Whenever we do get to our forest trails, we're often greeted by a Common Raven. I kid you not. It seems incredible to me, as if this raven knows me and the dogs, that somehow we're special. While this preserve/forest is not a high traffic place, I'm sure dozens of people each weeks walk its trails. So, I wonder: Do they get the same reception?
No sooner do the dogs and I enter the forest then the familiar Kronk, kronk, kronk, kronk! greets our ears. And I stop to see if I can see him or her flying overhead, though I seldom do. But you don't need to see a raven to identify it, that is, if it's calling out to you.
Want to hear a raven? Just do an online search on "Call of the Common Raven," you'll get lots of videos.
Want to see a raven in the "wild"? Well, you guessed it--get yourself to a forest, a coniferous one or one with coniferous trees. In fact, the raven that greets us has a roost in a large grove of American Larch trees. Unlike most confers that are evergreen, the American Larch is a deciduous conifer; it looses its needles in the fall.
Currently I'm writing and illustrating a chapter book serial series of seven books called The Bird Club. In book four (The Three-Cedar Secret), which I'll be publishing in July 2024, the common raven plays a significant role. Since I've no photo to share, here's my illustration of a Common Raven, one you'll find the upcoming book. If this bird looks big to you that's because it is big, with a wing span of four feet. The bird depicted is more than a "common" raven but, then, aren't they all?
Till next time!