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The Daily Bucket - ravishing ravens and rough-skinned newts [1]

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Date: 2022-11-01  

Raven pair

There isn’t any particular thematic connection between these two kinds of creatures. I just enjoyed seeing them on walks recently.

A pair of ravens lives in the woods around where I live. In summer they raise a brood of (usually 3) ravenlings and it’s very busy as they all fly around talking constantly and practice hunting. By August the youngsters have dispersed and it’s back to the adult pair only. They are almost always together, if not physically then audibly. If I see one perched on a tree, it’s looking and listening for its mate. They are magnificent mysterious birds. What might they be talking about…

A few days ago, back when it was sunny:

At one point this day as I watched, they were on different trees, calling to the other for a while. Then one flew over to sit together, they chatted a bit, then both flew off.

.

This was yesterday when I saw them flying by

Nature watching is all about looking every direction, not just straight ahead. Ravens above, newts below.

Since the rain started a week ago the newts have emerged. These are Rough-skinned newts, amphibians native to the Pacific coast. Their summer home is ponds and wetlands since it gets very dry on land during our seasonal drought (they also need water for breeding). Then the females migrate away from wetlands in fall, searching out winter abodes in the woods. Unfortunately that often means crossing roads, and drivers usually don’t see them. It’s sad to see their remains on roads. Yesterday on my walk I stepped onto the verge of the dirt road by my house to let a car go by and then noted a newt in the road — but luckily! in the center of the one lane so it wasn’t crushed. A good day for this gal (so far). I gave her a nudge and she booked it off the road and into the foliage.

She is orange underneath.

.

Much better camouflaged too, although they only have one natural predator (garter snakes, who can handle the neurotoxin these newts produce)

Fall phenology in the maritime Pacific Northwest.

🫧

THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS. WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/1/2132655/-The-Daily-Bucket-ravishing-ravens-and-rough-skinned-newts

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