We haven’t had very much snow this winter, but we did have a nice storm a week ago. Again, I have a little story to tell about my birds. This time, ravens are the stars. (Don’t forget to click on an image to enlarge it and see more detail if you wish)
Some nice snow looking very pristine in the backyard
I love how the snow fall in clumps on the trees. Of course I wouldn’t like it if these same heavy limbs were breaking power lines.
My backyard birds are always hungry and a snowy day is no exception. Ravens and tri-colored blackbirds are the primary birds here. The quail, sparrows and finches slept in, but they don’t enjoy being with the ravens very much.
It’s snowing and the ravens are roosting in the tree waiting to swoop down for lunch. READY…
SET… He’ll go after the suet feeder in the middle of the trunk
GO!
ATTACKING THE SUET…The ravens wait their turn to try to get at the suet as if they realize it’s fruitless to bicker about who is first.
HANGING IN THERE. Actually, ravens don’t normally hang on to a tree as woodpeckers do. But if they are hungry enough and like the food, they will try anything. Then, too, their beaks are thick and it’s difficult for them to get through the smaller mesh in the suet feeder. They keep trying and eventually do get a few bites. Starlings are better at this same trick because their beaks are smaller. Quail usually hang out below and eat up the fallen suet crumbs when starlings are chowing down.
Sunrise after the storm. This was taken about 6:15 AM looking west to the Sierras. The sun has to rise over the Pine Nuts to the east and that is why the Sierras get lit up from the top down.
Isn’t it amazing how much a scene can change in ten minutes?
Nice work, Snowlady, your latest BuzzardNotes on the ravenous ravens.
You compare them to the woodpecker—but without their tree gripping-hanging power.
So, what do we have there, the Ravenous Carson Valley Suetpecker?
Neat B/W type of photos