One-In-a-Hole

Strong, gusty winds moved through our area early on Good Friday morning, even bringing a skiff of snow before daylight.

After lunch, my son David, grandson Paul, and I hiked to the golf course that borders our property, hoping to find some raptors in the air. We spotted only a few, and those were really struggling with the strong winds. Most of the smaller birds were hunkered down in brushy areas, gullies, or any other protected spots they could find.

Not so the Common Ravens. They apparently love flying in these conditions. Many times I’ve seen them do their dives and barrel rolls, or two will lock talons and literally tumble end over end for hundreds of feet!

Ravens are known to eat anything they can wrap their large bills around. They will rob other bird nests, eating eggs or young hatchlings.

Today six or eight ravens were walking across a plowed field adjacent to a fairway on the golf course. One of those black birds found a stray white golf ball, picked it out of the dirt, and flew away from its buddies. Then it dropped the ball and tried to break it by hammering it repeatedly with its strong, stout bill. When the bird finally realized this “egg” wouldn’t crack, it dropped the ball into a hole and covered it with dirt, one mouthful at a time, perhaps hiding it from the other ravens! I’ve seen ravens do strange things, but this was a first for us. Maybe it wasn’t a hole-in-one, but it was one-in-a-hole!