We have Babies

Look to the right to see the quail babies.  They're small.

Mom is waiting for the "children" to come through the pickets on the gate.

It’s that time of year for the next generation of wildlife.  We had our first sighting of baby quail last week.  They are so cute and more obedient than human kids are.  The quail make very good parents.  It’s fun to watch the interactions between them and the new “kids.”

Baby chipmunk

Baby chipmunk

I can spend hours watching nature.  The quail and chipmunks seem to have their own language.  The offspring will spend the better part of this year with their parents to guide them.  The only thing left out here is the rabbits, which seem to be out on their own at a young age.

Raven behind my house

 Ravens behind my house

Today I heard all this loud screeching and cawing.  I grabbed the camera and went outside to see what was up.  The ravens make a racket when one of their own is hurt or killed.  This time they were dive-bombing a golden eagle.  They kept this up for the better part of an hour.  I tried to get some good pics but birds are quick.  My husband also decided to call right at this time.  I never did succeed in getting a good shot of the golden eagle, but I bet it was only about twelve feet or so away.  However, this didn’t last long and it took flight.  I know one thing, the ravens look big, but this thing made them seem so small by comparison.  I never did find out what caused all this.  I imagine the eagle was probably hunting one of them and feasted on it for lunch.

Disturbing Animal Abuse

Raven from Bards and Druids Website



Okay, I felt compelled to write this extra post because I don’t like any type of animal abuse and this includes birds. Today we discovered a dead raven in our backyard. Upon inspection, its demise was due to a gunshot wound in the right chest. This was very upsetting to me. As we were looking at it, two ravens were circling overhead squawking loudly in their guttural voices. They were probably its family. They are usually in groups of three back there, flying and riding the wind currents in unbelievable acrobatic displays.


I felt very sorry for this bird. We have ravens everywhere and they are so majestic and beautiful, even if they do bring bad omens, according to Indian legend.

Raven from Bards and Druids Website

Naturally, I wanted to do right by this bird and bury it, as I’ve done a hundred times with other birds that hit the windows of our house. My husband wouldn’t let me and hauled it out into the desert. When he left, I wanted to take a shovel out there and find it and bury it, but I didn’t. It’s almost 100 degrees today, but that is not what deterred me. He would be very upset with me I’m sure, and would probably be back here before I finished the job anyway.

We are sure that some boys who’ve been hunting behind the house killed it, although we didn’t see them do it. We caught them back there with guns a couple of days ago and my husband ran them off, telling them to stop hunting the wildlife back there. He followed them home where they took the guns inside and got on their bicycles instead.

He did call the local PD today and they came over, took a report, and looked at the dead bird, but I doubt they will do anything. But you can be sure I’ll be on the lookout for those boys. These kids, probably about 13 or 14, are always shooting at the quail back there. The birds come to drink in our yard because we put water out everywhere. This is the desert and they have to get water from somewhere.

I’m just so very disgusted right now. If I could wish a learning pox on the boys, I would do it. I really don’t care if we have hundreds of ravens and other creatures. It’s not right to kill them. They are only trying to live in this harsh environment.

Okay, I’ll get off the soapbox now.

Do Birds Bring Omens?

My first thought was to blog about books, but I decided a different subject is in order. Obviously, all of us like to read and have probably read many blogs on books. Instead, I decided I would talk about birds.


I don’t know everything about birds, but what amazes me is how adaptable most species are. Of course, this brings me around to the desert where I’ve lived for the last nine years. Naturally, there are birds of prey here and ravens because you can expect to find those in harsh places. However, there must also be two hundred other species of birds here. There are so many that every January they hold a two-week bird festival.

From Bird Festival Website

Many of these birds end up in my yard during their migration north and south. There are some that are here year-round, such as the various sparrows and finches, mockingbirds, quail, roadrunners, doves, pigeons, cranes, various ducks, and of course the aforementioned ravens and birds of prey.

It is too warm here to have robins and blue jays year round unless you drive up in the mountains. When I lived in CA, we had a blue jay that felt so at home with us that he would come within a foot and eat peanuts we offered him. Sometimes he would even sit at the patio table with us and eat peanuts. I think blue jays are smart birds, as are ravens.

Blue Jay on my Patio Table in California

I saw a program on ravens once on the nature channel. I learned they are the smartest of all birds, learning how to survive anywhere in whatever conditions they encounter. Heat or cold does not trouble these birds. This must be true because they live here in the desert. They were also prevalent in Alaska when I lived there. Incidentally, my cats loved this program on TV. There was lots of bird action and three little faces staring at the screen to see what would happen next. It was too cute.

Raven - Free Clipart

This brings to mind something else about ravens. Do you think that birds bring omens and can tell us about future things? I know the Indians believe in such things, and I think there is some truth to this. In October about four years ago, a group of ravens gathered on the ridge behind my house. By a group, I mean many birds, possible twenty or more, as if they were holding a meeting about something. This happened four days in a row, just before sunset. It has not happened since, or happened before, but I am quite mindful of their activities now because on the fourth day, my family called to tell me my nephew died in an accident. My sister and I talked about this at some length afterward and I also Googled this information. This kind of behavior is a warning of impending death in the family, although it is hard to predict whose death it will be. This fact was enlightening and sobering. My sister does believe birds tell you things, if you know how to read what it is they are saying. She always knows when the weather is changing, etc. by observing bird behavior where she lives. Perhaps you will view birds differently from now on.

One last note on birds, there are none in Alaska except for the ravens and the birds of prey. It is too cold for sparrows, finches, and birds like that. One year, when I was living there, I got to attend a gift show, with my bosses held in Los Angeles. I awoke to bird song. When I looked out the window of my room in the high-rise, I saw sparrows and finches hoping all over, frolicking in frenzy. That brought a smile to my face and I realized how much I really missed that. I watched them so long I was almost late to meet my bosses for the show.

Finches and Sparrows enjoying the birdbath in my backyard

That trip was amazing for me and the four days went by way too quick. Between the common birds, the warm weather, blue skies, and the palm trees, I couldn’t stop laughing the whole time I was there. They thought I was delirious and I guess I was. I didn’t care how polluted LA was. It was like heaven to me right about then. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was get back on that plane to go back to Alaska in January.