Finding Currents

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Daddy Robin perched on a post and watching me. The handsome fellow already had me following several careful, watchful “stops.” He was obscuring the destination for that tasty morsel in his beak. I had already been in the barn and seen Mama Bird sitting on unhatched eggs. The nest is solid and will keep their babies safe. I hope to be unobtrusive and also observe their family and activities. Both parents know my presence, and their staying put is a tickle.

Soon after snapping the header photo, I glanced upward, spotting another gift: a pair of Ravens utilizing air currents to soar and were highly visible under a white cloud. Capturing Ravens in their soaring activities has been one of my dreams. Here’s my earliest sighting.

I watched the pair using currents to gain altitude and then glide downward until they found another updraft. Occasionally, they came low before rising again. Finally, they were low enough and also beneath bright clouds, and my camera could capture more details.

Ravens use various air currents to conserve energy and stay aloft for long periods, scanning for food or traveling long distances during migration. I’ve observed Raven adults in the sky and training juveniles to use air currents. This seems too early in the season for a parent to be training a juvenile, plus that training usually is a group outing. This pair could have been young adults courting in the sky or playing and having fun.

Ravens don’t actually float on air currents but utilize them to soar. That means they use air currents to rise and gain altitude before gliding downward and finding another updraft. This energy-efficient flight method lets large birds cover vast distances with minimal effort. A group of Ravens in training is a spectacular sighting.

During my sky-spotting, I saw this very dim mid-afternoon moon. Capturing that moon with enough visibility forced me to manually focus my camera. I made the foreground trees a bit fuzzy in order to make the moon as clear as possible. This image encourages me to focus manually more often.

Dear Friends: These are thrilling spring signs; I’m anticipating more. Diana