Back in Yellowknife for some Raven company :)

 

Mein Rabe zingen fur seine Essen :)
(My Raven is singing for his Dinner)

In my 6 months absence, the Ravens have missed me! I am delighted that they still recognise me and greets when I come out for a quick hobble. Milli and Micro flies around when they see me. Waiting to see if I have any leftovers for them.

That is one of the babies from last year's nest. Two of the chicks have survived so far, and the parents are teaching them which humans are "safe" and which are "STAY AWAY AT ALL COST".

I am happy that I belong to the former :)

Die glucklich vogel ist sehr lustig.

Oh yeah, I am very impressed with how much German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian I've picked up via Duolingo and Memrise after only 2 months. Highly recommended with two paws up!

More Raven photos

I was quite unwell over the weekend, so I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my feathered friends on the roof. Nano, Pico and Femto are growing fast, and they are nearly fledged. I cannot wait to spy on them exploring the world outside their nest!

Micro is the bigger of the two parents, with a missing (3rd) primary flight feather on his/her right wing. Looks scruffier than Milli, with a deeper call noise. More daring in personality as well.

Milli is smaller, with complete but tatty primary flight feathers. However, he/she has an injured right ankle (like me!) so Milli favours it a lot when landing or perching. More suspicious and less trusting than Micro, of gifts, so I would suspect that Milli injured the leg by a human set trap.

Managed to get a couple of very shaky videos of Milli. Sorry about the shakiness, as I said, I was feeling very unwell.

Dancing with Ravens - nesting site

I've made some new friends. Feathered ones, that is.

There's a Raven pair that chose to nest on a neighbour's window ledge, and the chicks are about ready to fledge. What I find hilarious is that the they (humans) tried to discourage them from nesting there by putting up plastic deterrent owls..... but of course the Ravens aren't buying it. In fact, they are lording over the plastic birds, by building a nest just around one, and using the other as a poop-perch!

Clever birds.

They even made it in the news.I've named the parents Milli and Micro, the chicks (3 of them) are Nano, Pico and Femto.

Yellowknife couple learns that there's no tricking the Ravens.

Ravens Dance

The Ravens' Dance 

Old Man North still is blowing his sharp icy breath into my Parka swaddled face. I stood there, knee-deep in feathery snow, with my hoar frosted lashes clinging stubbornly to my cheeks. I raised my head and eyes to the Dancing Cloud People, and smiled.

The Ravens are Dancing!

I hear them calling and hear their powerful wings beat the cold, chill air. Now soaring high, now swooping low; but always in a pair or in threes. Their Dance brings new life to the Earth. Their dance, it means Sister Sun is coming back, from her hut in the Cold North! With her coming, Old Man North will retreat to his icy lair.

Throck! Throck! *click*click*

Chortling Ravens express their joy in the coming of spring. In the coming of abundance and prey, and in the coming of the next nestlings. Of sleepy creatures coming out of their nests. Of Bears grazing on new grass. Of caribous, in the hundreds, if not thousands, and of fish spawning in the rivers.

Yes, I will run back home and tell the Elders. The Ravens are now Dancing! We will see Spring again! 

 

 

[This work was inspired from watching the Ravens performing their bonding rituals while I was out hobbling in the deep snow around Niven Lake]