Backyard and Beyond

The Common Raven (Corvus corax) family of Brooklyn numbers four. The first I heard of them was near the end of May, when the City Birder spotted them in Green-Wood Cemetery. I first saw them on June 9th. It was 6:15 a.m. and they were turning a floppy right over the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal at 39th Street, flying in the direction of Green-Wood. Yesterday noon, my second viewing of the clan. I’d just exited the 36th St. subway and was walking down 4th Avenue. I heard a strange noise above the infernal combustion cacophony of that grim roadway. The call was not one I was familiar with, yet it was corvid-ish and had my raven-senses jangling. Looking up and around, I saw nothing. But then I heard it again and spotted a big corvid flying over the school I was walking past. The bird turned around and flew back my way (hey, thanks!), giving me a good view of the tell-tale tail. Then it landed on one of the two water towers of the 39th Street building where I photographed the family of five last year. Luckily, I had my camera. A second bird soon joined the first. There was much rejoicing, I gather, but I couldn’t hear anything from where I was. Then two more birds joined them, and the foursome flew towards the water, angling southwards at roughly 1st Avenue (they sure do have a route!).It was on New Year’s Day 2015 that I first spotted a pair of Ravens grooming each other here in Brooklyn. That was pretty unusual in and of itself, but then the pair bred! That was historic. Is it still the same pair? What happened to last year’s trio of fledglings? If it is the same pair, this would be their second year of nesting. As far as we know, the nest is in Brooklyn itself, but its location remains a mystery.