I wonder why I bother running hither and yon to see ravens - there are plenty at home. Agitated crows outside woke me up all too early, but lying in bed later, I heard that familiar rruk-rruk, no doubt from the pines above my building, and then closer - looking out the window, two birds glided over, no higher than the telephone poles, heading south across Sunset Blvd. and towards the old Chaplin studios that are now Muppet headquarters.
An hour and half later, two birds in the same mode, a half a block to the east - going after a little In and Out burger, maybe? Too cloudy and cool to soar, but even when it is warm, I think it is not to early to claim a pattern of foraging in the flats. The question it opens up is are the flats part of anyone’s territory, and is it locals or others doing the foraging, and what are they foraging for? I suppose that’s a silly question. They are ravens and will eat anything. But with all the human activity, I can’t believe everything edible constitutes an opportunity.
The clouds began to break up between nine and ten, and I took a walk around the block. Four ravens above Hollywood Boulevard, playing in the warming air, soarcling over the Roosevelt Hotel, seeming to enjoy the day. It was hard to tell really what this was about. A meeting of two pairs, or four acquaintances out on the town? Was there any territorial defense going on? Ravens can be very low key about this. The last thing I saw was a single raven making a beeline westwards over Hollywood Boulevard. But after this last two weeks of chance local encounters, I’m leaning toward focusing my observations right at home, to learn as much as possible about ravens in the urban zone.