Raven in flight with a mouse

During my Best of Bosque Workshop last December, we were set up in front of a cornfield on the North Loop, where the Cottonwood trees line the ditch. I remember everyone ignoring this Raven while we were in front of about 5,000 Sandhill Cranes. I am always looking for something different, and I initially thought this Raven might have a bird in its bill, so I rattled off a few frames and discovered it was a mouse for breakfast. The golden light and pumpkin orange out-of-focus autumn cottonwood trees in the background make it special.

Raven in flight with a mouse in Golden Light (Corvus corax, Grand corbeau, CORA) from my Better than Bosque workshop. Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 6,400, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure.

Common Raven Egg Predation

A Common Raven in flight with a stolen Razorbill egg at first light during my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins Workshop in Quebec, Canada. A pair of Ravens arrived on the beach well before sunrise as I was waiting for my group and enjoying the sound of the waves washing up on shore. After everyone was in place and the first drops of golden sunlight kissed the cliffs in the background, this Raven seemed to show off its breakfast to us.

Ravens are omnivorous and feed on everything from small mammals to nesting birds, eggs and berries. They will also eat carrion, scavenge from other predators and even from human landfills. A group, or a flock, of ravens will raid seabird colonies, consuming the eggs and young of these colonies.

Raven with Razorbill egg in golden light (Corvus corax, Grand corbeau, CORA) from my Deluxe Puffins Galore Lighthouse Island Workshop Adventure. Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve, Quebec, Canada. Image copyright ©Christopher Dodds Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony 2X teleconverter (@1,200mm). ISO 2,500, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual Exposure mode. Join me for my Deluxe Puffins Galore workshop in August. To learn more CLICK HERE.

Raven Silhouette

As I prepared this image, I could not get Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven out of my mind. “Other friends have flown before— On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.” Read The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe @ The Poetry Foundation HERE.

Common Raven with Razorbill egg in golden light

All of the seabirds on the cliffs evacuate at the first sight of the Raven. They are quite skilled at carefully carrying stolen eggs :( Part of their success as a species is due to their omnivorous diet: they are extremely versatile and opportunistic in finding sources of nutrition, feeding on carrion, insects, cereal grains, berries, fruit, small animals, nesting birds, and food waste.