We left at about 6.45 a.m. It was very dark because of heavy clouds. It was cold, with icy winds from various directions - and it was drizzling.
Miss Sophie wore her LED collar with blinking red lights, but even so the ravens only came after we'd been in the tennis courts for a good ten minutes.
I think they just couldn't see us properly in the gloom!
They looked a bit disgruntled when sitting on the high fencing, due to the relentless drizzle.
When they come down, they do come close now - but only when I am not looking at them. Then they advance as close as a foot.
They are also not quite as skittish when they are on the other side of the tennis court nettings - but do keep a distance of a yard or so.
They still duck when I throw the titbits.
On the way back I noticed one raven sitting on the fence at the toddlers' playground, also looking a bit disgruntled. I threw a titbit into the playground and when the raven swooped down, I saw that it was the companion of the raven with the Roman nose from last summer. This is the one who looks as if she's peering out from underneath a thick fringe.
That might mean the two ravens I am feeding now are not the young pair, but either the quarry pair or this year's offspring of one of the raven couples I fed a year ago.
I still have not seen the bold raven ...
Walking home I managed to make Miss Sophie abandon her interest in a squirrel which was rummaging under the trees next to the footpath. She was on her lead, though.I don't think she'd have abandoned that squirrel had she been off the lead ...! But her training is going well, and her tail is wagging much more than even a month ago.
So we'll be continuing with that training in the tennis courts for a few more weeks.
My daily encounters with a couple of town ravens. They live near the playing fields and parks of my town. Madame Dog sadly is no longer with me. Now that Miss Sophie has come to share my life, it is her, and the other park dogs, which are mentioned forthwith. And, of course, the weather ...
Town Raven
In flight
ITS A DIARY !
This is a diary, or rather, field notes written up each day, with the latest entry at the top.
To get the full story, start at the bottom entry in the archive, and read upwards.
Then read the current diary entries from the bottom up as well.
Once you've got the full story, just visit and read the new story for the day!
Enjoy!
Location Map
This shows where we walk and meet the ravens
The yellow and pink squiggly lines are two walks we take. The yellow one is the one we usually do. The squigglyness indicates how Madame visits her several important sniffing check-points!
We stop several times to feed the ravens, and you can see where they come from.
If you right-click on the image and open it in a new tab, you can then zoom in to see more details.
2 comments:
Hi {Yma} gee it's great having Town Ravens back - and I LOVE the new look too!!
But what on earth on you doing going out for long walks with Miss Sophie when it's freezing cold and drizzling out?!?
Must take care of yourself my dear, before worrying about the Ravens!
Well - we always went out, rain, hail, sleet, snow, storm - with both dogs, then just with Madame, and they both loved it until about a week before they died.
So I may moan about the weather, but am used to it, after 15 years of daily outings.
Miss Sophie likes her runs now - once she's coming back no matter what, I'll let her run n the ravens field.
She is now coming back, after a fashion, when i call her right across the length of the courts, all four of them. That is the lower part in the photo - there is a gap between the fence and the wall in the upper lot of four tennis courts - she may just squeeze through and go after a squirrel, so I'm not taking that chance quite yet!
But out we'll go - unless I'm too ill to get downstairs!
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