Ravens

Recipe for a Raven Scarf

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 2 Comments

One edge of a raven scarf design with a pair of ravens facing each other in one corner of the scarf and a raven perched in a cedar tree in the other. The scarf design has an inner border of cedar wood brown dotted with green and cornered in blue and a wider outer border of black with flying raven silhouettes in white.

LIST OF INGREDIENTS

  • A scattering of ravens (photographed in the local mountains)
  • Cedar boughs to taste
  • A base layer of snow-covered forest
  • One inner border of cedar colours, anchored with raven sky corners
  • One riotous outer border of ravens in mid-flight

METHOD

  • Spend many happy days, over several years, in the mountains looking for and photographing ravens in their home territory
  • Select, from your favourite raven portraits, the most scarf-suited
  • Create an eye-catching, energy-packed border
  • Combine ingredients
  • Neurotically fiddle with the design for days on end before finally sending it off to Montreal to be made into actual scarves.

MORE ABOUT THE MAIN INGREDIENTS

Raven On Cedar

Two corners of the new scarf feature my Raven on Cedar portrait …

This image is from a snowshoeing trip in early 2022, when we were lucky to spend a couple of hours with a raven pair. I took many photographs that day, but the one of the raven perched on the top of cedar tree  became the anchor for the whole scarf design.

Another one of my prints from a photograph taken that day, including both of the ravens …

Raven Connection

And here is our very same raven on that day, calling out from his cedar perch …

 

Scarf modelled by my daughter, Lily.

Raven Romance

The other two corners of the scarf are populated by the Raven Romance pair.

These two were photographed in the same area as the first couple, but almost exactly a year later. It’s very possible they are the same ravens.

It was another rare and wonderful day as we  watched these two chatting away like any established couple and lovingly adjusting each others feathers.

Geordie makes his modelling debut, sporting the 16-inch kerchief version of the scarf.

These are all of the intangible ingredients that went into the scarf. I listed them here just so scarf wearers can know a little more about “their” ravens and, perhaps, feel some of the absolute joy I felt in photographing the ravens and in putting together the scarf design.

If you’d like to know more of the technical details like fabrics and sizes, please head over to the listing in my shop. The scarves, made in Montreal, are currently available to pre-order.

Square scarf design with a raven pair in two corners and a raven perched on a cedar branch in the other two. The background is a texture of snow-covered trees. The whole design is bordered by an abstract design of cedar bark brown picked out with accents of cedar foliage green and tiny corners of sky blue with June Hunter logos in two of them and standing ravens in the other two. The very outer edge is black with a repeating design of flying ravens in white.

 

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© junehunterimages, 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Ravenspeak

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 17 Comments

Photo of a raven in mid-call with beak wide open and a good view of inside the raven's mouth and throat.

Sometimes it seems like cheating for a self-described “urban nature enthusiast” to follow the urge to get out of the city — to leave the daily crow-banter behind for a few hours and talk to the ravens.

But, every so often, a bit of raven chat is just what’s needed, so off we go.

Quite often, hours of hiking yield zero in the way of raven communication — only the whoosh of wing-displaced air as they sail indifferently by.

Photo of a raven flying in the distance against snow-covered trees

Of late, I’ve been trying my hand (or epiglottis) at raven calling.

My dream: those aloof fly-by ravens will be so intrigued by my eloquent commentary, my fluent greetings, my show-stopping non sequiturs, they’ll do a mid-air U-turn to get to know this fascinating earth-bound conversationalist.

Results, predictably, have been mixed.

But yesterday, on our hike up on Black Mountain, I heard a raven fly over, performed my “come-hither” squawk and, a few minutes later, two ravens landed near us.

Photo of two ravens standing on a mountain rock. One raven is calling with beak open.

Buoyed by my possible success, I attempted a more close-up conversation.

Below are some of the looks I got in response to my conversational gambits.

Curious, bemused …

Close-up photograph of a raven with a bemused expression, staring at the photographer who is trying to make raven sounds.

A mix of horror and astonishment …

Very close up photograph of a raven with a bemused expression, staring at the photographer who is trying to make raven sounds.

Concern. Is the poor thing hurt?

Close up of a raven's face, showing a certain degree of concern.

Another observable reaction to my vocalizations was claw biting. I’m unclear as to whether this was a form of anxious nail-biting (what is she trying to do to us?) or just boredom (when will she stop?) … or none of the above.

Photograph of a raven inspecting one of his own claws

There were some responses from the ravens but there clearly remains a vast gulf of incomprehension between us.  Much more practice is needed.

Photograph of a raven, facing the camera and in mid-call with beak open and wings out.

More hiking. More squawking.

You may wonder what my walking companions get up to while I’m trying out my raven phraseology.

Geordie puts himself into a state of doggy self-hypnosis until this boring phase is over and we can get going again.

Photo of Geordie the black and white dog standing with eyes closed in the winter sunshine.

Phillip, fittingly, takes the time to keep up with his Duolingo Spanish commitments on his phone.  Where, I ask, is the Duolingo Raven module?

Which leads me to wonder: is anyone out there studying what different raven calls mean?

I know that a group in the UK were studying this topic a few years ago as they asked me to submit some of my videos to help with their research, but I’ve never been able to find out what their conclusions were. I’ve been corresponding with a bird rescue volunteer on Vancouver Island who’s trying to compile a guide for volunteers on raven calls but can’t find any comprehensive information either.

Does anyone know if there is, anywhere, a study on the types of raven calls and what they might mean?

Duolingo, are you listening?

Photo of a raven standing on a rock with North Shore mountains in the background. The raven has fluffy and very shiny feathers.

For more posts on the wonder of raven calls:

 

 

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© junehunterimages, 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The Raven Of The Lake

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

Some days you lug your camera and long lens over hill and dale” just in case” of ravens. — and never see a single one.

Some days you know they’re there by the distant calls (which can sound a tiny bit like laughter at your expense.)

Some days you wake up at dawn in your hotel room to hear a single raven call right outside your window. You fall out of bed and fumble in the dark to find your eye glasses and then the camera. Stumbling over luggage in the direction of the sound, you see The Raven Of The Lake striding majestically by and manage to take a few frames so you know later that you didn’t imagine it.

Some days you take a photo of a raven when 75% asleep through a dewy bug-screened window and you kind of love it for the magical dream feeling.

 

 

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© junehunterimages, 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to junehunterimages with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.