Birds and Nature

The raven parents continue pursuing the bobcat that emerges from the trees at the top of the cliff. They harass it, even landing close and flying at it, to encourage it to leave the area where their fledglings are located. This is a large bobcat, clearly an adult. When the bobcat climbs down to the bottom of the cliffs and disappears into the trees, one raven parent continues to keep watch from a nearby tree while the other parent returns to the cliff ledge several hundred feet away where the 2 fledglings are safely located. SeEtta

Tonight at dusk while watching a family of Common Ravens I have been following for the past 2 weeks, I saw the parents fly from past the safe rock ledge where they had brought the fledglings to spend the night to a tree several hundred feet away while calling repeatedly. They seemed to be directing their attention to something I could not see, then out walked a bobcat. Apparently these very protective raven parents saw this bobcat from hundreds of yards away and flew in to harass it into leaving the area. These raven parents clearly will not allow a threat anywhere near their fledglings (at least the two I could see) which were safely deposited on a ledge several hundred feet from where they began harassing the bobcat. SeEtta

Here are two more pics of that bobcat I saw in full daylight, a great way to get some good pics like these. The cat was about 70 feet away at this point and not seeming to hurry. It ran out across the road just after a SUV passed (they stopped also and kept saying "its a bobcat, but that didn't seem to bother it). It then went under the barbed wire fence, then stopped to turn as shown in the top pic to look back at us (I think mostly at the lady yelling "it's a bobcat"). SeEtta

The previous bobcats I have seen were at dusk so I was surprised to spot this bobcat crossing a gravel road just south of Canon City at 6 pm in full daylight. However a little research shows I shouldn't be surprised: "Highly mobile, the typical bobcat, according to Mallow, ranges widely in late afternoon and early evening, during the midnight hours, and through the early morning hours. In between the times of its longer distance movements, it forages and rests" (from /DesertUSA , a good website with reliable info). Note the bold bands on the back of it's tufted ears, which are a some identifying field marks. More field marks are the the bobbed tail and the bold bands on top of the tail. In the bottom pic the bobcat is taking a break in the shade, just over 125 feet away, just before it saunters off towards a canyon. SeEtta