Getting Stronger Every Day!

I have yet to get a good shot of the two wide open beaks in the nest.  I can see them with my binoculars, but my feeble camera lens can't quite zoom in clearly.  Their large heads wobble on skinny necks and their beaks open so wide, I fear they will turn inside out.  And such noise!  I can hear their squawks across the street.  They are getting bigger and stronger every day. 

Mama or Papa Raven (tail to the right) feeding one of two baby ravens.

This week I witnessed once again the daily struggle to survive and the precariousness of life.  I discovered one of my favorite birds, a Northern Flicker, hopping on the ground, perhaps with an injured wing, for it was unable to fly.  My husband put down food and covered it with a towel, but it hopped away and over a wall shortly after and was soon out of sight. I wondered if I should have made an effort to capture it and take it to the vet, but it was alert and clear eyed, and I hoped the injury was minor.  Perhaps it would find shelter until it was able to fly again.  But I have to admit, for a fleeting moment I thought, "Or it might end up being food for the baby ravens." 

Northern Flickers on my deck.

The next day my heart sank as I watched both ravens eat the remains of a Northern Flicker and then fly to the nest to feed their babes.   

Raven and Northern Flicker remains on the deck.

When the ravens were finished feeding and the babes were finally silent, both ravens took flight.  They began together, but soon separated, flying in different directions, soaring, twisting, dipping and rising across the lake and back.  I've written before about the pure joy of flying that is evident when you witness this sight. But to see this in the midst of childrearing made me laugh.  How many of us would have loved to take flight after finally getting the kids down for the night.  Instead we plop in front of the TV or collapse in bed.  Ravens get to leave the kids in the nest and soar! 

                                  

 

In the midst of this ecstacy-- for both them and me--both ravens began frantically croaking, and one suddenly took off after something in the distance. A hawk.  It was quite a distance away, yet they were adamant about keeping it just that...far away. 

                                 

 After following it some distance, and assured that it was not heading anywhere near their nest, the raven returned to its mate and the two sat awhile on the lower deck making soft clucking sounds.  Sometime later one returned to the nest.  

I felt that evening like I had experienced every aspect of life.  The sweet innocence of new life, the heartbreak of death, the struggle to provide, the fear of impending danger, and in the midst of it all, the unfettered joy of living.  What a gift. 

Raven Update: Two Babes in the Nest!

Two brownish orange featherless babes, mouths open and squawking.

After 3-4 weeks of seeing Mama raven sitting in the nest

and Papa raven ever close by...

I began to see activity in the nest.  Mama's tail was sticking out with her head leaning back into the nest, clearly tending to something.  I also caught both ravens at the same time sitting on the edge of the nest, tails out, leaning in, apparently feeding their newborns. 

But it wasn't until yesterday that I saw movement when Mama left the nest. So I hurried down to ground level just in time to hear the commotion as Mama returned. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of two tiny featherless critters, squeaking and squawking, as Mama turned, gave me a look, and then hopped into the nest.

                          

                      

Apparently they will stay in the nest for 5-6 weeks, brooded by Mama and fed by both Mama and Papa. Both parents have appeared at my feeders outside my kitchen window.  Hope they're looking for the seeds and nuts and not the birds and chipmunks!

                                    

As for the youngsters...I should see them flying about by the end of June.  Stay tuned!

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day, I'd like to re-post a blog I did last year called Mom's Trees. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom...I miss you.

The summer that my mom died in 2005, my sister and dad and I took a drive to Ouaquaga, New York to see my mom's childhood home.  Across the street from the house on what was their land were two lovely trees in front of a vineyard.  Of the many photos I took that day, this one ended up as the desktop photo on my laptop computer.  Of course each time I turned on my computer, I thought of my mom, and so these trees became for me, "Mom's Trees."                                     

Early this summer--my first summer in our new home here in Lake Arrowhead--I was sitting at my desk in front of my open laptop looking out the window, and this is what I saw in my yard below: Two trees identical to those in the photo on my computer!  The trunks of each tree branch similarly to Mom's trees.  The one on the left has two trunks that each branch in a Y.  The one on the right has a thin trunk and a thicker trunk. 

I hadn't noticed them before because when we moved here, they were leafless, and then in spring, the tree on the left was covered in pink blossoms. Now that the blossoms were gone and both trees had filled out, the similarity was quite amazing.  I sat for a few moments glancing first at the laptop photo and then back out the window until I ran to get my husband and then my camera. (If you click on the pictures to enlarge them you can see what I mean.)             

                     

So now each day, as I sit and write and look out my back door, I see Mom's Trees, and they make me feel, more and more, like I'm home.