Thanks to everyone for your emails – The road should have been Rt 522/340 (my
cat loves to hit the delete button) and Dave Boltz had confirmed the nest last
year with begging babies – same silo, so he has it documented for the Virginia
nesting project. We thought they were nesting close by for the last few years
with almost daily sightings in that general area, including a tree in our
backyard that was used as an occasional perch. During the 1970’ – 1990’s I
always associated our local Ravens as mountain birds (Shenandoah National Park,
Blue Ridge and Massanutten Mountain). We got a few in the winter in the valley
but they are now frequent. Ashley Lhor reports a nest in the Piedmont in
Purcellville on a water tower and now there are regular observations east of
the Blue Ridge. When we were working on the nature guides for the western
national parks we often commented on how the ravens behavior seemed very
different from our Appalachian population. The western Ravens often nested in
towns on human made structures – arm of a stop light, top of the golden arches,
in a motel sign… – all with lots of human activity. Are we witnessing a
behavioral change that might be responsible for an increasing population or
even a more tolerant human behavioral change? Ashley reports the town is very
protective of their avian stars. I would like to hear if other Virginia areas
are witnessing a change in nesting or have they always “cuddled” up to humans
in your area. A quick look at the Appalachian CBC data shows a steady increase
in the Raven population. If anyone has thoughts, please email me or post.
Thanks - Rob Simpson
Professor Robert Simpson
Professor Emeritus of Biology
Contact for Ornithology, Mycology, Dendrology, Mammalogy, Ichthyology,
Herpetology, Ecology, Field Botany and other Field Biology oriented classes
Program contact for Outdoor and Nature Photography Careers Certificate
Best form of contact is email: rsimpson@xxxxxxxx