Sharing a Treat

The Pump House, one of our favorite restaurants, is just a little ways up the road from my house.  I've posted photos of the Pump House before, and you can see some of those HERE and HERE.  In the winter their parking lot is often a good place to see Ravens, our most plentiful wintertime bird.  The attraction for the Ravens isn't the restaurant, but what's across the road.  To you and me it's a dumpster site, but if you're a Raven it's an all-you-can-eat buffet!

February 2, 2010

I'm linking with

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 89

with my Index #4852

and

Eileen's Saturday's Critters 52.

Raven Goes Grocery Shopping

When I came out of the grocery store one day this week I walked past this Raven perched on the back of a pickup. He was about four feet from me and my car was two cars down. Fortunately I had my camera in the car, so of course I snapped a few shots. Ravens are a very common sight around Fairbanks and they like to hang around parking lots and fast food joints. This particular pickup obviously had a bag of garbage in the back.

The Raven dropped down into the bed of the truck several times and then popped back up to stand on the side.

You really don't want to leave garbage in the back of your truck. It's almost guaranteed that a Raven will discover it. As I was taking his photo, the Raven seemed to wink at me. Shortly a man walked by and he flew away.

I always enjoy watching Ravens, and if I'm really lucky I have my camera with the zoom lens on it so that I can capture a portrait or two.

Raven at the Barn

When I was at Creamer's Field on Monday taking photos of the barns I got a little bonus. While I was taking the closeups of the cupolas a Raven landed on the roof near where I was and must have found some kind of treat. At least he spent a little time sifting through the snow. I don't know if he was directing a comment my way or not, but Ravens are very vocal.

Then he took flight, leaving behind a spray of snow.

We have a large population of Ravens in Fairbanks, and you see them all over. They are not always easy to photograph though, something to do with all that black.....

Ravens are on my photo quest list. I am always attempting to get that perfect shot! You can check out some of my past shots of them by clicking on Birds-Ravens in my sidebar.

Ravens at Yellowstone Park

Going back a little further in time to our roadtrip in the fall of 2009, we were at Yellowstone National Park on October 11th. It was 14 degrees F in the morning and it was snowing fairly heavily with about three inches of snow on the ground. It was a beautiful winter wonderland scene, and you can see more photos of Yellowstone on a post I did while we were traveling at Snowy Yellowstone. The spots in the photos are falling snow. As we drove into the park we saw quite a few ravens hanging out in the trees.

When we stopped at the mud pots, a pair of ravens came running over to the truck to see if we had anything for them. Hey, Lady, it's snowing pretty hard out here. Can you spare a treat or two for a poor starving raven?

We're not picky. A candy bar, some peanuts, popcorn, french fries, hot dogs?

Well, I can't believe you are not going to share with us!

Well, George, what did you get?

Matilda, it's unbelievable! I didn't get a single scrap.

I just don't know what the world is coming to! Here we are at Yellowstone, it's snowing, it's cold, and those people have the nerve to not even give us a bite or two to eat. I guess we'll have to go check out the dumpsters behind the Visitor's Center.

Ravens are a fascinating bird to watch.

The Raven

I took the shots of the Raven featured in my last post at Creamer's Field at the end of July. We had went for a walk around the back fields and were coming back towards the farm house. I spotted a Raven sitting on one of the information boards. I walked closer, all the while taking photos, until I was right up next to him. I expected him to take off at any time, but he was very busy preening.

He gave me the evil eye a few times, but just went back to his grooming as I walked around to the other side.

He was a bit scruffy looking. I am thinking he might be a juvenile and moulting.

Ravens are in the Corvid family, along with Jays, Magpies, and Crows. They are a resident bird in Interior Alaska and are a common sight around town and in the woods. Every fast food place and parking lot in town seems to have a Raven or two or three hanging around. They are a very vocal bird, and if you haven't heard one before, you can click HERE to hear recordings of some of the various sounds they make.

Ravens are one of the most intelligent birds. Many Native Alaskan beliefs depict the Raven as a trickster and a creator god. "Aren't you finished yet?" So after 5 minutes or so I left him, still sitting on his perch, still grooming his feathers.

Halloween Raven

"Once upon a midnight dreary..."

They Forgot to Fly South

We have a thriving community of ducks that spend the winter in Fairbanks. There is a stretch of open water all winter on the Chena River downriver from the power plant's warm water discharge. This afternoon was about 20 degrees and sunny. The river looked like a spa for the ducks, with steam rising off the water and the sun reflecting off the surface. Remember you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

They appear to be doing quite well, and have saved themselves a very long flight south. The flock is mostly Mallards, but there are several Common Goldeneyes in the crowd.

They have committed themselves to spending the winter here, and are helped along by a local fellow who has taken it upon himself to feed them.

With the warm temps and the bright sunshine, it was lovely day to spend time along the river.

The trail along the river is kept plowed, so it makes for a very pleasant place to walk. That's Marty meandering along while I am dawdling along with my camera, snapping away.

There were also several Ravens around, providing quite a bit of activity.

There are picnic tables along the trail, but we didn't stop to sit.

We'll save that for another day, and this looks like the perfect spot to stop and while away a bit of time.

Sunshine and Ravens

Today it was a little cooler, about 15 below, but the sun was shining beautifully. I had some errands to run and I had my camera along. The combination of the bright warm sunshine and the sparkling snow made for some lovely photos.

Ravens Along the Alcan

On September 29th on the second day of our roadtrip down the Alcan we stopped at a turnout just after we had crossed the continental divide but still in the Yukon Territory. Here we encountered a pair of ravens. I was able to get several good shots of them. In Fairbanks we see ravens all the time, particularly in the winter. Every morning you will see them flying into town from their roosting place and then back again in the evening. They spend their day in town hanging around parking lots, fast food places, and anywhere else where they might find easy pickings. They love riding the air currents and you can often see groups of them playing as they coast around in the sky. I was delighted to see these two birds in a more natural setting, although from the abandoned buildings there had been either a road maintenance camp or a lodge at the spot. I like the shot below as it shows the beautiful wing pattern of the raven. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

The two spent some time on the roof of an old shed preening their feathers. They really weren't too concerned that I was madly snapping photos of them. Perhaps they were showing off their beauty for me.

We encountered the first raven as soon as we pulled into the parking area. He was very interested in the gravel and spent a bit of time there, perhaps picking out just the perfect piece of debris.

Ravens are plentiful in Fairbanks, and at the annual bird count on December 19th, they were the second largest group of birds counted at 1638. Only the redpoll had more birds with 3,402 counted. The landfill was the biggest attraction that day, with 999 ravens counted there. The temperature was a brisk minus 38 degrees F at the start of the count, but had risen to 29 below at the finish.

Ravens are the largest member of the crow family. Native Alaskans depict the Raven as a "trickster" spirit. They are a very intelligent bird and can be quite fascinating to watch. They are a very noisy bird with many different vocalizations. You can hear some of them by clicking here to go to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. Because they are entirely black they are a difficult bird to photograph. I have lots of photos of ravens, but it is very hard to get the feather definition. I felt very fortunate to have this wonderful opportunity to visit briefly with this raven pair.

Snowy Yellowstone

We left Victor on Saturday and headed back east towards Yellowstone. We stopped at a car museum and an old Montana prison museum. I'll post more about them later. It was a beautiful sunny day for a drive and we made it to West Yellowstone where we spent the night. Of course the snow caught up with us again and Sunday morning it was snowing with about three inches on the ground and 14 degrees. We went on into Yellowstone Park and it was beautiful. A couple legs of the roads were closed but most of the park access was open.

We stopped at the mud pots and went for a walk around them.

A couple of ravens were in the parking lot greeting everyone. Ravens are great beggars and I think they were a bit annoyed that I didn't give them a handout.

We continued on towards Old Faithful.

It was snowy and cold, but we waited to see Old Faithful erupt. It was a bit of an anticlimax though as it was cold enough that all you could see was lots of steam.

We then continued on towards the east entrance of Yellowstone. We had checked at the Visitor's Center before watching Old Faithful, and the roads were okay, but as we started out they had the gate partially closed but said chains required, so we and several other people went on. We have a Ford 350 that is set up for Alaska winters so we weren't concerned about the snow. However, when we got over the Continental Divide that runs through this section of the road, the gates were closed and locked and we were unable to go on. We had to turn back and go over the pass again. I think there was a little miscommunication on the two ends of the road. We got back to the Old Faithful visitor's center and checked to see what was going on. The only road still open was through West Yellowstone. Time for Plan B! We decided it was time to head south and look for some warmer temps. We did come across a herd of elk, so we stopped for a few photos.

On our way in we had seen a couple bunches of elk, but they were too far away for good photos.

We also saw some buffalo but they were too far off the road. Coming down the mountain we saw a grizzly bear cross the road but he was into the trees before I could get a shot.

Driving out of the park the snow had stopped and the sun came out. The roads were clear and it was a beautiful drive.

It was disappointing to have to backtrack west again and to miss so much of the park, but we'll try again another time. We have both seen Yellowstone before, although it's been many years. I saw it in 1972 and Marty was there in 1951. Sunday we got as far as Logan, Utah, and we got out of the snow and found some warmer temps. However, Monday we head east and back over the Continental Divide again. The Midwest has forecasts for storms for the next couple of days, so stay tuned to see if the snow and cold follow us! Ironically, back home in Fairbanks there is no snow and the daytime temps are up to 60 degrees and that is likely to continue for another week. When we left home and it was snowy and cold Marty said we should have left a week earlier. After seeing the temperatures at home now, he said we should have left two weeks later. But we've seen some beautiful scenery, gotten some wonderful photos, and visited with good friends. We said we were going to see where the road took us, and this leg of our journey is a little unexpected, but there are lots more adventures ahead of us. Until next time......