RAVEN GETS EVEN!

Got a camping report from my daughter Lexy.  She arrived at Brighton Beach camp ground near Capitola with the tent trailer in tow.  They parked under a large tree and what do they see?? but a pair of ravens in the tree.  Apparently the ravens did not appreciate their arrival and promptly pooped on them!!! HA HA- ravens get even!!!
It has been very noisy around here in the early morning.  The crow pair has been arriving each morning with at least one very raucous baby.  Chuck says- don't feed those birds so early!!  I have to go outside and tell them to quiet down and to my surprise they actually do.  I yell- QUIET!! enough already, no food for noisy birds!!!  The birds got a real big treat this weekend.  We went to the 25th Anniversary party for the Napa Valley Yacht Club (yes dear ones, Napa has a Yacht Club, a little 1950's frame building on the Napa River, hardly what one thinks of as a Yacht Club, but I digress).  Prime rib was served and after dinner I went around and collected all the nice fat/meat that people did not eat.  I brought it home and have been putting some out each day.  I am a very POPULAR human with the birds right now and now the Yachting people think I am nuts but there it is- I am nuts about CORVIDS!!!

Saturday Racket

This morning early I was watching Poirot on TV and working on embroidery and what did I hear- very loud RAVEN calls.  I ran outside to see what was going on.  I spotted two ravens in the top of the tallest tree in the neighborhood and they were really making alot of noise.  I also saw three hot air ballons floating by on the breeze.  Then I saw the cause of the racket- three harrier hawks were circling the area above my neighborhood.  I have not seen harriers (march hawks) in my area before.  They are usually found hovering over marshy areas looking for prey.  We are close to Redwood Creek and to the large open space which is across the main street.  This could be why they are in the neighborhood, looking for an unlucky mouse to eat.  The ravens had come from the open space also.  The ravens usually aren't in my neighborhood because it is dominated by a contingent of crows.  After much ado, the visiting birds all flew away to continue their discussion at some other local.  It is interesting to note that not one crow was in sight during all this disturbance.  Those crows are no dummies!  They are very smart birds indeed.  Now- on with the experiment.  I am going to go load up the platform feeder with crow goodies, unsalted peanuts in the shell, meat scraps, black oil sunflower seeds, and one raw egg and THEN wait until they come around and THEN I am going to start playing my bodhran and Scottish music.  This should be fun!

Ravens/Crows/Bodhrans

What a week it has been for Ravens, Crows and Bodhrans!  I went up to Mt. Veeder this week to visit the ravens.  They were out picking around in meadows looking for good things to eat.  Good thing I brought a bag of peanuts with me.  Yum yum- they love unsalted peanuts in the shell.  They are such beautiful birds. I never get tired of watching them.  They are SO much bigger than my crow friends.
The most outrageous thing happened this morning!  I am taking on line lessons on how to play the BODHRAN- the celtic drum, for those who don't know what it is.  I was banging away with the music with my on line Scottish teacher when what did I HEAR???  Yow- it was crows carrying on outside my window.  They were clacking, yelling, screeching and making all kinds of noise!  I have never heard such a racket from crows!  They didn't like my playing because they quit making noise when I ceased banging on my drum.  Hum- they don't appreciate good Scottish tunes!  What am I to make of that?  I am going to try it again tomorrow.  I am going to fill the platform feeder with their favorite foods and THEN I am going to get my bodhran going.  What will happen?? Will they again let me know that they DO NOT like my musical selections?  Stay tuned!