The Raven on my Balcony

On Mother’s Day I wrote about swallows nesting under my balcony and the night heron that came to steal and eat the swallow chicks.  Here is the link:  

http://vahezen.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-swallow-on-mothers-day.html

I got quite a few emails from readers about the write-up: some aloof to the law of nature; others wondering why I wrote about this on Mother’s Day… But everyone liked the picture of the swallow perched on the balcony railing.

.. This morning, looking out of my balcony, I saw a couple of workers taking pictures of something on the boat docks. It is quite unusual to see them take pictures as the boats are the same and lazily bouncing on the calm waters of Baltimore’s Inn Harbor.

I looked and to my surprise it was the cruel heron! I had not seen it during the day – the attacks on the swallows’ nests happen at night.

I put my 1960’s Nikkor-P 180mm lens on the camera and clicked a couple of times.

Then, put the camera down and returned to my writing. 

Hardly a few minutes had passed when I saw a shadow move on the balcony. Looked up and it was a raven chased by swallows!

I could take only one quick shot before the swallows swarmed over the raven and chased it away.

… So, this story started on Mother’s Day and continued a day after Father’s Day… Since I first wrote about the swallow, I realized that I was not favorably inclined toward the heron. It was not a rational reaction - I simply preferred the swallow to live. But today a raven, another swallow killer, when chased by the parents of the chicks in the nests below my balcony, came to find refuge on my balcony!

Today, that balcony was my “street”, and I took pictures from my living room.

June 17, 2014

© Vahé Kazandjian, 2014