Jan 7th

Ice everywhere - and temperatures well below freezing today, not just in the early morning. 

We heard some raven calls while it was still dark, around 6.30 a.m., but that is all I can say about ravens today.

We did not go out - too hazardous, and I'm afraid Madame is not doing well. The cold seems to have exacerbated either her arthritis, or the injury she had in the summer. So keeping her warm indoors is in order - if this gets worse, we'll see the vet tomorrow.

This will be all for today, I'm sorry - but I'm a bit upset because of my dear Madame.

Jan 6th

It started snowing in the night, and has been snowing intermittently all morning. There are about 4 inches of snow here in my vicinity.

We did go out, disregarding my raging cold, and were leaving the house at 7.25 a.m. while the snow was still falling.

It was dark, and we had not heard any raven calls. I did not expect to see any raven, but I wanted to leave some scraps for them, in case they came later.

I did not want to wait until the snow stopped, or until it got light, because by then the snow on the pavements and roads will be packed down by people and cars - and will become icy and treacherous to walk on.

And my final reason was to give Madame a treat - she so loves the snow!

We got to the ravens field - meeting only one dog walker. No raven calls - but when I got to the enclosure, two ravens came. it must have been the young pair - I hope they found the scraps in the snow. They kept well away and flew back into the trees as soon as we turned back to the big field. At first, not one raven came, then one made it to the ground there.

However, as I turned back to walk towards him, he flew off before I could give him some scraps: too many happy dogs suddenly rushed towards us!

Madame and all the other dogs really were so happy!

All of them, no matter the breed, size or age, kept eating the fresh snow - they had a wonderful time! They thoroughly enjoyed themselves while we humans stood around shivering, snow being blown into our faces.

It will stay like this for the foreseeable future - so it is quite possible we won't make it out tomorrow if conditions worsen. Thus I am so glad Madame had such a good time this morning.

As for the ravens - I so wish they would come into my little back garden.

Jan 5th

I have a raging cold - its been going on for a few days, and has been getting worse since yesterday. 

So we stayed at home today, especially as snow was coming down early this morning. 

We had not heard many raven calls at that time, and in view of their happy scavenging of rubbish bin contents, I decided that indoor games for me and Madame were the order of the day.

As there are no current raven encounters to note today, I am taking this opportunity of reporting two incidents which have not found their way into these diary notes:

1) Some time ago, in November, when Madame was still well, we'd just finished feeding the bold pair in the ravens field. We were going towards the spinney, Madame being off her lead, when the bold raven swooped over her, length-wise, from tail to nose. He was about half a yard above her.

She was not bothered, and it did not look like an attack to me.

Later, I was told by another dog walker that in early autumn (before I started my feeding experiments), the same happened to her dog, a young, small Border Collie called Tilly.

I wonder why it happened, and I also wonder if, come the breeding season, it will happen again.

2) Last week, coming back from a brief foray into the ravens field, one of the young pair flew to sit on a low branch on one of the young maples at the spinney, next to the footpath. 

I'd just turned to the spinney to see where Madame had gone - and there he was - at the height of my eyes, about a yard away.

What a magnificent bird: huge, glossy, unafraid, looking at me ... I looked back at him, and stood there for a few minutes, in admiration.

Then I had to get Madame - and regretfully, because of the freezing temperatures, I have not been able at all to bring my camera: how I would have loved to take a few photos of him!

More snow and ice predicted, for today, tonight and tomorrow ... no end in sight for the deep freeze here ...

Jan 4th

It was another perishingly cold morning - a clear sky, with the dawn colouring the Eastern sky a deep pink, and the moon still high and clear in the sky to the West.

We left the house around 7.40 a.m. The raven calls we had heard earlier had been rather faint, coming from far away.

As it was the first working day after Christmas, there were more dog walkers around at this time of morning. So I was not surprised when we heard no raven calls, nor saw any ravens as we got into Llandaff Fields.

One waste basket at the entrance to the first field had its contents taken out and strewn all over the ground: yesterday, in the sunshine, lots of people had been in the park and left their rubbish behind. The ravens must have investigated this, I thought.

There were no ravens until we came to the ravens field. Then, the young pair came down to the ground, but they were distracted by the other dogs, not just Madame. 

I managed to give them some scraps - but then Bas turned up, and that was the end of that! They flew back up into the trees they had come from, and we all walked back home. 

I was glad of that, it was too cold to be happy - and when we got to the car park, there were two ravens turning over all the rubbish on the ground, looking and finding food. 

That confirmed what I have always suspected: the ravens have many sources of food here in the area, and most certainly know how to find them and get at them.

Unfortunately, this brief raven encounter did not provide me with more data for my little report - so we've got to wait a bit longer for that.

More cold and ice predicted for tomorrow ...

Sunday, Jan 3rd

Again, many raven calls during the dark, early morning hours, around 6 a.m., but there were none when we left the house around 8 a.m. 

It was indeed cold, and there were a few icy patches on the pavement, but nothing really bad. It was cloudy, so even with the dawn having started, and the sky pale pink in the East, it was not really light. Also, the clouds hid the magnificent moon which had greeted us yesterday and the day before.

In Llandaff Fields, ravens started to call as soon as we got to the big field. I didn't see any in the trees, but they saw us very well indeed! 

As we came to the top of the big field, my young pair was already on the ground, waiting - and the other young pair came swooping in even before I had the scraps of food out of my pocket. And then the single raven came and sat at the same distance from us as yesterday - only today, a bit later, he was joined by a companion.

Madame was off the lead, and had been rolling around on the hard grounds where she found a patch of icy, frosty grass. she loves doing that, and I'm happy to see her do it again, after her illness.

We stayed in the big field and did not go further - I still do not want Madame out in the polar temperatures for too long!

The ravens picked up their scraps, as always one is more competitive than the other, in all three pairs. But there were no scuffles amongst them today. When I turned to walk towards the pair furthest away, one of my young pair displayed the juvenile begging posture again, with some soft squawking. His companion, having got most of the food, had flown to the ravens field to hide his loot. Well, that earned the begging raven some scraps!

I have the suspicion that this lone raven might be my bold one - but something must have happened to him. He seems subdued and a bit unsteady, not walking to me as my young pair now does. He also seems to have lost a tail feather. He did not come close enough for me to make sure.

The young pair now walks behind me, on the ground. They are fine with me - only Madame makes them a bit nervous, especially when she gives them her 'collie-stare'. Not being sheep or dogs, they don't know what that means ...

The other young pair is still quite wary, but when together with my young pair, they do pick the scraps up, rather than wait until we have gone off for a little distance.

I am collecting notes as to which way they look when picking up the scraps of food - more on that in a separate note, when I have gathered more data. I'll just say that it is very interesting indeed!

More cold weather predicted - and with the ground frozen for six days, I'll bring more food ...