"Ravens in the City Forest"

From the Smithsonian Handbooks,

Birds of New England,

by Fred J. Alsop III

The Common Raven: Corvus Corax

Wing Span- 46-56 inches

Length- 24-26 inches

The common Raven is a magnificent flier and is the aerial equal of hawks and falcons, and is the largest passerine, or perching bird in North America. If any bird truly enjoys flying to the point of playing in the air, it must be the raven. They are intelligent and resourceful hunters and scavengers. Groups of ravens have been observed working together to capture prey that is too large for one bird to conquer. It is a revered totem and spirit to many Native Americans.

Appearance: Adults are glossy and black overall and have a huge "Roman nose". the shaggy throat feathers can be elevated or sleeked down. The female is similar to the male, but smaller.

Vocalizations: a variety of vocalizations, some quite musical (I personally haven't heard a musically talented Raven as of yet). Most often their vocalizations are croaking, drawling croooaaak or cur-ak. (I give the example of a parrot croak) or a metallic Tok, (which I describe as a tongue clicking on the inside of the beak, similar to a human "tok" raising the tongue to the roof of the mouth, sucking in and pressing the tongue and then releasing it creating the "Tok" sound.)

Behavior: They are tame, quick-learners, and are usually solitary or in pairs. They also may appear in small groups as well. (definitely not in my case). Ravens are gregarious in the winter, when it may occur in large foraging flocks and nightly communal roosts (sounds more like the crows around here than the Ravens, which seem far and few between). They are omnivorous... They are active foragers, scavengers and hunters. They eat a variety of small invertebrates, from tadpoles and shell fish, to worms and insects. They also eat many small vertebrates such as minnows, eggs, and young from other birds, rodents, as well as carrion and refuse.

Flight: They have an elaborate courtship flight with great displays of acrobatics, and pair flying, male above female, wing tip to wing tip, and heads touching. (Very romantic!)

They are strong fliers, often rising in circles, alternates deep wing beats with long glides or soaring on flat wings like a hawk, and like to soar on thermals and updrafts.

Breeding: They are monogamous and mate for life. They are solitary; they gather in small loose colonies in the north. (just not here).

Nesting: Raven eggs are greenish or gray-green eggs with brown or olive spots, and are subelliptical to long oval in shape, 2x1.4 inches.Incubation 18-21 days by the female. Altricial young stay in the nest for 38-44 days. They are brooded by the female and fed by both sexes. They may have between 3-7 eggs. They have 1 brood a year.

The nest is made of branches and sticks on the outside; a cup made of small sticks and lined with bark chips, animal hair, sheep's wool, lichens and mosses, seaweed and grass. The nest may be located on a cliff near water, in the mountains, or in a fork of a tree about 45- 80 feet above the ground. The nest is built by both male and female.

Population: They are common, expanding into California and into the Appalachians into areas where birds have been extirpated.

Conservation: In the past, the raven was shot, trapped and poisoned for alleged damage to wild game and domesticated animals. (They haven't tried to eat us yet!)

Let me introduce the Raven family to you. I believe that I originally met Mr. Raven this past winter, and took some very fine pictures of him posing on a dead tree, surrounded with snow lined branches. I did not have my best camera with me, but the photos turned out quite well just the same.

I was aware of these birds in the City Forest for a couple of summers now, but did not know that they WERE actually Ravens. We heard them calling back and forth (only 2) to each other, and never heard more than 2 out there. I had never heard a Raven before and was able to identify the face with the sound. This past winter when I finally got to meet face-to-beak, I heard his call, and then heard his "Tok-Tok" sound that sounds like a tongue on the inside of the beak. This is a tell-tale sign that this bird was indeed a Raven and not a lesser bird.

So, my Raven and his love interest have apparently been busy this past spring raising a couple of babies. These babies are presently trying to find their wings and learn how to eat on their own. Don't get me wrong... as you can see in these pictures (that include at least one of the babies) these chicks are quite big now. They tend to flutter their wings around clumsily while trying to balance on branches, and call back and forth with their parents. One can hear the high pitched gravely call of these babies, and then the lower calls of the grown-ups. My sister tells me that these birds probably know me and my dog by now (and my friend and her dogs) and see us as no threat. They commonly hang out in a few dead trees next to Bog Brook between East Trail and the Main Road, or off towards the bog. I have even seen them IN the bog. I took these incredible pictures of the Raven family this past week. I can never tell the detail of the photos until I get home and view them on the big screen. At that point, I am often amazed at the clarity my camera has even when photographing from a distance. Of course, the further away I am when I zoom in, the less clarity there is. You can see that decreased clarity in my hawk pictures from earlier this spring. (Those will be posted later).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these rare close-ups of the Ravens. For those who believe that Crows and Ravens are the same, perhaps you will finally get to see the difference. I only wish you could hear it as well!

Stay tuned for a post describing the American Crow!

"The Deer Exclosure"

This is what the sign says: "DEER EXCLOSURE Built to allow Biologist and Botanist to study the effects that Whitetail deer and Moose have on plant life. Eagle Scout project built by Troop 8 scouts 2006 1/10th Acre

If one wanders about in the Bangor City Forest, exploring the less traveled trails, one can find many interesting things. Some of them Mind-boggling indeed. At one point a few years back, the city had backhoes and dump trucks and things out by the little tree farm near the pond and by the stone fence entrance to the Quinn Trail. They removed many stones from the gorgeous stone fence that had probably been there for ages, and began tearing and cutting down trees... cutting out a swath of a space in the forest as if they were going to build a road. They never did... however, after the construction or destruction (depends on how you look at it) was done, we went to see what the heck the city had done. I want to share with you what we found...

The damage done here was not done by deer of even moose, but by humans. I remember the first time we saw this deer exclosure, there were trees standing inside the exclosure. There was more shade surrounding the exclosure as well. As you can see there are no more trees in the exclosure. In fact, there were piles of trees and brush everywhere that had been cut down and cropped off, blocking trails, and cluttering up the surrounding area... including one of the original trails of the forest.

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My conclusion to this Deer Exclosure project is as follows: The plant life inside the deer exclosure seemed to decrease in density, but stayed much the same except for the damage done by humans. Humans have damaged the area plant life to the extreme by not only cutting surrounding foliage down, but also by removing foliage from inside the pen as well. They cut a driveway sized path into the forest to create this exclosure when a simple path would have sufficed. Humans also destroyed an ancient stone fence in order to make this road to provide easier (to humans) access into the exclosure.

Whether this project was actually created and built by the Eagle Scouts as mentioned on the sign, I may never know. I have never actually seen anyone walk down this way. I do know that if the scouts did indeed create and build this project that it was probably with help from city workers, who are also responsible for other natural disasters. They like to line the road trails with debree from seasonal road sweeping, apparent by large rocks of road pavement, cell phone parts, and many other garbage items that no one entering the forest for recreational use would ever carry in with them.

Many pictures you will see in this blog are of all the things of nature that catch my eye here in the City Forest. This is one thing that caught my eye in another way, and I felt like I needed to record this as well.

Look forward to more nature shots!

Winter in the Woods...

Winter Birds in Maine...

Dark-eyed Junco, (Junco hyemalis) 5.75- 6.5 inches tall, 9.25- 10 inches long wingspan:

These little guys hang out either alone or in pairs, or in family groups after breeding season. They form foraging flocks in spring and fall. They eat vegetation, hops seeds grains, berries, insects, caterpillars and some fruits, and sometimes flying insects. Juncos live in areas common in coniferous and mixed coniferous/deciduous forests and in bog areas. Their winter habitat varies. Living along the shores of Megunticook River in Camden, Maine seems the ideal place for these little birds to spend the whole year!

This Great Blue Heron, (Ardea herodias) 46-52 inches tall, Wingspan 77- 82 inches wide:

was out in back of my mother's house on Megunticook River, hanging out on the neighbor's dock left in the water. It was December 24th. He doesn't have a regal Heron look about him because, well... he is a bit off course and is probably quite cold! Great Blue Herons are migrating birds (especially in Maine). Therefore this poor guy would have a long S-shaped neck and not a squat "no neck" look. He would normally feed while standing in water or in a marshy area. He would be eating fish and other animals that come in range, and would use it's long bill as a dagger. They normally brood once per year in the north, and the chicks are fed by both parents. They are also monogomous.

The Common Raven: (Corvus corax) Usually 24- 26 Inches tall, Wingspan 46- 56 Inches.

The Raven's most common vocalizations are the croaking, drawling "crooaak" or "cur-ruk" or the metallic (in the beak) "tok". Unlike Crows, Ravens usually have a shaggy throat, and has V-shaped tail feathers, whereas the crow has tail feathers that fan out straight across. They are monogomous and mate for life. They are usually solitary, or in loose colonies in the north. Both Male and Female feed the chicks. The nest is brooded by only the female. These guys are tame, quick learners, especially gregarious in the winter. He is an active forager, scavenger and hunter. He is an omnivore and eatsinsects, small animals and other birds' young among many other things. they are awesome to watch in flight and have an amazing courtship display. this Raven is the first one I have been able to identify as a Raven, and also catch on camera. That is why I am so happy with this one photo. Taken in the City Forest in Bangor, Maine.

Fox Pond: Cherryfield, Maine

The Summer Blueberry Fields: Wyman's in Cherryfield

Birds of Summer 2008 Slideshow (revised)

Music by Anne Dodson: "Against the Moon" Beech Hill Music; Rockport, Maine