Common Raven

The summer is not yet over, already it’s one for the history books. Thanks to the record temperatures, wildfire smoke and one of the best summers for mosquitoes in a while. I have been coming to work very early, hoping to catch the mosquitoes resting as I walk to work. The plan has not fully worked, still having to deal with the few blood thirsty females. While the male mosquitoes go after flower nectar, sap, honeydew and anything else with sugar, the females to quench their thirst and to get the protein they need to produce their eggs, need our blood.  Some of the things mosquitoes have a greater attraction to are people with O type blood, beer consumers, those wearing dark-colored clothes and I think my chocolate rich blood.

 Being out early, I have been watching some pretty surreal sunrises with the wildfire smoke. A few weeks back, the Sun was rising when I saw a Common Raven on the very top of one of the belvederes of the bathing pavilion at the Cave and Basin NHS.  I crossed my fingers the raven would stay in place, as I quickly moved into place to have the raven between me and the Sun. I got the picture just as the raven was calling out. Probably calling out to tell me to get the picture before it was too late as the mosquitoes were making a beeline toward me.

Red-winged Blackbird and Common Raven

 Red-winged Blackbird working hard to get the Common Raven to move on.

Common Raven

A bird that I see more than any other, is the Common Raven. A very confident bird, always up to something, easily moves around on the ground and even more so in the air. They are exciting to watch, even more when they are interacting with other birds or mammals. They will hide food for another occasion, call out for a predator to alert them of a prey or carcass. If the predator is successful breaking the skin of a carcass or hunting down a prey, then the raven also gets to eat. There are many times during the cold days of winter, when all I see and or hear is a raven or two. The temperature in the morning was around minus 30 degrees, one raven was on a snow pile and another perched on a tree. Light snow was falling while the raven looked for food. I moved a little bit to the right and then to the left to get the background I wanted. Anytime it would put its head up, I would take the pictures. Once done, I was off to get warm and the raven kept searching.

Common Raven

Looking at this raven's tail feather, it had better days.

Bald Eagle and the Common Raven

Bald Eagle larger than most birds, with a wingspan of 2 meters, scavenges meals by harassing other birds and never says no to carrion or garbage. Most of the time they eat fish, but will hunt mammals and waterfowl. They are often spotted soaring high in the sky. The Common Raven is dwarfed by the much larger eagle, wingspan around 116 cm. One of the smartest birds, capable of learning and being a better talker than some parrots when raised by humans. Works with land predators, letting them know when a prey is near or seeking their help opening the tough hide of a carcass to access meat. Never a good idea leaving your bag of garbage outside, if you do where ravens reside, all will know the contents of your garbage. In the image it seems both are flying together, in reality the raven was protecting its territory by harassing the eagle away.

Common Raven

It's December and the Christmas Bird Counts are around the corner. The one in Bow Valley will be taking place on Saturday Dec. 16. Pop over to the site "bowvalleynaturalist.org" if you like to play a role with the count. If you live elsewhere, check the web for the organization playing a role near your home. It's a fun way to spend time enjoying nature with others while counting the various species of birds coming across our way. When all the counts are gathered, analysed and compared to previous years, we get an idea how our feathered friends are making out.