The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Rain, sun, wind...insects, birds, flowers...meteorites, rocks...seasonal changes...all are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the patterns that are quietly unwinding around us.
July 2014
Salish Sea, PNW
My neighborhood is a playground right now for a troupe of 5 ravens. Possibly they are this year's youngsters of the pair that lives around here. The adults go about their raven business, as mysterious as it is to me, with apparent seriousness and direction. These 5 cavort amongst the trees calling - no, yelling is more like it - to each other in higher pitched voices, from early in the morning on. It carries. I know where they are.
The other day they had a play session in the air over the bay while I was out there. Swooping and gliding, flipping upside down, jabbing at each other, tumbling in three dimensions, then gliding in unison. And screeching all the while. It was quite a scene for a while, filling the sky. I snapped some pics as I could. Here are a few. Impossible to get more than 3 at a time. Imagine deafening squawking at the same time!
more raven play below...
(All photos by me. In Lightbox...click to enlarge)
After a while they all settled in a favorite tree by the beach.
I have read that juvenile ravens call others to a carrion discovery, sharing and cementing their social relationship. No food was involved this time. Looks like they were just playing!
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What's up in nature in your neighborhood today?
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