Monday Raven Blogging

Raven - Yosemite  2016

Large bird, wandering around the picnic ground looking for a handout.

Other raven photos can be found here.

Monday Raven Blogging

Raven - Yosemite  2012

While Mike sat at his picnic table, idly thumbing through his Kindle, this large raven was poking around the picnic area firepits looking for something good, being scolded by two smaller birds.

Monday Raven Blogging

Raven - Yosemite  2014

Mike had some leftover "free coffee" coupons from a 2012 stay at Yosemite Lodge. He got his coffee at the Yosemite Lodge cafeteria, then took it and a Svenhard's pastry that he had in his pocket to the outside patio where this very large bird was checking out the action.

Monday Raven Blogging

Raven (Bryce Canyon NP) - Utah  2016

Very large bird wanting handouts. He didn't get anything from me.

Monday Crow Blogging

Crow (Twin Peaks) - San Francisco  2025

Very large! Almost looks like one of those sizable Japanese crows that have appeared before on the blog. Maybe a raven?

I took the photo with a Sony RX100.

The Way of the Geezer: October Camping 3

Mike arrives at the Crane Flat Campground in Yosemite around mid-afternoon. This is one of those large national park campgrounds with loops: Loop A, Loop B etc. But at this hour it’s virtually deserted.

Mike does a leisurely setup, then gets out his traditional arrival beer, then his book and sits down. The very interesting conversations of the ravens can be heard in the treetops high above —one of their phrases is particularly intriguing, sounding something like, "Punka punka punka." But Mike has stupidly forgotten to bring his Ravenese-English phrase book, so communication is very difficult—in fact it's impossible.

Punka punka punka.

Photos: Raven—Yosemite, 2009; Campground—Yosemite, 2009

Monday Clark's Nutcracker Blogging

Clark's Nutcracker (Bishop Pass Trail) - Sierra Nevada  2023

Clark's Nutcracker (Bishop Pass Trail) - Sierra Nevada  2023

Part of the crow and raven family. "The bird was described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with William Clark first observing it in 1805 along the banks of the Salmon River, a tributary of the Columbia River."

While hiking up the trail I carried a Nikon Z5 with a 40mm lens attached. But just before heading down I switched to a 24-200mm zoom lens (yes, much heavier but I reasoned that the extra weight wouldn't matter that much on the downhill). The extra reach of the zoom lens came in handy when these birds appeared!