This week a dream came true when I found the Raven Family of Lincoln Park. For several years I have been fascinated by how the ravens moved into town. Many bird sites clearly state that Ravens are in Washington State except in urban areas like Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma etc. When we went to the mountains I would thrill at seeing these large corvids. I even had an exciting series of photos of one stealing from a motorcycles saddle bags at Sunset on Mount Rainier.
In 2013 I personally saw a raven in my southwest Seattle neighborhood. In the following years even found a baby in Lincoln Park plus some visiting birds in Fauntleroy Park. Here are the links to those articles and photos.
Raven Visiting Fauntleroy Park – Spring 2018
Call of the Raven – Fauntleroy Park – Summer 2018
We have a fairly large park in southwest Seattle with a large forested area. Lincoln Park is best known for it’s salt water pool and the nice beach waterfront area close to the Ferry Dock to Vashon. I usually hang out in the wooded sections admiring cedar trees and hoping for some bird sighting serendipity. This weekend I heard the ravens there but couldn’t get a good photo. When I finally got my camera out they had quickly disappeared.
The next day I thought I should try again. Betting that small family will still be around. Moving baby birds is not something parents do unless they are very distressed. The park is so nice and full of places for them I doubted they had a motive to leave.
I was so right and for a half hour I followed along on a baby raven ride!! What a ride it was.
It all started when I heard them from quite a distance and walked quickly to the area I had seen them before. Low and behold I found them because one of the babies was chattering up a storm. Here is a look at what that first area looked like. Dead center of the photo is where the baby was. His parent flew into a tree to my right.
Here is mom or dad swooping in to make sure baby was not messed with. The baby was chattering to everyone in the family about what he was doing. He was testing his voice and crooning, croaking, making echos and having a grand time going from tree to tree. This small murder seemed oblivious to us humans. Very unlike crows who are needless to say very protective of their kids. Bet if we did try to mess with them there would be retribution administered by these large birds. Perhaps their size makes them bolder than their crow brothers.
The baby flew towards me and landed on a low branch behind me. Then to my delight another baby flew onto another low branch. At first a parent came over to that tree and then moved in with baby chatty.
The second baby was quieter and was busy poking into the tree bark looking for bugs. The video below shows him using his large beak to do that. All the while his sibling continues to vocalize non-stop.
Another lady was watching with me. The singing of the baby enchanted both of us. Then the whole raven crew flew over by her onto low branches of a cedar tree. Before we knew it they landed on the ground and searched for tender things to eat. All the while she was only a few feet away. The parents even went out onto the trail and strutted a little bit for everyone. Such brave strong birds.
Then the chase began. The babies flew off to the northwest. I trucked after them following Baby Chatty’s loud talking.
Next is was a madrona tree with more playing, pecking and singing.
You can tell for sure this is a baby (as if his and his parents behavior wasn’t enough to tell) by the pink mouth that this photo shows off. Check out how his feathers are so defined too.
This baby was constantly busy. Not only being Chatty Cathy but also pecking at everything. I laughed thinking he was saying to his parents “See what I found? Is this good food? What should I do with this? See how I can land here?”
I know you want more audio of this encounter! Here you go!
Then the adventure ended when the two babies and the one parent landed on a tree branch together. To my delight the other parent joined so we got this family picture.
Crows of Arroyos 