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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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raven

December 24, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Dawn. A raven emerges from a tall pine near the powerline, croaking and circling until his mate joins him. How is the wind this morning? Evidently just right.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags dawn, raven, wind Leave a comment
December 11, 2025 by Dave Bonta

A bitter cold wind at dawn. A raven croaking as high as a crow flies over, setting off a chickadee. Then nothing again but the sound of wind.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags chickadee, dawn, raven, wind Leave a comment
November 29, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Gloomy and still for the opening day of regular firearms season for deer. Every ten minutes or so, another boom. A raven flies over with another in close pursuit emitting what sounds like harsh laughter.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags hunters, raven
November 15, 2025 by Dave Bonta

A raven with something red in its beak. Three running deer causing a fourth to raise and lower her tail. Patches of gold appear among the clouds.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags clouds, deer, raven, sunrise
November 8, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Mostly clear after last night’s rain. A flat-tire moon hangs low in the west. The wingbeats of a raven are, for a few moments, the loudest sound.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags moon, rain, raven
October 17, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Cold and quiet, with a few clouds. A raven flies over the house issuing stentorian croaks, his mate following in silence.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags raven
May 23, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Mostly cloudy with a cold wind. Several ravens are having a noisy conclave in the treetops, their high, harsh vocals bringing in a pair of crows, who offer commentary from a safe distance.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American crow, clouds, raven
April 21, 2025 by Dave Bonta

Heavily overcast. A raven flies over with a falsetto croak. A field sparrow circles the house, declaring his territory.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags clouds, field sparrow, raven
December 4, 2024 by Dave Bonta

After an orange sunrise, in the ordinary light of an overcast morning, the mechanical tapping of a downy woodpecker, the slow wingbeats of a raven.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags clouds, downy woodpecker, raven, sunrise
November 24, 2024 by Dave Bonta

Light rain at sunrise swept away by a light breeze, the monochrome sky accented by a pair of ravens, and down here a nuthatch going over the rules.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags clouds, rain, raven, sunrise, white-breasted nuthatch, wind
October 6, 2024 by Dave Bonta

Clear and cold, with more sky showing through the ridgetop trees. A raucous assembly of crows gives way to ravens—their resonant croaks.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags American crow, fall foliage, raven
September 11, 2024 by Dave Bonta

Another gorgeous, cool morning. Two ravens fly over at sunrise, croaking. A phoebe in the distance is just audible under the usual cascade of wren song.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, phoebe, raven
June 24, 2024 by Dave Bonta

Breezy, cool and clear, with chimney swifts circling high overhead and a single raven hurtling past without flapping a wing.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags chimney swifts, raven
January 11, 2024 by Dave Bonta

Under pink clouds, the harsh back-and-forth of ravens echoing off the icy snowpack. The creek has subsided a little but still hosts a full chorus of watery voices.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags raven, snow, stream, sunrise 1 Comment
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On This Day

  • December 30, 2024
    Big winds are rummaging through the treetops for a dawn chorus of squeaks and groans. A bright wedge opens in the clouds. The wren wakes…
  • December 30, 2023
    Overcast at dawn. A cold kiss—snowflakes in the air. When the sunrise comes, it’s only evident in the caws of crows.
  • December 30, 2022
    Under a gray lid of cloud, the sound of steady dripping as roofs shed their snow. A cat lying in ambush has its cover blown…
  • December 30, 2020
    A partly sunny sky turns to gloom—the reverse of my mental state as caffeine kicks in. The wren’s call begins to sound less agitated than…
  • December 30, 2019
    A pause in the rain. Under a dripping cedar limb, two filmy-winged winter insects dance side by side, pogoing like airborne punks.

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

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