders.  My last one disappeared.  They knocked it down and dragged it off somewhere.
So for now I have a pair of picky crows, high flying ravens and BAD squirrels.  Life is good in the flatlands.