RAVENS AT THE CASTLE

Yesterday evening at 6:30 PM we attended the Emerson String Quartet concert that was part of the Annual Napa Valley Festival Del Sole.  It was held at the Castello di Amoroso outside of Calistoga.  The castle is a reconstruction of a medieval castle from the mind of Daryl Sattui.  It is quite wonderful in design and appearance. The concert was held in an enclosed courtyard within the castle walls.  The stage was setup against the facade of the chapel wall.  From our seats we could look over the cross on the top of the chapel and see the sky and the towering conifers beyond.  The sky was a robin egg blue with fluffy white clouds.  It was quite lovely.  But HARK- what did I see- RAVEN gliding slowly back and forth in the sky.  WOW- that gave me something to watch during the sad/macabre Bartok music being played.  A linnet (house finch) was sitting on the top of the cross and singing it's heart out during the Bartok recital.  Ha- it didn't like the music either!  I could also hear the raven calls echoing across the valley- sublime.

As night drew in the ravens began to fly into a large conifer that was located directly behind the castle.  They had selected this tree for their night time roost.  I counted 20 ravens coming in for the night.  It was a lovely sight.  Once the ravens were settled, the music improved to a happier Franz Schubert.  All in all it was a lovely visit to the castle and it's raven neighbors.

This morning there was such corvid racket.  A baby crow was sitting in the platform feeder begging for a peanut.  I had put peanuts out first thing this morning.  The baby is of course as big as the parent and there it is begging and squawking like a maniac.  Hilarious.  I put eggs in the platform feeder later in the day as the RAVEN seems to come by in the late afternoon.  The crows will peck and eat the eggs if I put them out in the morning.  So now I have a schedule, the birds have trained me- crows in the morning, ravens in the afteroon.  My life is run by the birds, not, my life is for the birds- a big difference there!

ONE YEAR TO THE DAY- RAVEN COMES

It finally happened!  One year to the day exactly!  Chuck saw a raven fly into our little back yard, pick up the egg in the platform feeder and fly off with it.  It was so unexpected and I was so mad that I didn't see it.  As soon as he told me, I ran out and replaced the egg in the platform feeder.  Three days later I saw a big black bird gliding over the roof top as I was working in the frontyard.  However I could not see the bird very clearly.  I ran to the back yard to see if the egg was gone.  Sure enough the egg was gone!!!  Still I had not seen the bird with the egg.  BUT- just now as I was waking from a nap, I SAW IT!  A bird black bird was sitting on the top of the new arbor in the backyard.  It flew over to the platform feeder, adjusted the egg in its beak and took flight!!!  WOW WOW- I saw it with my own eggs, I mean eyes!!!  Soon after a couple of crows came around and were making all kinds of racket- they do not like the ravens in their territory.  After all they are the king of peanuts and of all they observe.  The next step is now to make friends with the raven.  I don't know if this will be possible because of my band of crows that hang out in our court.  The one pair of crows is here every morning for their peanut fix.  As soon as I put out the peanuts the two crows begin to crow and alert their friends that peanuts are out!  They seem to share as long as there are enough to go around.  The baby crows are still with them.  I can tell by the sound of their calls and their very skittish behavior.  A grown bird will approach a peanut straight on and pick it up.  The babies- jump forward and back, forward and back just like the baby ravens used to do up on Mt. Veeder.  It is comical to watch!!
Oh I am so happy- a raven of my own!!!  Now I must go and replace the egg in the feeder.  A friend of mine up on the mountain has a dozen eggs for me.  I must go tomorrow and pick them up as Mr. Raven has found me and all is right with life in the valley. 
It appears that all is all right for a number of people in the valley as we saw seven hot air ballons over the house the other morn.  Such a pretty sight.  Still that couldn't beat the time up on Mt. Veeder when I saw a hot air balloon coming up my driveway.  It was a couple of hotdoggers fooling around in a hot air balloon.  They were about 20 feet off the ground.  When they got to the part of the driveway that swung left they had to really put the gas to the unit or they would have run into the forest which was straight ahead.  What a sight- what a thrill!!  You just never know what one can see in a day.  Ravens, balloons, oh my!!!!

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!