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?

Linkage: Every day, NASA posts an amazing earth image taken from satellites, the International Space Station or the shuttle; today's picture shows cloud waves caused by a series of islands. To subscribe to weekly notifications, use the form here.

Ravens on the rooftop

Well, as long as I am being alliterative, why not raucous ravens on the rooftop? Or perhaps what we're dealing with here is a raucous of ravens, somewhat like a covey of quail. All in the style of those idle British gentlemen who many years ago entertained themselves by inventing fanciful terms for family or tribal groups of critters (i.e., an obstinacy of buffaloes, an ambush of tigers or a charm of goldfinches).

However, what I'm writing about is a frequent gathering of ravens on a particular rooftop up the hill from my house. In fact, it often happens more than one time per day. For some days, I've noticed the birds flying uphill over my house to a mysterious landing; for some time, I've heard ravens shouting. A few days ago, I finally walked that street and observed the critters in action with my camera.

At first I only noticed two birds; then it turned out there were three. Then four. Two flew away (the older of the ravens, I would bet), leaving two behind shouting extra loudly.

When all the birds had returned, there were five.

I suspect that the owners of this house are part-timers in Prescott. Otherwise, they'd be throwing shoes, rocks, anything to quiet matters down at their home. As you may have noticed, the roof of this house has two peaks -- which the ravens appear to appreciate.

Furthermore, other landing spots directly across the street include three tall Ponderosas and a power pole. I'll be keeping an eye on this raven collective to see if there are any new developments.

Testing: three birds

A new loaner. Since Vista's Photo Gallery was empty, I decided to download my camera, which has a couple of weeks' worth of pix in memory. No PhotoShop (or equal). Pity. I'd like to have cropped in closer.

Caught this raven over by the United Methodist Church; I like his chutzpah, parking on the no parking sign. He was intent upon finishing up the last of an ice cream concoction tossed by some kid and thus didn't run off while I took a couple of shots. When he alit even closer for the goodie, my batteries gave out. Natch.

This acorn woodpecker was in the standard pose, but a closer look would have been preferable. The rufous sided tohee (below) was far more cooperative; a pretty bird, he is.

Maybe by the time my newly bought, refurbished Mac arrives, I'll have tamed Windows Vista and the primitive imaging software. Whatever. At least I have access to a bunch of new pictures. And, yes, the dear old MacLemon has been consigned to history. The techie gave up on it.

The half bird post

Something got into Blogger this evening; it hasn't accepted picture downloads since about 8:30 p.m. So there I am, minus nine images, all cropped and PhotoShopped. Ah, well, half a loaf and all that jazz.

In case you hadn't already guessed it, seated above is my favorite bird, the raven. Not an especially exciting portrait; it is there to remind everyone of your everyday raven pose. That way, you'll understand the picture below. Same guy, same seat. However, he is making his cawing squawk. Watch a raven sometime; you'll discover that he always swings his wings part way out when he caws. It's a curious sight.

I'm glad that my downloads included my acorn woodpeckers, because it's a reminder that two of my regular visitors today posted far better woodpecker photos from far away places (OmegaMom and The Red Squirrel). The birds above are exploring a neighbor's house as a potential storehouse for their nuts. Their MO is to peck a hole, then push an acorn into it, saving it for a rainy day.

This little guy must have had a flea or a mite that needed excising; shortly thereafter, he hopped to the top of the telephone pole to survey the world. Telephone poles and tree trunks (as well as parts of neighbor's houses) are often studded with acorns.

Awesome oak & otherwise updating the Square

My last try at photographing the lovely oak accents at the downtown post office was a flop -- I didn't think to use the flash, of all the beginners' boo-boos. Fortunately, today I had business with the postal people, giving me a chance to redeem myself.

A brass accent in the center of that beautiful, heavy oak table in the first picture. I would imagine that those round empties once held bottles of ink. Anybody reading this remember fountain pens or brass quills?

More oak framing: here, high windows to help light the in-coming box mail sorting room.

What the ceilings of this 1930s building look like. Quite as pastel as the picture, BTW.

There was one wrong note in the post office lobby -- a scabrous looking radiator, against the marble paneling.

Out on Goodwin Street, I came across my first piece of good news; the Talking Rock real estate office is leaving the center of town for its on-site office out at Inscription Canyon. One less real estate office on the Square, though I'm sure that this location will not revert to its original use (a wonderful bookstore, The Satisfied Mind).

I couldn't resist the clock in front of the Chamber of Commerce. It reminds me of an ornate pocket watch or perhaps a Victorian lady's watch pendant.

And the second piece ofgood news -- I had thought that the Cat's Meow was gone forever when it vacated the corner of Montezuma and Gurley. Not. Seems it has taken the space left by The Betty Co., which, I guess, couldn't sell enough Bettys to make a go of it. Anyhow, the CM now has more space right on Whiskey Row and I'll be able to scrounge a fudge sample every so often. Further: it seems that splendid corner location has a new tenant, though I didn't walk down that far.

I want him! At Van Gogh's Ear. But I fear he'd cost too much to allow him to join my ants or my new horny toad (pictures later).

Further good news: though it's difficult to find practical necessities on the streets surrounding the Square, I was able to buy back-up batteries in this little goodie shop in the midst of the Row's saloons and galleries. Whew! A very useful addition, especially if you run out of smokes or want ice cream, popcorn or jalepeno brittle. They must do a very good business, as rents are surely prohibitive for a large variety store.

And, finally, the best news of all. Tombo reports that this nest on the west side of the Courthouse is occupied by a raven pair. I didn't see the birds, but I'll take his word for it.

Courthouse without ravens!

As I promised yesterday, I visited the courthouse today to see if the ravens had nested.

Was I disappointed! No sign of those birds -- or of almost any others. Not even a pigeon. Perhaps all the barbs that have been applied to every landing surface did the trick. Certainly not that phony owl lurking there in the shadows...

However, it was a beautiful spring day and people were out enjoying our wonderful Courthouse Square despite all the "no-no's".

There was more than one picnic in progress. Note that the grass is greening.

Yes, people were out with their pets, which is a common occurance, tho not, as a rule, when the pet is a budgie.

Amenities at the Square include a gazebo for band concerts and similar events. In fact, as we head into the warm months, there will probably be a big do on the plaza almost every weekend, not to mention evening dances and music during the week.

Some details of our classic governmental edifice. BTW, I had never noticed that you had to stand on your head to read the time late in the afternoon.

Of course, a medallion for the county board of supervisors (above) and the seal of the county court (below).

Among the many polished brass signs on the Square -- this one (above) honoring locals who served in the armed forces during World War II as well as a plaque introducing visitors to a little bit of Prescott's history (below).

The day was friendly, too. One lady who had moved here yesterday wanted to know more about Prescott. Then I briefed a group of visitors from Seattle and Boston about the statuary and where to get a good meal, while the owner of Gizie MaGee's Deli, where I had a yummy apricot turnover, chatted about growing fruit in the old California and how one dried apricots. A good day.

For the birds!

I had gathered critter pictures of all sorts for tonight's post; lo and behold, there were enough bird pictures alone. Let's start out at Lynx Lake again, with my youngsters, both of whom had cameras working. The south end of the lake is where the water birds have learned to expect their rations from us suckers. But with all that ice, how do they handle things? The crowd hangs out at a hole in the ice, way off. As soon as likely marks show up, a parade of birds forms up, heading toward the shore.

As the drakes and their ladies near their benefactors, they leave these curious trails in the ice.

The wrong move and they take to the air. Thanks, sson, for this great shot!

In the meantime, a little Oregon juncos steps out on the ice to get his share of goodies.

The juncos tend to hide in the nearby trees and shrubs.

And here's the prize picture from the outing -- a nuthatch hanging upside down either to get a drink of water or perhaps to catch a juicy critter in the mud. If you ever see a small bird climbing down a tree trunk headfirst, you can be sure it's a nuthatch; it's our only bird that does such a trick. Mud? Water? Yes, there was a small margin that was melted at the lake's edge.

Elsewhere at the lake, this raven played hide and seek with the sson, who finally got a nice shot of Roscoe taking off.

GrannyJ finally got her own bird shot a couple of days ago. A fleet of sparrows was around and about; this pair sat still long enough for me to take their portrait.

Linkage: Earlier today, I received one of those email posts with a bunch of wonderful pictures attached. This particular lot consisted of fabulous paper cut-outs done by one or more artists. Of course, I passed the email on to friends, receiving a grump from my dotter in return. Not directed at me specifically, but at the very bad habit people have of harvesting pictures from web sites, then passing them along without any credit whatsoever, jumping copyright protection in the process. Bless her, she passed along the website for artist Peter Callesen who actually created the cut-outs. Do visit the site; he's done some remarkable work.