Twenty odd years ago I went outside and fired a shotgun into the sky, BANG BANG fucking BANG I went.
I was firing in the general direction of the Forest Ravens, colloquially known back then, as those bloody crows. I was not trying to hit the crows I was just trying to scare them away from my day old chickens. The Ravens are so intelligent that I did not need to take the shotgun outside again, all I needed to make them fly away was to walk outside holding a stick and yell BANG at the sky.
All the ravens since then have been very quick to fly away when they see me looking at them, which is great news for my chicks, but bad news for my photos.
I have been trying to get a decent photograph of the Raven’s for months now, they have the most beautiful blue eyes and I will not be happy until I capture that blueness with crystal clarity.
But oh dear Internet, they are just so tricksy.
I was about 100 metres away from this Raven as it sat in the tree, calling. It was most probably mocking me as I took this photo from the open door of the studio. I could imagine the crow looking at me and thinking, “Ner ner human you are on the ground and I am here high up in a tree.”
I knew that I was too far away to get a decent photo BUT I tried anyway.
I managed to get about eight photos three of them blurry, before the Raven flew away chuckling to itself.
In April,The Spouse bought me a shiny new lens. Shiny new lenses are wonderful but the trick is, you need to actually have them attached to the camera as they wont take Raven photos tucked away safely in their little bags.
That is the only downside to a DSLR for me, I am an intuitive, run and snap kind of photographer with a passion for birds. And the birds will never ever wait while I change lenses and attach the monopod and faff about twiddling the buttons.
This is the best Raven photo with my shiny new lens I have taken so far internet. I have a long way to go I know, but you can almost see the blue of the Raven’s eye so on a scale of zero to spectacular this photo isn’t a zero.
This morning I heard the Ravens calling and I tried to sneak out the back door ever so quietly BUT, Harry the dog had other ideas and he joyously ran down the hill barking at the Raven, confident in his doggy brain that he was protecting me.
So I photographed the clouds instead. At least they stayed in the one spot for longer than two seconds.
Oh and here is a photo of Harry, he is not looking very repentant at all is he? Damn dog.
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*pats Harry on the head, gives a little scratch behind his ears..*
Those clouds are so lovely and feathery.
I have the same trouble with crows here in SA. There is a pair living in this area and they mock me every time I try to photograph them. The weekend before last I made a quick trip to the shop for milk and didn’t have my camera with me because it was drizzling rain. As I crossed a side road those two mockers swooped down and strutted around on the footpath right in front of me. They looked right at me. Less than two metres away! And me without the camera!
How did they know?? *sigh*
You are a great story teller. I can feel your angst through the whole episode. But, most of all, I love Harry … he is a wonderful looking dog and I can see a touch of guilt on his face. They know, maybe not while they are giving chase, but when they come back. Mom doesn’t hide her feelings from him even if she doesn’t say anything. Enjoyed your post … have a great rest of your day.
Andrea @ From The Sol
They know those Corvus … they know. They can count too … they know how many people have gone into a shed and how many have come out and somehow they can teach this to their offspring. Not surprising they avoid you … you may have to go elsewhere to find other ones to photograph … either that or befriend yours 😉
Love the B&W rendition of the clouds … magical.
Keep trying.
Looking forward to looking into the eye of the crow when you do manage to get that close-up… but yes, in the meantime the 3rd image is pretty good… and the cloud photo is very dreamy and whispy… oh and congratulations on the newest addition to your family… I’m time travelling and have already read your most recent post.
There is more to RAVEN than meets the eye. And how many of you have met the eye of a raven? They’ve always been associated with Godliness. Few people know that the first bird out of NOAH’s ark was a raven. It just didn’t return. It didn’t feel the need. ODIN relies on his two ravens to fly round the world every day and keep him informed. Edgar Allan Poe’s raven shrieked ‘Nevermore’ but what that has to do with anything only Poe knows. In the beginning, RAVEN was first and foremost a Creator and Trickster God – especially of the Haida tribe, who claim he discovered the first humans hiding in a clam shell and brought them berries and salmon.
I like all of your photo’s, raven in em or not. I want baby photo’s. x
From the original family farm in Scotland and through far western queensland to modern days now a retiree in Brisbane
crows have always been a pest. Conside….Adistressed 2 / 3 day old lamb separated from its mother, on close inspection the lamb has had its eyes pecked by a crow. My most recent find…a baby parrot being dismembered on the footpath by a crow….Do I like crows? You guess.
But the othe day I had an idea, I bought a green laser pointer and have been wageing my own war…Fastest thing I have seen in years is a crow I have just flashed with the laser….They connot get away quick enough. For the long term well we do not know but watch this space I will update in a few weeks.
P.S. Do not flash big silver birds or you could get locked up. Happy chasing
Kookaburras are the bastard birds I hate with a fiery passion. They were classed as “successfully introduced” into Tasmania in 1956 and for 25 years I have been waging a one family eradication programme on the rotten bloody things. I have mellowed in my attitude towards the ravens and they leave my chickens alone but I can not see a mellowing of attitude towards Kookaburras happening anytime soon. I might try your trick with the laser on the kookaburras but I don’t think it will work as honestly they are a bit stupid and wouldn’t realise they are being zapped as quite often they don’t realise they are being shot at until they fall off their perch.