Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Where were those birds headed?

Amazing sight early this afternoon: a huge flight of large black birds circling so high in the air that they were scarcely larger than specks. Just large enough to be visible as black. And large. As in ravens, possibly. Or they might have been vultures, on their way to the desert, though I'd have thought that buzzards were long since comfortably settled in the Sonoran warmth. I would guess that there were well over 50 of the critters in the high group. A subsidiary unkindness of ravens circled at a much lower elevation -- maybe as many as 25, which is a real crowd. All were headed west southwest -- and gone by the time I fetched up my camera. (The picture above is a much older photo, my only good picture of ravens in flight.)

I was reminded of a lingering question: what has become of the rookery in the forest to the southwest of town? For many years, beginning at about four on a late fall or early winter afternoon, ravens would begin to drift in that direction, one or two or three at a time. They came from the old landfill, from the grocery store lots, from PV, all over. More birds would continue to head southwest well into dusk. The numbers added up.

Of late, I have only seen a handful of ravens flying toward the old rookery site (which we never did locate, BTW). Have the raven adolescents found a new location to meet up and crash? Perhaps near the new landfill out SR169? Certainly we haven't lost our raven population -- or are their numbers down?

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10 comments:

OmegaMom said...

Eh, that rookery is so, so passe! The new, WOW rookery is...

...somewhere else.

A new generation of birds, perhaps? The old adolescents have grown up, and their rookery is deemed old news by the next generation?

Gerald (Ackworth born) said...

Round here the rooks seem to like the local market stalls.

Prescottstyle said...

Granny I've noticed over the years that the crows fly n/e in the am. Then in the late afternoon they migrate s/w to a roosting area in Cathedral Pines behind Papa's Pizza.

Granny J said...

dotter -- that was my thought, exactly, but note what style had to say below...

ackworthborn -- oh, yes, the ravens all take up their special stations during the day, including at least one raven for every food business dumpster in town. But it's the nightspot I'm interested in...

maya -- that must be a new site; I looked for any posts not from the admin & there were none.

style -- that would be the direction I've seen all these years; it's just that not nearly as many ravens head that way currently and I'm wondering why.

Kathleen said...

Wow - I have never seen them in town - always at the wrong place at the wrong time =(

Granny J said...

frame -- I'm surprised. But then you probably do your grocery shopping in Chino & I don't know about the big birds' habits there. In Prescott, every single restaurant and grocery store dumpster is claimed.

Kathleen said...

hehe - in Chino I did have to remove one from my chicken coop (they love to eat chicken eggs). I was surprised to find out that they do the same thing that chickens do when you pick them up by their feet - they go totally limp and still. LOL - too much circulation to their brains, I suppose =p In Paulden, either the goats or I are usually chasing them out of the goat pen where they like to munch the leftover grain.

So I may not see them in town, but I know where the country ones are roosting =p

Kathleen said...

whoops! sorry for the double post =(

Granny J said...

frame -- I remember seeing a big flock of ravens up on a power lline that crossed the Drake road way out in the boonies.

Granny J said...

p.s. I took care of the duplicate!

 
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