I took my morning walk alone today, a little later than usual, and as I headed out I heard the ravens calling, croaking back & forth to each other. I stopped and took a little video of the trees creaking in the wind, hoping they'd call again while recording, but they didn't. So I walked to the end of the driveway and waited for a truck to pass.
As I waited, one raven flew overhead and in the opposite direction from the way I usually walk. After the truck passed, I decided to follow it. It looped in circles overhead, as I called good morning to it, and eventually landed in a tree not far along. I walked faster than usual, trying to keep up, and keep warm; the wind and cold were bitter!
As I approached, it continued to call to another raven, who made a brief appearance, before they both flew across the street over the woods, and perched in trees looking over the valley. I walked closer, hoping to get a better view of them, but instead saw a large dark shape in an evergreen not far from me. My first thought was that it was a great horned owl, but maybe just a strange branch. So I watched and walked a little closer to get a better view.
Then it turned on the branch, and I thought for just a split second it was a big black cat. (We have many stray/barn cats in the neighborhood.) But as it jumped to the ground, I realized it was not the right shape! Bigger, longer body, thicker longer tail... It was a fisher! It had jumped to where I could no longer see it, so I jogged home to tell my beloved!
When I looked at the photos I took of the raven flying away, I noticed that I could see the fisher in the tree!
