Thursday, January 21, 2021

Visit to Bodega Headlands and RAVENS on A GREAT NEW Day!

 January 20 dawned beautiful and sunny. Watched the inauguration of President Biden on TV and then packed up the old van with pad, pillows, blankets, cooler, books and peanuts in the shell for the ravens.

The last time we visited Bodega Bay it was so windy it was hard to stand up.  We saw NO ravens that day.  That was very unusual.  I think the wind was keeping them hunkered down.  The waves were huge and crashing on the beach and rocks.  Very spectacular!  No whales in sight which was a good sign for the crab fishermen.  There was no local crab this year for the holidays.  This was sad for people but good for the whales.  The whales were still passing by on their annual trip from Alaska to Baja.  They get tangled up in the crab pot lines so no crabbing until the whales have left the area.  The season has now opened so we came home with two delicious just off the boat Dungeness crabs for dinner!

In the 1960's there was a plan to install a nuclear energy plant on the Bodega Headlands.  They started construction by digging a huge hole where the reactor? was to be installed.  The plan got cancelled when an earthquake fault was found in the area.  It is now a California State Beach area. Hurrah for the wildlife including my raven pair. And hurrah for me being able to visit this beautiful spot whenever I want.

I got set up in the back of the van with my pillows, my drink and books.  I was keeping an eye out for ravens.  Finally one flew by and honked at me.  I am beginning to wonder if they recognize the van.  I know the ravens on Mount Veeder knew my car.  When driving up the mountain road they would see me and follow me home...FEED US we are starving!! I got outside with my bag of peanuts and waited and here they came.  Our parking spot was right up against the edge of the cliff so we could lay in the back of the van and see and hear the waves.  Because of this I could not feed the ravens right by my van.  I had to walk along the cliff edge to a spot where I could throw the peanuts and the ravens could retrieve them.  This was fun.  Of course I had to scare off the seagulls once and awhile.  What I found interesting was that not one person in all the other vehicles parked along the cliff paid any attention to me or the ravens. Most of them were staring at their phones. What is with that??  You are in a beautiful place with ravens, you are sitting in your car or on the back of a pickup or a van/SUV tailgate  and you are staring at a phone and not looking at the ocean? Ah the mysteries of life. Well I had a great time and no one said a thing or showed any interest at all.

One thing has really changed at Bodega Headlands. Before Covid the Headlands had very few visitors during the week. We always tried to come during the week days for this reason.  The other visitors were frequently bus loads of students come for the day with their lunch and having a wonderful time. Now the parking lot is packed on week days and it is tricky to get a parking spot near the cliff edge.  You have to arrive early if you want a good viewing spot. One can really see how the virus has affected society and norms of behavior.  Unfortunately their are no school buses coming now.  BUT the ravens do not seem to care as long as there are PEANUTS!!!


1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad you are writing these again! So fun to read! I did not see the one from December until today too. Those ravens are lucky you found them....fatten them up with those peanuts!

    ReplyDelete