The Owl and the Ravens

I came into the garden on  Tuesday morning before Christmas and  heard a bunch of crows "cawing" loudly behind the greenhouse.  Continuing the morning duties of  unlocking  doors and opening  gates the sound of the crows  was replaced by   "shack, shack, shack",  a flock of Steller's jays in the same location. As  I  wandered out back to see what the ruckus was,  little woodland birds  frantically  flew left and right.  Raven sounds ,"crunk, crunk" replaced the jays.  High on a branch, through the fog, back lit by morning light, I could make out the  silhouette of a great horned owl and two ravens attacking from either side. One raven would peck high and other  low. Then the owl let out a strange sound that resembled simultaneously a hiss and a growl.  It raised its enormous wings and then flew silently away.

Redwood steps project

Redwood steps on a trail in the redwood grove made possibly in the 70's have rotted and pose a bit of a hazardous trail. Recently three redwoods in the area died of root rot and had to be taken down. The downed trees are being hand hewn by three volunteers in the garden: Peter, Craig and Kristoffer with a draw knife to scrape the bark off  and then hewing square a with Swedish broadaxe. Two of the treads are ready to put in place. They will be drilled and held in place with 1/2" metal re-bar.