Feb 17th

A dismal day - rain, and cold with it! No sun, and it felt dank and horrible when I left the house at 7.50 a.m.

There had been no raven calls earlier, and there were none when I got into Llandaff Fields.

I saw one raven in the distance, poking the ground in the middle of the big field - no idea who that was, he was too far away.

I kept looking into the tree tops to see if any raven was sitting there, watching for me - not one to be seen.

Finally, right under the big sycamore at the ravens field, there came a soft quorking sound: it was one of my young pair, and he looked utterly miserable in the rain!

He came down into the muddy field, then his companion appeared, but while they both took the scraps, they were skittish, waiting until I had turned away from them - and flew off as soon as I turned to walk back into the big field. They did not follow me there, nor did any other raven appear. 

I blame the rain - hardly any dog walkers were out, nor any school children who might have put the ravens off.

I hope it will indeed clear up a bit tomorrow ...

Feb. 16th

It was raining, easing to drizzle, then strengthening to rain again as I left at the usual time of 7.30 a.m. 

No raven calls earlier in the morning, but lots of robins singing. The sun was hidden behind the rain clouds.

No ravens until I came to the ravens field - and the young pair were the only ones who turned up. They picked the scraps in a desultory fashion, flying off quickly, probably because there were even more dogs around today. Well, it is half term, so people's time tables in regard to walking their dogs change.

So I went back home with a pocket full of scraps left. 

I'll have to think about when to go and feed the ravens - even earlier, or quite a bit later.

We'll see.

Feb 15th

It was a grey and damp morning, not too cold - which simply means the temperature, just above freezing, felt warmer because there was no wind. 

There also was no sun when I left the house at 7.30 a.m. 

Earlier, the robins and blackbirds were singing loudly, but no raven calls were to be heard. 

Once I was in Llandaff Fields, no calls and no ravens - until I got well into the big field.

There, coming from the toddlers' playground, first one, then a second raven approached, the first one making a soft quorking sound as he walked towards me, then he displayed the juvenile begging position and cawed, still walking towards me. The second raven was quiet - but calls came from behind me: the quarry pair had also arrived and was walking towards me.

The first pair was my young pair, the second the quarry pair. Both pairs were very wary because there were a few dogs romping around, one a German wire-haired Pointer, six months old, called Milo, who came right up to me to say hello.

I managed to feed quite a few scraps to my ravens - but then Bas turned up, joyful and bouncy - and the ravens fled. I walked back with him and his 'mum' - so there was neither time nor opportunity to wait and see if my bold pair would appear.

I've got to work on my timing, I believe, and let the actual light conditions rather than the clock determine when I go out. Today looks like confirmation that the young pair and the quarry pair are watching for me while it is still darkish, the bold pair turning up when it is proper daylight.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Sunday, Feb 14th - St Valentine's Day

There were many raven calls early this morning, around 6.15 a.m., coming from Pontcanna Fields but sounding much closer than usual. 

I left the house at 7.35 a.m. It was grey and clouds covered the sky, but their tops were tinged with pastel shades of dawn. It felt milder than the weather forecasters had predicted - still cold enough, mind! - and ravens called from the boundaries of Llandaff Fields. 

No dogs were around, and at first no ravens either. One did turn up as I got to the enclosure at the top of the big field: one of the quarry pair. While I got the scraps of food out of my jacket pocket, the bold raven also turned up. Then both their companions appeared. 

Once the bold raven had taken off with loads of food inside him, the young pair joined us. Interestingly, both the young and the quarry pair have now also split into one raven trying to get all the food, the other waiting. This has however not changed their degree of timidness, with the quarry pair still being the most timid.

Before the bold pair came back - his companion had again taken off after him, after picking up two scraps for herself - the young pair got themselves into a tussle. They both managed to pick up the same scrap, so there was a raven at each end of the little strip of fatty meat, tugging at it until it came apart in the middle. Both then took off.

(The scraps are meat off-cuts which I slice into strips of about 3/4 inch length and 1/8 inch width, btw.)

The bold pair came back for some more food while the other two pairs had flown away. Then Bart came bouncing up to me, and as he's big, the ravens fled. By that time I had fed them all the scraps I'd got anyway, so home I went.

It looks as of the quality of day light determines when and if the bold pair appears. The other two now seem to hang about, waiting for me to get to the top of the big field before they come. I suspect that for these ravens the presence or not of dogs also plays a part. The bold pair don't seem too fussed about dogs while they're still hungry. Once they've had quite a bit of food, they leave in any case.

We'll see how this works out tomorrow.

Feb 13th

Unfortunately, I seem to have caught the Saturday-morning lay-in-itis! 

I left the house at 7.50 a.m. - really late, but Llandaff Fields hadn't yet invaded by dog walkers. The sun was up, although not visible behind the clouds, and it felt a bit milder than yesterday because the wind was coming from the West. 

The top inch or so of the ground had thawed slightly - and the ravens I saw on the ground, in the middle of the big field, was poking it with his beak.

There were a few soft calls, and when I got to the ravens field, one of my young pair was waiting in the big sycamore. He cawed, came to the ground, got a scrap - and flew straight to the enclosure. He sat there on a fence post while I had to walk up there from the spinney. He did call loudly, but although there were what I can only assume were answering calls, no other raven turned up, at that time.

I walked back, having met Jack, the Westie, with Alison, and while we were walking towards the spinney, my bold raven turned up. He is the only one who lands on the ground facing me. He got a few scraps, but was a bit nervous of Jack, whom he'd not encountered in my company before.

Alison and I walked round the spinney the 'no more food' way, but on the grassy bit near the footpath, the bold raven came to the ground yet again, facing me. So of course I kept feeding him. His companion also appeared, again waiting patiently until my bold one had eaten some scraps, then filled his crop, then flew off. Then she took two scraps and went away as well.

I walked back through the big field, and in spite of the now expected flock of black-headed seagulls on my left, near the toddlers' playground, two ravens flew in when I was in the middle of the big field. 

One was from the quarry pair, and one from the young pair. They cawed, got some scraps, keeping their distance - then the bold one came again. 

The other two ravens retreated a bit, but there was no dust-up between the three, who got the rest of the scraps between them, the bold one taking off first, then the other two.

Hopefully I can get out earlier tomorrow - this lay-in was a bit shameful, really - and can investigate a bit more of which ravens turn up where, and why ...