Ravens in Seward Park!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens.  As I was walking our labradoodle Lucia in Seward Park, my thoughts of this geologic event were interrupted by the racous cawing of a murder of crows.  As crows frequently harass any birds of prey that come into their area, I thought that following their noisy ruckus would give me a view of an eagle, osprey, or owl.  To my surprise the next sound I heard was the deep, guttural rattle of a common raven! Ravens are not common in Seward Park and a visit from one of these majestic Corvid family members is always a thrill!  The raven soon departed the tree it was resting in and flew to a nearby tree where it had a mate waiting...a pair of Ravens!!  Lucia was more interested in the eastern gray squirrels gamboling about.

Spring migration is at its peak with many Central and South American bird visitors in our neighborhoods!  Some examples that I heard today:

Warblers:  Yellow-rumped, Black-throated gray, Orange-crowned, Wilson's.

Vireos:  Hutton's, Warbling vireo.

Flycatchers:  Pacific slope, Olive-sided ("Quick, three beers!").

Western Tanager

Purple Finch

But the treat of the day were the Common ravens!!!

Get outdoors, and stay curious,

Ed

Comments

  1. Thanks Ed! Nice post. Personally I use the term "a trickery of crows." Getting away from the Jim Crow linguistic era which was unfair to our beautiful corvid friends.

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    Replies
    1. Excellent thought Janine....A Trickery...I like it!

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  2. Neat depiction of the volcanic blast covering the region with grey ash in the Disney movie Fantasia 2000. Folks were amazed how quickly the greenery and native creatures returned to the blast zone just a few years after. Nature is resilient in recovering from natural events!

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  3. See this beautiful 9.5 minute animated short to music of Firebird Suite depicting the St. Helen's eruption and the beautiful natural recovery to the blast zone in the years to follow. Piece from Disney's film Fantasia 2000 can be seen on Vimeo - https://vimeo.com/258130042

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