The pesky ravens (Short stories from guards’ diaries)

26.01.2014

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When Vasilis, the guardian of one of the last Egyptian vulture's nests in north-eastern Greece, observed 30 ravens flying around the nest was quite anxious. September had started and the 2 chicks had hardly come up from their nest. In 2013, this pair delayed to nest since only one parent was present throughout April. The other parent appeared at the end of April. For this reason the chicks were still small. In early August when the WWF team visited the nest for blood sampling, the chicks were almost half size compared with the ones in another nest in the Dadia forest during the same period. The guard keeping in mind that the chicks were small worried about their life. He kept thinking of running near the nest and driving away the ravens to protect the chicks from any possible attack. But in the meanwhile, the chicks had grown up and were capable of protecting themselves. Generally the hatchlings are more exposed to predators' attacks than the older chicks. But for Vasilis, it was the first time he had observed bird behaviour in nests. Later he realized that parents were always around and mobbed the ravens when they went too closed and from their side, the ravens in spite of their persistent flights, they didn't enter the nest. As if they played by showing off and then flew away. When he realized that nature follows its own rules, he continued his observation more calmly. Finally, on 19th of September, the two chicks flew from the nest and migrated to Africa.

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