A Convivial Evening in the Garden

Tomorrow is suppose to be a very hot day in the Napa Valley.  Last weekend I bought many plants from the California Native Plant Society sale and I thought I better get some of them planted because of the coming heat.  So out into the garden I went in the early evening.  Hark- who showed up but my friend Mr. Crow! Andy the cat and I were busily doing our thing in the garden and Mr. Crow sat up in the redwood tree.  He was busy making clicking and clacking sounds and generallly being nosy, as crows and ravens are wont to do.  It was very pleasant to have a crow in residence.  Mr. Crow would fly down to the platform feeder periodically to pick up a peanut and fly back up into the redwood tree.  We went on like this until the light started to fade.  Then we went inside and Mr. Crow went off to find his crow family.  Nice evening.

A Fine Day for Soaring

Yesterday we went to check on our friend's house.  They are off to Baja California.  The house is located on the East side of the Napa Valley, high up on a ridge.  They have a panoramic view that extends from north of Yountville down to the Carneros by the San Pablo Bay.  It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  After checking the house we went outside to check the view.  Hark!!! I heard a raven call.  We looked up and there was a pair of ravens soaring on the thermal air masses.  They were soaring in circles.  They were close by each other with each bird completing a complete circle and then starting over again.  While they were doing these maneuvers, they never once flapped their wings!  When people ask me how can you tell a crow from a raven- that is one thing I tell them- ravens often glide about, crows do not.  Crows have to flap their wings to get places, while ravens can glide with their large wing span.  The display yesterday was beautiful proof of that fact.  Seeing the ravens soaring about made my day!!!!