Raven Watching at the Tower 2024

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

Photograph of Tower of London raven on the tower wall with Tower Bridge in the background

The Tower of London is a familiar place to me.

Not, I’m happy to say, because I’ve languished in one of the many dungeons, but from annual holidays to London to visit my grandparents when I was a kid. A trip to the Tower was always on the agenda, leading to a well-worn family joke that we had to call the Bloody Tower the Woody Tower to avoid swearing. The joke was all the funnier having been made by my dad, an inveterate curser.

As you can see from the photo below, I can get overwhelmed by too much sightseeing.

I’m still the same today; I love touring galleries, museums and ancient buildings — to a point. Once that point is reached I need to spend time outside, looking at birds, sky and green things, or I get whiney. Just ask Phillip.

That’s how I came to meet the York Ghost Merchant, but that’s another story for another blog post …

Photograph of Tower of London raven Jubilee's blue-banded foot on a Tower bench

A morning at the Tower is perfect for me because I don’t need to go into any of the buildings, having toured them all before; I just spend a few hours on my own wandering the grounds and catching up with Tower ravens I’ve met before and getting to know some of the newcomers.

Photograph of the Tower of London inside the walls with Tower Bridge in the distanc

According to the Tower of London website, there are currently seven ravens living at the Tower — Jubilee, Harris, Poppy, Georgie, Edgar, Branwen and Rex.

Photograph of the White Tower within the Tower of London walls

On the day I was at the Tower, it seemed to be Poppy, Georgie and and Jubilee’s turn for tourist entertaining duties. I did glimpse a couple of the others, but they were mostly having a quiet day out of the limelight while the three I mentioned were holding court between the White Tower and the Jewel House.

This is the beautiful Poppy, who wears a red leg band.

Photograph of Poppy, one of the Tower of London ravens standing on a railing

The first time I met her, back in 2019, she had a bit of a shoe fetish, pecking at the footwear of numerous startled tourists. Five years later, she still seems to like interacting with the human visitors, but with less of a foot focus.

Close-up profile photograph of Tower of London raven Poppy

Profile photograph of Tower of London raven, Poppy preening

Poppy preening

Above: Poppy pacing and flapping on the Tower parapets. I’m not sure if she was considering flying off to see the wider world, but you can see that her wings are clipped, discouraging longer journeys.

Photograph of Poppy, a Tower of London raven, standing on a bench and looking at the photographer

Her Poppyship

Next, I met Jubilee who’s been at the Tower since 2012. I didn’t “meet” him on my 2019 visit so I really enjoyed spending time watching him this year. He wears a blue leg band.

Close-up photograph of Tower of London raven Jubilee

Very close-up photograph of Tower of London raven Jubilee's eye with Jewel House reflected in it

You can see the Jewel House is reflected in his eye and, while it IS the stated role of the ravens to protect all things royal, I can’t help wondering if his mischievous mind occasionally turns to the logistics of a heist. Some of those sparkly things would look mighty fine in a raven’s nest …

Photograph of Tower of London raven Jubilee with head twisted upside down while preening

When not considering raven larceny, Jubilee likes to show off his contortionist’s skills.

Above: Jubilee takes a few quiet raven moments

Close up photograph of Tower of London raven Jubilee preening his feathers

Making sure his feathers look their best

Photograph of Tower of London raven, Jubilee, sitting on the back of a bench next to a tourist

Like most of the Tower ravens, Jubilee seems to consider the human visitors just part of the furniture

Profile photograph of Tower of London raven, Jubilee calling

Jubilee makes an announcement

Jubilee is rarely alone, having bonded with a younger Tower raven, Georgie. She was born at the Tower in 2019 and I heard one of the tour guides mention that she and Jubilee are inseparable.

Photograph of Tower of London ravens, Jubilee and Georgie on a wall with Yeoman Warders in the background

Indeed, for most of the time I was at the Tower the two of them were not only close together, but also conducting intimate musical conversations. They made their clacking duets frequently while I was there, ignoring the river of human conversation going on all around them.

Photograph of Tower of London ravens, Jubilee and Georgie on a wall with Tower Guard hut

Georgie wears a pink leg band

Photograph of Tower of London ravens, Jubilee and Georgie on a wall with tourists photographing them in the background

She does a little posing for the tourists on her own

Another Jubilee and Georgie duet, this one conducted with the accompaniment of an occasional whistle from a tourist eager for them to turn his way for a photo.

Damn paparazzi!

By now, I’d overheard the tour guides relating the harrowing details of Ann Boleyn’s beheading  one too many times, and thought the ravens could probably do with one less photographer vying for their attention, so it was time to say farewell.

I didn’t meet the new Raven Master as he was a bit busy …

Photograph of Tower of London Yeoman Warder addressing a crowd of tourists

I did meet the old Raven Master, Chris Skaife, on my last visit and I’d hoped to chat with him again this time but, unfortunately, it was his day off. Better planning needed for my next trip!

I left Jubilee and Georgie still posing for the tourists … and still in front of the Jewel House.

Keep an eye out for Great Raven Jewel Heist headlines in the near future …

Photograph of Tower of London ravens, Jubilee and Georgie on a wall with tourists photographing them in the background

Photograph of Tower of London ravens, Jubilee and Georgie on a wall with Yeoman Warders in the background

OK, you distract the Yeoman warders and I’ll just swoop in …

 

I have made a small collection of prints from some of the photographs taken at the Tower of London earlier this year. Let me know if there are others you’d like to see as prints!

SHOP TOWER OF LONDON RAVEN PRINTS >

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© junehunterimages, 2024. 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.

Raven Fledgling Excitement

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 4 Comments

Still no local crow fledglings but today’s big surprise was — a baby raven!

The high, slightly panicked calls were the first clues that we had a young raven in the ‘hood. Seeing the pink beak and grey eyes once I got closer were clinchers — a youngster just a few weeks out of the nest and out exploring alone.

The local crows were, predictably, unwelcoming.

As mentioned in the new Crow/Raven calendar the two species are related, but not on friendly terms. Since adult ravens will steal crow eggs and prey on crow fledglings, it’s hardly surprising that all ravens are personae non-gratae in crow territory.

While the mobbing was understandable, I did feel sorry for the fledgling who hadn’t yet developed the typical adult raven insouciance in the face of a crow onslaught.

No raven parents were coming to the rescue and I was racking my brains for ways to single-handedly distract a murder of crows when the youngster finally flew off to the west.

Once back with the parents, this one may think twice about solo adventures for a while — at least until completing that essential raven learning module: How To Act Cool When Being Mobbed By Crows.

 

SHOP CALENDAR>

 

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© junehunterimages, 2024. 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.

Crow Fledglings and Baby Marmots

/ The Urban Nature Enthusiast / 5 Comments

We’re still waiting for the appearance of our local crow fledglings, but we did find lots of them up north on our family camping trip this weekend.

Plus bonus marmots!

You’d think the northern crows would be later in the nesting schedule than the Vancouver crows, but the parents at Monck Park near Merritt seem to have been busy early in the season and had success with the first round of nesting

On morning walks I found crow fledglings, often in pairs, blissfully napping on branches, forming little crow nurseries. The parents had clearly parked them in out-of-the-way spots with instructions to stay quiet while mom and dad went for snacks or a little “me” time.

The babies were not long out of the nest, still sporting the blue eyes of the recently-fledged crow.

It was lovely to see crows in a new habitat — the dry, open Ponderosa pine country so different from our rain coast landscape.

The high-pitched sound at the end of the video above? That’s a marmot!

A marmot family

Marmot feasting on grass

Another marmot was finding the wild roses especially delicious!

I’d never seen a marmot before, so I was especially excited.
Not so surprising to find them at Monck Park, I suppose, given the logo at the entrance!

I’d hoped to see ravens too, but the only ones I spotted were at the Canadian Tire in Merritt, which seemed to be a popular meeting place for them; the raven version of Tim Horton’s!

We had a fabulous weekend — the first time we’ve been camping with both of our kids since they were, well … kids!

It took a year to find a time when we could (a) book a campsite and (b) get everyone together for the same weekend — but so worth it. We’re already planning next year’s family camp getaway.

We’re back home now and I’m working on finishing touches to the 2025 City Crow Calendar (with Ravens!) while keeping a watchful eye on local crow fledgling progress.

 

 

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© junehunterimages, 2024. 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.