Today I had the pleasure of watching the four young Ravens at the Portlands nest site while they roamed about the platform. Eventually one brave youngster took what may have been its first giant leap off the platform! It flew down to a ladder, followed by a few shorter drops to a lower railing, and then down to the roof. It then wandered a bit until a parent flew by with encouragement, and it was able to fly back up to the nest. Very cool to watch! After its return, I could see the other three flapping their wings on the platform, but it did not appear that any of them were ready to approach the edge before I had to leave. Perhaps they will all be flying over the next few days.
Here is a severely cropped photo that shows the foursome just before the one on the right fledged. This is a view from near the Hearn Station, west of the Unwin bridge (the birds have walked around the platform and would not have been visible from the side with the nest) -kris
Raven Babies! by
Kris Ito. Casual birder, inept photographer, on Flickr
