May 19th

Well, it wasn't proper, full-on rain - it was just a nice, soft drizzle this morning when we left the house at 6.50 a.m.

There had been no raven calls, and again we saw the first raven when we got into the ravens field. It was the companion of the bold raven, acting not very bold. 

She also seems to have lost one feather from his tail. Ravens are starting to moult now, so she's not been in a fight. 

Something looking like a thin, pale streak was on her head. She didn't come close enough for me to make out if that 'streak' was due to her being wet or to some flower petals. She'd also raised the feathers at the side of her head a little bit, so it might just have been an optical illusion.

She took two and three scraps before flying off to hide them.

While she'd gone off to hide her scraps, Karen and Bas turned up. Miss Sophie now totally disregards Bas. We walked round together, the raven not coming back, and went home. 

It was a bit dismal today, gloomy and wet.

Sunshine is predicted for the next few days - can't wait!

(If you scroll down a bit - a photo of Miss Sophie has now been added to the gallery of photos of Madame and her friends.)