The roads and pavements here have been sheets of ice throughout the morning and afternoon, so we abandoned our walk. Not only am I not keen to have an accidental fall - one of Madame's Border Collie acquaintances actually cut her foreleg when she was running after her ball and crashed through the ice sheet covering the grass on the field.
Sorry, ravens ...! Lets hope for better conditions tomorrow.
In the meantime, here is a brief overview of one of my favourite books on ravens by Bernd Heinrich, 'The Mind of the Raven':
"Much like a sleuth, Heinrich involves us in his quest, letting one clue lead to the next. But as animals can only be spied on by getting quite close Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father," as well as observing them in their natural habitat, studying their daily routines, and in the process painting a vivid picture of the world as lived by the ravens. At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation andanalysis, we become their intimates too.
Throughout history there has existed an extraordinary relationship between humans and ravens. Ravens, like early humans, are scavengers on the kills of great carnivores. As scavengers, ravens were associated with hunters they found in the north: wolves and, later, men. The trinity of wolf, man, and raven in the hunt is an extremely ancient one. In considering the appeal of the raven, Bernd Heinrich suspects that a meeting of the minds might reside in that hunting trinity.
Heinrich's passion for ravens has led him around the world in his research. Mind of the Raven takes you on an exotic journey--from New England to Germany, Montana to Baffin Island in the high Arctic--offering dazzling accounts of how science works in the field, filtered through the eyes of a passionate observer of nature.
Heinrich has a true gift; through his stories, his beautiful writing, illustrations, and photography, the ravens come alive. Each new discovery and insight into their behavior is thrilling to read. just as the title promises, the reader is given a rare glimpse into the mind of these wonderful creatures."
Link:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=v_8pNAAACAAJ&dq=Bernd+Heinrich&ei=RwkyS62ZIJS8ywSV6oSuAQ&cd=6
A truly inspiring book - worth reading even if you're not a zoologist.
My daily encounters with a couple of town ravens. They live near the playing fields and parks of my town. Madame Dog sadly is no longer with me. Now that Miss Sophie has come to share my life, it is her, and the other park dogs, which are mentioned forthwith. And, of course, the weather ...
Town Raven
In flight
ITS A DIARY !
This is a diary, or rather, field notes written up each day, with the latest entry at the top.
To get the full story, start at the bottom entry in the archive, and read upwards.
Then read the current diary entries from the bottom up as well.
Once you've got the full story, just visit and read the new story for the day!
Enjoy!
Location Map
This shows where we walk and meet the ravens
The yellow and pink squiggly lines are two walks we take. The yellow one is the one we usually do. The squigglyness indicates how Madame visits her several important sniffing check-points!
We stop several times to feed the ravens, and you can see where they come from.
If you right-click on the image and open it in a new tab, you can then zoom in to see more details.
