Re: [Tweeters] big raven flockJeff,

700! Curious point here was that it did not seem to be a feeding frenzy. Perhaps rather a migratory drift?

Gene.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff Gilligan
To: Eugene and Nancy Hunn ; tweeters
Cc: OBOL
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 10:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] big raven flock


I have twice seen very large flocks of Northern Ravens in the Pacific Northwest. The largest of the two flocks consisted of about 700 birds just south of the ghost town of Andrews, east of Steens Mountainin southeastern Oregon. It was in mid-June. The sight and sounds of so many ravens together in the otherwise quite afternoon of the desert was an experience I will never forget. When they flew off many (or all) were calling. I have also read somewhere of this sort of garthering of the species. Since the species is generally more common in the remote areas east of the Cascades, numbers together of that size would be extremely unlikely west of the Cascades. I have never seen as many as fifty together west of the Cascades. A decent sized gathering (perhaps 25) were together in Curry County, Oregon on the coast in April of this year, with a sizeable number of Turkey Vulutures and one out of place Crested Caracara also present. They were all attracted to a dead cow and a dead sheep.

Jeff Gilligan. Portland.



on 10/29/05 6:40 PM, Eugene and Nancy Hunn at enhunn323 at comcast.net wrote:


Tweets,

After striking out on the Woodinville Blue Jay again, Nancy and I walked the dog along the snoqualmie valley trail. We were entertatained by a swirling flock of ravens that eventually grew to include at least 50 plus an immature bald eagle.

I hadn't thought of ravens as forming such large flocks. They were playing on the updraft off the hills just east of the Snoqualmie Valley.

Gene.


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