The Grogfather

                                       

Moro mother and child

Young Grog with an itch

The Grog young seem to be fascinated by sticks amongst everything else. They play tug-of-war, push them into the air (and no, sticks don't fly). There is speculation that ravens use sticks as tools. Mature ravens are definitely adept at finding a stick's center to balance it to fly off with it. This morning as I watched young El Moro using his beak to hammer a hole in the cliff,  I wondered if a raven has ever considered a stick also as a weapon, an extension of his beak.

Once on the beach not long ago, the Grogs were flying south as I was running. The El Moros came up to challenge the Grogs approach to their territory. I sat down to watch and the Grogs flew over to me and began pulling sticks off the beach and out of the cliff. They both were doing this in a seemingly furious manner. They had not done a feathered prestige display to the El Moros, but this stick gathering appeared ominous. Was this their power display? Once I got up to continue running, the tension seemed to dissipate and they flew back to their territory. Now that the Grog young have fledged, I can only assume that Grog's current interest in sticks is for nest repair or perhaps to teach the young their use.

Often he and Sunshine call out in youthful, high voices, sounding like young ravens. When I hear them, I wonder if they are coaxing their young from a morning lie-in? (Others are about, shouldn't we get flying?) Other times, the parents make sharp retorts. A fledgling's clumsy landing practically on top of her brought Sunshine's feathers up in annoyance. With an angry quork, she flew off. The El Moros are not as vocal around me as the Grogs.

 The El Moro youth is flying with increasing competence. Whereas most of the Grogs are still just trying to get from tree to tree without crashing, young El Moro is already practicing turns in the air, using his tail to change direction.

This morning the Grogs had a lesson in extracting squirrel flesh. With his young surrounding him in fascination and hunger, the Grogfather used his claws to hold down and his beak to expertly skin his catch. As he pulled out meat, he fed his dependents. One adventurer managed to procure a great piece of squirrel and jumped to the ground to cache it, caching being another of their lessons. This proud young Grog couldn't believe his luck as he returned to his cache continually, inspecting new possible locations, then eating bits and reburying others, unbeknownst to his five siblings. 

All photos courtesy of theravendiaries.com with gratitude. (click on to enlarge)