2022 10 30

Halloween Hike Ravens¶

2022-10-30

Today I went on a Halloween hike with my sister at Harriman State Park. We decided to revisit a trail from last year, Seven Hills Loop, because we wanted something challenging and this one had scrambling. The motivation for the hike was that my sister had not been to our favorite Japanese restaurant near Harriman State Park since last Halloween, and we couldn't let it be more than a year without pork buns.

The weather was very pleasant around 60 degrees and sunny. Throughout the hike, we saw Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, and others. However, these sorts of dense forests isn't usually the best place for birding since dense foliage makes it difficult to get clean shots. From our last hike here, I remember seeing a bunch of Turkey Vultures at the peak of the mountain. Last time we approached too quickly and startled them, but this time I was ready and approached slowly.

Upon reaching the peak, we were instead greeted by a group of 10 Common Ravens flying around. At first, I thought they were American Crows but realized they were much larger. I switched my camera to my preset for tracking birds in flight and got some good shots of the Ravens. The mountain peak itself is a beautiful vantage point so I switched to my wide-angle lens and got some cool landscape shots.

After the hike, we found out the restaurant was very busy and the chances of getting a table without reservations were slim. We were disappointed that we didn't get to eat pork buns and sushi but we were glad it motivated this awesome hike.

Locations/Sightings¶

-> #location/HarrimanStatePark