We left the house at 6.40 a.m. It was mild, with a watery sun and rain clouds. We did catch a short, light shower while we were out.
We went across the first field in Llandaff Fields to Pontcanna Fields, where we spent some time walking around, doing some exercises and sniffing ... Miss Sophie is slowly getting better, provided no small or big dog or squirrel crosses her horizon: then she just switches off.
We did see and hear a raven, but he flew from one of the tall, old sycamores into the horse paddocks, I don't think he saw us.
When we had walked right back, to the top of Pontcanna Fields, we noticed one raven on the ground. He flew up before we were close - and I could see exactly where he went - to a nest in one of the tall lime trees, which has smaller leaves than some other lime trees.
I kept away from that tree - and the raven came back down to the ground, where I threw some scraps. He took them, but went to hide them in the usual way, not going back to that nest. It was one of my young pair.
Then a second raven turned up - his chest looked as if he'd been taking a bath in the damp grass. He came from the horse paddocks, it was not my bold raven but again one of the young pair.
Both ravens took the scraps, eating some, storing some in their crop, and flying off towards the paddocks, not to the nest.
We finally went home, Miss Sophie having been quite well behaved after the first and only lunge at the first raven.
I am not sure if that nest is a ravens nest, or the nest of some other birds. I shall take my binoculars with me the next time we go there.
If it isn't too rainy, I'll even take my camera.
2 comments:
Good morning {Yma} it's realwest!
Too bad you caught that shower, if it were me I'd have let it drift on past me! LOL!
I'm glad that Miss Sophie seems to be getting better (and after all she is a dog and a Border Collie at that, so it's sort of her duty to chase Squirrels and Ravens!).
Hope you are doing well too - I too wonder about the Ravens picking up your scraps but NOT taking them back to that nest, makes me think that it's not a Raven's nest or is no longer in use!
I have the suspicion, after watching them today, that they store the food in their hiding holes for later, being prudent birds, seeing that fledglings need to be fed non-stop.
That nest is definitely a ravens nest, I've seen different ravens fly to and into it today - either the eggs are just about to hatch and they feed the raven sitting on them, or the fledglings are too small to be seen and heard yet.
But definitely a ravens nest - the wood pigeons who tried to settle on a branch of that tree flew straight off, which they'd not have done if it was a disused nest.
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