A Good Raven Week

Today was a good raven week.  I went up to visit friends on Mt. Veeder and got to see the resident raven pair.  What beauties they are.  They are so much bigger than my friendly crow pair that visit me each morning for their peanut fix.  While working in the yard this week I heard raven noises overhead and looked up to the sky.  A really nice looking raven was flying over my head.  He was headed for the open space across the road from my court. 
The yard construction is almost complete and then I can get my platform feeder back in full "operation attract raven".  Something got the egg I put out the other day- didn't see who got it.  I wonder if a hawk would go after an egg?  I saw a very large red tail hawk sitting in a tree in my front yard.  What a sight that was.  It is so great to see all the variety of bird life.  The cute little woodpecker and the white breasted nuthatch visit the suet block everyday.  A nervous little titmouse comes and gets a seed and darts away and then comes back for another black oil sunflower seed.  It is wonderful to watch.  The chesnut backed chickadees are frequent visitors to the seed feeders.  They are very bold.  I can be standing right next to them trying to fill the feeder and they DO NOT move.  It is remarkable that such a small bird is so fearless.  We are hoping to have grosbeaks visit us this summer.  They have arrived up on Mt. Veeder for their breeding season. We did see a single female at our feeder here in the valley last year.  I hope she remembers where we live and brings her friends and babies this year. 

GUEST POST: "Are you smarter than a 9th grader"

This post is an entry by my daughter.  She is a high school math teacher.

The picture below is of two baby ravens that were living right outside of my 2nd story classroom window.  They became celebrities on campus - due to their loud, obnoxious and increasingly frequent squawks for food!  Their striking good looks and large size created a lot of attention too.  The students thought it was hilarious that these two large babies would sit at home, whine and wait for their parents to bring them their meals, while they entertained themselves all day at home.  Hmmm.....sound familiar!?!?!? 

These raven parents smartly set up their home about 5 feet from the window of the only teacher on campus who has a mother obsessed with ravens.  A coincidence?  I think not!   They are smart birds!  Speaking of smart birds..... this was my first year teaching at a public high school.  I had been teaching high level math courses at private schools for the past 7 years.  I was welcomed into the fold by being handed the lowest level classes filled with behavior problems....without a doubt, these two beauties were the most attentive and well behaved students "in" my class!  They get A's!   

The Crow and the Squirrel

I hear the ravens calling in the tall trees near the creek next door but I still do not have them coming to my yard on a regular basis- so sad for me. BUT- I have Mr. Crow who spends most of the day hanging around my yard, up in the trees and sitting on my newly installed arbor in the backyard.  He calls first thing in the morning and I go out and give him some peanuts.  This is when the fun starts.  The squirrels also want the peanuts.  Up on Mt. Veeder the ravens would get the peanuts before the squirrels could get them.  Here the squirrels are faster than the crows.  Mr. Crow was on the ground just getting ready to grab the perfect peanut when the squirrel charged him and Mr. Crow backed away and the squirrel got the peanut.  A squirrel is about the same size as a crow.  A raven is three times as big as a crow so he has no fear of a squirrel.  Many times I watched the ravens play tricks with the squirrels.  When the squirrel's back was turned, the raven would sneak up and pull the squirrel's tail.  It was hilarious to watch.  The TRICKSTER for sure.  I am getting pretty mad at those squirrels.  They have destroyed several of my bird feeders.  They actually knocked one down and dragged it off somewhere.  I still have not found it.  I have now invested in some supposedly squirrel proof feeders.  Tell it to the squirrels.  The baffles on poles seem to work the best to keep the squirrels off the feeders.  They get enough peanuts every morning so I am not feeling sorry for the squirrels. 
My backyard is currently under construction.  We have had all the grass removed and have had paths and rock lined flower beds installed.  Grass is such a waste of water in the dry summer climate that we have here in Napa.  Although so far it has rained so much in May and June that I am astounded.  We will eventually have drip irrigation to the plants as the long months of no rain will return soon.  As a result my platform feeder with eggs keeps being moved around.  Soon it will have a permanent spot and I will go back to the egg and raven watch.  Meanwhile I can hear the ravens in the neighborhood and hopefully I will have a raven friend before long.

The painting is by Kathy Denett of Mt. Veeder, Napa.  I bought it for my new garden shed.  Must decorate those walls.  Larry and Bob- aren't they cute?  Perched in the vineyards high above the Napa Valley on Mt. Veeder at the Wing Canyon Vineyards/Winery- very good wine too I might add.  Try some, you will like it!!

The Library Raven

I can't believe it.  I went downtown Napa to the library today to return two books.  I drove into the drive through drop off and what do I see???  A big raven sitting by the slot where the books are returned!!!  The bird was right outside my window looking in at me.  It was weird, strange and wonderful! He then took flight and I got a good view of his beautiful tail.  I have often seen a pair of ravens flying over the downtown area.  There is alot of food left around down there so that must attract them.  I wish they would come to my little yard- I would feed them really good!  I am anxious for my backyard to be completed so that I can get my bird feeding stations back in order.  The grass has been removed, the walking paths are in, the sprinklers are going in, the top soil is here- all is going.  No more thirsty grass in a California garden.  The strange thing is- it has been raining for days and hailing- in May!!  I remember my school days in Napa in May.  It was always so darn HOT!  Today is English weather and we had the fire on last night to warm our tootsies.  What is with THAT??  Ah well- soon enough I will be back to my program of attracting a raven or two.  I know they are out there, I see them flying high above. 

Looking for Ravens in all the Right Places

At the present time my backyard is all torn up. This means the platform feeder containing the eggs for potential raven visitors is all torn up!  We are having the grass ripped out.  The front yard was ripped out last summer and has since been planted with drought tolerant plants and native wildflowers.  After living in the forest for the last 16 years, I got used to no lawn and no lawn MOWING!  Lawns are beautiful but are water hogs.  Lawns had to go.  The backyard will soon be a series of paths with raised beds here and there.  There will also be a fairy dell under the branching oak tree.  What could be better?  I have not been able to put eggs out for the ravens since all this upheaval started.  This necessitated serious action!  I had to go out into the countryside and look for ravens and hear some raven calls!
We made several trips to Sonoma County in the last week.  The hills are so green, the vineyards look great and the roses this year are spectacular.  During these trips I look for ravens and I am often rewarded with seeing pairs of ravens soaring, gliding, rolling and generally having a good time in the sky.  I do love to hear their calls, which are music to my ears.  Yesterday my daughter and I took a walk in the open space near our home.  It was a great day.  We walked to the top of the hill and had a great view of Napa valley from our vantage point.  I saw a lone raven soaring and gliding.  I called to him, RAVEN, he turned and flew toward us and then a red winged black bird started chasing after him.  The raven flew away with the small black bird trailing after him.  I was sad to see him go.  The black bird was probably protecting his nest and such is nature.
 The crow pair are still here.  I put out peanuts for them every morning and they know me.  They watch for me to come out each morning and then they start crowing.  If they could I am sure they would crow- PEANUTS!  They are having a lot of competition for the peanuts from the bad squirrels. I call them bad as they are breaking up all my clay pots and glass ornaments in the yard.  I am getting pretty mad at those rodents!!!  They also bury items in my potted plants and then walnut trees start to spout.  Chuck finally found a squirrel proof birdfeeder.  I delight in seeing those squirrels try to figure out how to get into the feeder.  They are VERY persistent.  So while I don't have a resident pair of ravens right now, I do have entertainment of the nature kind!

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.