Yesterday when I walked down the hill in Paradise Meadows housing division, on my way to hike the desert ravine, I paused as I always do, at the Jarosa street intersection to check for the local female Cooper's Hawk.

She's come up that street a number of times, flying straight at me, while looking me in the eye. At the last second, she'd roll over slightly to miss me, puffing a tiny bit of air in my face, then streak off between two houses and into the desert.

She also greets me when I'm out in the desert ravine, if she's hunting in the area, by circling close and dipping her wings at me.
I always nod to her, and today I again saw a large bird, her size, flying straight at me from Jarosa St.

It was the right size, but seemed too black. This bird also gazed straight into my eyes, and I suddenly realized it was one of the Chihuahua ravens that was nesting across the ravine from there, and that it was carrying part of an animal carcass for its chicks.

I involuntarily recoiled from the dead animal fast approaching my face, and the raven instantly responded to my negative reaction by rolling over slightly to change direction, as the female Cooper's Hawk did, except doing it several feet early instead of coming right up to my head.

As the raven streaked off between the same two houses as the hawk did, I felt terrible. I had been taken by surprise and didn't mean to insult the raven.

I hadn't realized we were in a "friends relationship," but when I thought back, I always enjoy watching the Chihuahua ravens, saw their courtship flight rituals two months before, and they usually circle close to me, so it's possible they've been dipping their wings to me all along in greeting.

After that curve-billed thrasher decided I was a suitable mate and began wasting his efforts trying to lure me to his nest, I've been more leery about bonding with local birds.

Pic is of the female Cooper's Hawk when she perched on our yard railing for about half an hour.