March 3rd

What a change to yesterday! 

Today was grey and grim, the sun hidden behind thick clouds. The robins and blackbirds did sing about an hour before dawn, which is shortly before 7 a.m., but the ravens did not call.

I left the house at 7.05 a.m., and as I got into the first field, the biting, icy wind from the East was horribly noticeable.

There were no raven calls at first, but when I arrived at the top of the big field, I heard cawing behind my back: the quarry pair came flying in to the ground. Then more cawing came from the direction of the toddlers' playground - the young pair arrived. Lastly, just as I was starting to throw the frist scraps, the bold pair flew in from the ravens field, also cawing. 

A flock of seagulls were on the ground next to the footpath, but the ravens were not bothered.

Seeing all the ravens was a bit surprising, because this is again the day when the rubbish gets collected. However, the urban fox had not opened any of the food refuse bags, so the ravens did not have an opportunity to rummage around in those bags.

After I'd thrown a few scraps to all of them, Bas came bouncing up! He rushed around, chasing the seagulls away, investigating dogs on the footpath, sniffing in the spinney, and generally having a good time. Meanwhile, Karen and I stood at the enclosure in the big field and I kept throwing some more scraps. 

The ravens were a bit circumspect, not picking up the scraps immediately, but they did not fly off while Bas was rushing about. He'd then got put on the lead because he assumed those scraps were for him! 

As it was so perishingly cold, and since the ravens had already got some food, we did not linger around but went home, walking down the big field. The ravens dispersed and did not follow.

Here's hoping for a more clement day tomorrow ...