Behold a family of ravens who have settled down in a sizeable fixer-upper in the toney Lab neighborhood of Building 62 (on the building!). With the aid of binoculars, you might catch a glimpse of the hatchlings feeding or beginning to stretch their wings to take flight. Or are they crows…? You make the call!

Thanks to Mary Padilla, Administrative Assistant III at the Foundry, for alerting Elements to the nest and coordinating the photo shoot; Ian Servin, Continuity Specialist at OEM, the intrepid photographer who tracked down the ravens with travel tripod in hand;  and Teresa Calarco, Sr Business Manager for the Chemical and Materials Sciences Division, for her assistance in ensuring the optimal vantage point from which to view the scene.

Not to be outdone by the ravens, a pair of “Safety-First” Dark-eyed Junco sparrows rented space in Tom Lipton’s hard hat in Building 58 to raise their brood. Explains Tom, “We first noticed stray straw and grass fragments on the floor of my office. This corresponded to birds seemingly trapped in the building. We were wrong. They weren’t trapped; they were building a nest. The nest happened to be located in my hard hat of all places.” Watch the chicks in their nest clamor for a much-anticipated snack.

Thanks to Tom, a technical manager for the mechanical technicians in the Engineering Division, for sharing this discovery (and teaching our wildlife about “Safety First”).

Can turkeys appreciate a breathtaking view? Suzie Kosina, Sr. Scientific Engineering Associate in the Northen Metabolomics group within EGSB seems to think so: “Maybe this turkey was looking for its flock or for some food, but I’d like to think it was admiring the view.” Suzie snapped this pic where the road curves going down to the pit parking lot. Whatever it is doing, the turkey juxtaposed with the Lab and bay scene makes for a striking reminder of how lab life and wildlife comingle beautifully in the East Bay hills.

Thanks to Suzie for trotting this by Elements to share with the lab-wide community.

Photo Credits

Ian Servin: Raven images, taken with a Sony A7III and a Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens

Tom Lipton: Dark-eyed Junco Finch nest image

Suzie Kosina: Turkey image