Raven's...

Today's blog is all about Ravens and I've photographed

them in many places over the years including here

in AZ again this morning.

   

Is it a Raven or a Crow?  Both are in the corvid family.

All photos here are of Ravens...  Both of these birds are extremely 

intelligent though ravens seem a bit smarter!!

Both can recognize human faces.   

(This photo was taken in Death Valley CA)

To help you recognize the difference,

Ravens are as big as Red-tailed Hawks, and crows are 

about the size of pigeons. The raven is all black, 

has a 3.5-4 ft wingspan and is around 24-27 inches 

from head to tail. The crow is also black, 

has a 2.5 ft wingspan and is about 17 inches long.

Both can recognize human faces. They are among

 the few animal species that use tools. 

They’re also really smart about getting into things, 

for example, figuring out how to unlatch containers to steal food.

Ravens have fluffier feathers and these two were waiting

to catch a Thermal while we were visiting the Petrified Forest

in AZ about a year ago.

They also use stunt flying to attract mates (barrel-rolling, 

flying upside-down, and somersaults), as this one proceeded

to do, you know where.  There was quite a breeze as

he took did a couple of hard flaps to get airborne.

They’re known for their ability to understand 

cause and how to solve complicated problems.

 

About 10 years ago in Dawson City YT, Canada, we watched

a Raven trying to get the remains of a burger out of

a garbage container.  When he picked it up, it fell

out of the wrapper and wrapper & Big Mac dropped back into the 

garbage can.  So what did the Raven do?  Well, he picked

the wrapper out first, put his foot on it on the edge

of the can and successfully retrieved & ate the burger!!!

They are very social animals and are constantly

calling to one another from high places.

 

And this morning was no exception as I began my walk

 under cloudy skies,  with a brisk breeze, at 5:30 a.m, 

and it was was already 79 degrees.

There was a proud Raven sitting on a rooftop

when a friend arrived.  Boy did I have my camera

in the right place at the right time...  and

they continued the process by calling a third Raven to join them!!! 

  I guess I'll quit raving about Ravens for awhile...

You can probably figure out who's on the top of my favorite bird list.

Early to Bed Early to Rise...

definitely has it's advantages unless you're

on the short end of the branch.  You can almost

hear the caw, caw, caw, caw of the early rising

Raven as he got slapped in the face by a tree branch!

It was my intention to walk the edge of our

community, next to the desert, to enjoy the early

morning shadows, but someone beat me to it.

As I snapped this shot with my iPhone, Mr Coyote let 

me know who the fence walker was going to be

 this morning and it wasn't me!!!

So I headed for safer ground and decided I was

brave enough to creep up on these bunnies.  The objective

to get 4 or 5 close-up shots without scaring them away.

As I crept up closer & closer & closer my 5th shot showed that

the leader of the "Bunny Broad Meeting" was being ignored 

by fellow participants, which reminded me of another

similar occurrence when we lived in Colfax CA.

Many early mornings (and late evenings) the acorn woodpeckers

would gather at the bird bath out front.

Don or I would fondly call to each other "the Board is meeting

again", so the other one of us would not miss out. 

 

 

That got me interested in types of woodpeckers, 

so over the years I have created Mosaic versions of

a variety of different woodpeckers

and gave them to family and friends to hang

in trees or on barn doors... or wherever.

My mosaic woodpecker, here in AZ,  keeps a close eye

on the early morning antics of marching mosaic ants 

on our wooden front window ledge... somebody's got to do it!!!

Well, as you can see, this blog developed a mind of it's own

and took off in all directions... could be a result

of getting up too early.

Chasing Shade...

At about 5:45 each morning I head out for my

"walk"... and this is why I start so early!!!

Forecast for the next 12 days.  Not getting

any better and won't till SEPT...

So here we go.  Nice to have you on a virtual

walk with me...

especially when we have a nice breeze

and a great view  Yippee!!!

Time to deviate from my  planned walk

since there isn't much shade in this direction after 40 yards.

Oops, shade ahead, but the terrain is too rough for tennis shoes.

This looks better.  Since the RV section is practically

empty, I could choose to chase the shade thru former RV sites.

Nice desert view, but where's the shade????

AHHHHHHH

Things are starting to look good...

but that is short lived.  TOO HOT to play or watch 

a ball game!

Likewise, no participation here till mid-Sept!!! 

DRATS.

OMG this has possibilities.

As most of you know, I am a color person and GREEN 

psychologically makes us feel cool.

So, I'll just take it one step at a time and see where

I end up.

Normally I walk about 3 miles, and Runkeeper keeps

track of me... how far I walked and where I went.  Today  I had

other places to go; Costco, Lowes, Home Depot

and an afternoon haircut.

Even tho I "shortcut" the daily routine, I received my just rewards.

Remember those Argentine Cactus I featured in a prior post, 

 "Spring has Springing" on 3/20/2020?  

Well this is the first time I have ever seen a color other than white. 

As I neared home, I found that someone had lost their "Noodle". 

O.K. I heard that... - I thought we were friends!!!!

 

Mourning Dove Watching

About 4 weeks ago we noticed a pair of Mourning Doves busily

building a nest of small twigs as we sat outside on our back deck

with our morning coffee.  Later I  placed 3 or 4 small snippets 

of soft yarn on the railing of our neighbor's back deck 

where the nest was being constructed.   It was gone the next morning.

Egg sitting is shared by male & female for about 14 days.

One baby appeared and then another.  Then we had

to wait for 14 or 15 more days for the babies to leave the nest.

This morning the nest was empty but we didn't see

any action around the area and were worried that

the Ravens had been up to their normal activities!!!

Then we noticed some movement on the 

neighbor's back deck...

Both parents feed the young "pigeon milk".  After leaving the

nest the young hang nearby to be fed for another

1-2 weeks.   

As I took this video I could almost hear them saying:

"I feel like we're being watched.  What do you think?

Maybe it's time to leave the safety of this deck."

They did and quickly found a bounding baby bunny

to play with.   The process will begin again, as one pair may 

raise as many as 5-6 broods per year in southern areas. 

THE END

In Search of Gold (Part 2)

Welcome back... 

As we left Vulture City, we stopped at this eye-catching marker

placed in memory of a Fire Chief of the Buckeye Fire

Dept, Bill Lanford who lost his life near here 2/5/203.

And since we hadn't eaten lunch yet 

we took advantage of a shaded parking area under

this beautiful tree.  The  River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis   

is native to Australia and grows mainly along water courses.

I guess golf courses qualify!!!

It was a great place to enjoy our picnic lunch.

This map shows you where we were headed.

Since  I'm into Sundials we stopped in Carefree AZ to

 

enjoy the largest Sundial in the U.S.   It is 79' tall,

and 90' in diameter.

This is all part of the Carefree Desert Gardens complex,

which includes beautiful gardens

and a larger than life bronze sculpture...

The kite sun sails provided artistic shade for visitors and plants.

Cool and Refreshing...

We took a different route home so we could enjoy less

traffic and more scenery, including the fascinating mountain

peaks of the McDowell Mtn Regional Park  just east of

Scottsdale AZ.  

What a fun day.  About 168 driving miles,  3 hours of driving time

and 3 hours walking the sites and geocaching!!!