Hi everyone,

For the past few weeks or so (I can't speak for earlier than that), a pair of Common Ravens have been very vocal and active at Little Bennett Regional Park in Montgomery County. In particular, they have been very vocal in the vicinity of the upland portion of Froggy Hollow Trail during multiple mornings per week.

I finally had a chance to check out the area today, hoping for clues to a possible nest location -- and instead found three fledglings! They were perched up in tall pines, and both parents were present at times. After the parents' initial alarm calls and circling the area, they seemed to realize that I'm not a threat, and went off foraging or defending the area. One adult took a mid-air dive (actually more of a tumble) at a Red-shouldered Hawk that flew through the area.

The fledglings were perched in essentially the same positions for 4.5 hours (between my first and second visits). There are a couple of potential stick nests in the vicinity that they may have fledged from, but I'm not familiar with visualizing just how large a raven nest might look from the ground, so I can't say for sure. They are fairly young behavior-wise, though, and they seem to match descriptions of recent fledglings remaining within their natal area, maybe after their first short flight or two.

If you park at the relatively new parking lot at the top of the hill on Clarksburg Rd, where Froggy Hollow Trail begins, take the trail down into the woods -- it's not a far walk. The ravens were at the first semi-clearing on your right (before you leave the woods), where the trees are less dense and there are two large vine-draped tree roots side-by-side roughly 5 or 10 meters off the trail (see the photo link below). If you stand at those tree roots and look up into the tall surrounding pines, that's where the fledglings were!

I went back with a camera later -- my photography skills are less than awesome but here's a link to some of the better ones:

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/3591528/1/Common_Ravens_04_29_2010?h=f99483

I should also mention that an Orange-crowned Warbler was singing occasionally and foraging in this area. So there are my two highlights for the day. :)

Jessica Bruland
Monrovia, MD
aderynyreira -at- yahoo dot com