Raven caching a golfball

["Overs, Anthony \(REPS\)" <>]

I vaguely remember someone telling me years ago that they watched a raven stash a golf ball in a tree hollow. They had a look in the hollow and found something like a dozen or more golf balls.

 

Anthony

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: martin butterfield [
Sent: Thursday, 17 May 2007 6:38 AM
To: Rod's Gardening
Cc: ;
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Raven caching a golfball

 

Seeing this message in my inbox made me realise that in my coverage of yesterday's events I omitted one of the weirder events. 

 

As our group walked up Hopkins Road in Duntroon a group of golfers greeted us and suggested there were enough crows around for us to look at.  They then commented that they had had 10 balls stolen by crows that morning.  A number of responses, some involving cattle, sprang to my mind but they were pleasant guys so I kept my peace. 

 

This was just as well, since we hadn't gone more than 20 metres when we heard the golfers yell something like "Get out of there!" and on looking up the fairway saw a raven pushing one of their balls around.  As the irate golfer it flew off with ball in beak landing at Cambell Rd where it positioned the ball on a tree stump and attempted to open it up.  It failed and eventually flew off in the general direction of the War Memorial (and perhaps Russell Offices).

 

Martin
 

On 5/11/07, Rod's Gardening <> wrote:

Fantastic day at Newline yesterday.  Birds everywhere.  Grey Shrike
Thrushes, Fairy Wrens, Speckled Warblers, Jacky Winters, Red browed Finches,
Diamond Firetails, Golden Whistlers, Kookaburras, Grey Butcherbird,
Weebills, Southern Whitefaces, Rosellas, Red Rumps etc. - and a GOLF BALL.
But this was no ordinary golf ball.  Despite being branded "Slazenger B51
3" it looks more like a volcano sitting on a rounded base than the object
traditionally belted around by Tiger Woods.  In fact judging by the shape
I'd say something probably tried to hatch it!  The odds of someone having a
practice swing at Newline would be pretty remote so the Raven once again
looks a likely suspect - long way from the nearest course though, probably
about half way between Duntroon and Royal Queanbeyan.

Some nice birding Wed & Thurs afternoons at the Kathner St end of Coolamon
Ridge, with Diamond Firetails, female Scarlet Robin, White eared and White
Plumed Honeyeaters, and 14 Straw necked Ibis flying over in classic "V"
formation.  Earlier in the week saw a pair of Wedgies perched beside
Erindale Dr up from Sulwwood, BS Kite hovering at the Mugga Lane tip, a pair
of Grey Shrike Thrushes in a suburban garden in Wanniassa, and a small bat
circling as I finished work in semi darkness in Wanniassa on Monday.  First
time I have seen a bat in Canberra.

Cheers

Rod