Ravens Ridge

Episode #873
October 25,2025

Sitting in the rocking chair on my patio, 
I watch the ravens playing on the updrafts 
over the edge of my ridge.

Ravens will sometimes soar over the slope immediately below my ridge. Sometimes they are surveying their territory for opportunistic meals, such as carrion, seeds, fruit, or human scraps. They do not swoop on the food from high altitudes like eagles or hawks. Rather, they note the locations and revisit them for a tasty snack. When ravens do hunt small prey, I see them perched on a low tree branch, watching. When they see a rodent, lizard, frog, or insect, they launch into a silent, low glide, landing just behind the animal. They dispatch the prey with a single peck.

Lacking raptor talons like a hawk, the raven does not grab its prey with its feet but with its beak. Their feet are more adapted to perching on branches and walking on the ground. Sometimes one raven will flush the prey while the other will attack and kill. In these cases, they will often share the meal.

Ravens’ flight (especially over the ridge) is almost always play. Barrel rolls are a favorite maneuver, sometimes in tandem. They’ll twist upside down in mid-flight, with no reason other than to do it. Close formation flying reminds me of skydiving games. I have seen a raven carry a stick to a height, drop it, then swoop down to catch it. One time, I saw two ravens dropping a stick back and forth to each other in a flying game of catch.

Early one spring morning, my paddock was filled with four-foot-tall mustard in full yellow bloom. I saw two ravens dodging and cawing over a rippling in the yellow field. They followed the ripple to the edge of the paddock when a large lynx emerged through the fence and onto my driveway. The lynx looked up at the ravens and shook its mane. The ravens flew off.

Then the lynx looked at me and locked eyes from about twenty yards away. The animal could have been on me in moments, but again shook its head and walked into the brush. Its belly was likely filled with rabbits after its nighttime hunt. It just wanted to return to its den.

The ravens are so common on my property that I have named my land Raven’s Ridge. It is on a sign at the entrance to my drive.

Recently, I spoke with Ricardo Breceda at his outdoor gallery on Highway 79 southeast of Temecula. Ricardo is famous for his metal sculpture installations in Berrago Springs, California. Notably, there is a dragon-serpent that dives under the road and emerges on the other side.

I asked him if he could make a raven in flight with a 3-4 foot wing span. He said, “Of course.” I asked him if he could anodize the sculpture black to look realistic. In true artist’s form, he said, “I never paint my art. It is beautiful as it weathers and rusts.”

I don’t feed the ravens or leave shiny objects or toys for them, so they keep a respectful distance. I am told the ravens will approach me in time. Meanwhile, as not-so-distant companions, they keep my company as I sit on the patio.

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