April 9th

Another fine spring morning, albeit rather cold! 

Still, it was dry and the sun was out when we left the house at 7.10 a.m. BST.

No raven calls - and after having walked round the long way, as now customary, we heard a few faint calls as we approached the enclosure in the ravens field - but still, not one raven to be seen.

April 8th

Another beautiful morning, with sunshine, clear blue sky, and no wind. There was no frost on the grass, and it didn't feel as cold as the weather people had predicted yesterday.

We left the house at 7.30 a.m. BST - no raven calls until we got to the ravens field, walking the long way along the quarry side and through the small arboretum.

April 7th

It was a lovely sunny morning when we left the house at 7.30 a.m. BST. It was still rather nippy, though.

We went round the long way again, not hearing raven calls until we came to the ravens field. Here, ravens did call, but it sounded quite distant.

We had to walk half-way round the enclosure, me throwing scraps, before a pair of ravens appeared.

April 6th

THE VERY BRIEF NOTES I TOOK OVER THE EASTER HOLIDAYS ARE NOW POSTED BELOW, TO MAKE THE  RAVEN 'DIARY' UP TO DATE.

It was mild and overcast when we left the house at 7.40 a.m. BST. There had been a couple of raven calls earlier in the morning, but there were none when we got to Llandaff Fields.

The park was reasonably empty of dogs, as lots of people are still away on their Easter Breaks.

We walked round the long way, which now looks like becoming the established route, and got to the ravens field via the small arboretum, walking along the fence to the allotments before we crossed over to the top enclosure.

As we walked along the fence, we could hear raven calls, but did not see where the ravens were sitting.

It took a few scraps thrown into the enclosure before a pair appeared: my bold pair! 

April 5th, Easter Monday

Grey but a bit milder this morning, as there was no arctic wind. No sun either.

We left at 7.40 a.m. BST, walking round the long way (quarry side, small arboretum, ravens field from the arboretum end), and did not see or hear any ravens.

We then walked round the enclosure, and while I threw the first scraps I also tried to train Miss Sophie to sit. She did that, getting some scraps as reward, and was thus not disturbing the ravens which eventually did turn up.

It was my bold pair, and the bold one, doing all his usual things, again came so close, at one point he sat on a fence post just about a yard away from us. 

I had nearly run out of scraps, and as Miss Sophie spied some dogs in the distance and got nervous and distracted, we went home the no-more-food way.

The ravens did not follow us.