• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • 2023 Town Election
  • Events
  • About us
  • Natick Report
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley College ravens are back for a fourth consecutive year

March 10, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

Wellesley College ravens
Photo credit: Wellesley College.

 

The ravens are back at the Wellesley College Science Center for the fourth consecutive year, and Mama Pauline is incubating four eggs. Papa Henry is still right by her side as the pair readies themselves for the work of raising their clutch up from hungry chicks to fledglings.

You can see all the doings right here on the live ravencam.

“Ours is the first opportunity to closely observe this most creative of birds in close contact with people,” noted Professor of Biological Sciences Nicholas Rodenhouse when the birds established themselves at Wellesley in 2014. A 24/7 video recording of the nest made over the course of the spring nesting has provided a unique cache of data for researchers.

It’s not easy to conjure ideas of spring and rebirth and awakening while outside the snow swirls and arctic blasts blow straight through the most winter-hardy soul, but Pauline’s feathers aren’t a bit ruffled by the weather. She and Henry are flexible that way. Ravens typically settle down in areas more rural than Wellesley, but finding the “right” neighborhood doesn’t seem to matter much to those two free spirits. Wellesley suits them just fine year after year, despite the warnings of their in-laws and the sniffs of their friends.

The truth is, they are real estate pioneers who have alit on a bargain. According to Rodenhouse, Pauline and Henry probably chose the campus for its cliff-like buildings in a productive landscape. The Science Center, surrounded by shrubs and trees, sits along an open, sometimes damp, meadow. Their nest is high up in a partially glass-enclosed fire escape on the sunny side of the building from where they can see Galen Stone Tower, Houghton Chapel, more trees and open spaces, and Lake Waban.

Sounds perfect. Wonder if they list it on airbnb when they’re not in residence.

print

Filed Under: Animals, Education, Environment, Outdoors, Parenting, Real estate, Weather, Wellesley College

Comments

  1. Interested says

    March 11, 2017 at 2:37 pm

    Do they use the same nest each year. Just arrive Tidy up a bit and move in or—- do they rebuild each year.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
EXPLO, Wellesley
Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Friday is letters-to-the-editor day on The Swellesley Report
  • Voting rights expert to give talk at Wellesley College
  • EXPLO Junior summer program launches at Regis College in Weston
  • Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Mar 25
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

Mar 26
10:00 am - 10:30 am

6th annual “Plunge for Elodie”

Mar 26
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Historical lecture: The Whartons’ War

Mar 26
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

History talk: The Whartons’ War

Mar 26
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Richard Pirozzolo on Wellesley Club gets update on town affairs
  • Rory Strunk on Delicious gluten-free Italian classics a reality in cookbook co-authored by Wellesley resident
  • Charles on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • Mike on Time is right for new owners of Wellesley’s Coconut Thai Cafe
  • Ken on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (13)
  • Animals (429)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (596)
  • Beyond Wellesley (53)
  • Books (380)
  • Business (1,568)
  • Camp (12)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (241)
  • Construction (301)
  • Dump (131)
  • Education (3,221)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (37)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (48)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (47)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (615)
    • Wellesley High School (1,009)
    • Wellesley Middle School (208)
  • Embracing diversity (97)
  • Entertainment (823)
  • Environment (779)
  • Fashion (145)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (174)
  • Food (360)
  • Fundraising (650)
  • Gardens (165)
  • Government (625)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (870)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (403)
  • Holidays (442)
  • Houses (164)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (869)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (90)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (584)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (282)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (658)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (786)
    • Crime (398)
  • Politics (560)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (7)
  • Real estate (348)
  • Religion (139)
  • Restaurants (345)
  • Safety (156)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (128)
  • Shopping (164)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,025)
    • Athlete of the Week (14)
  • STEM (109)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (26)
  • Transportation (242)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,246)
  • Volunteering (351)
  • Weather (180)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (282)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login