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 ...

Jan 2nd

Last thing yesterday night I noticed that we'd had a dusting of snow, staying on the ground due to the cold. This was still around in the morning - but no ice!

The ravens were calling loudly during the dark hour of  (6.30 a.m.) early morning, so I expected to see all six of them later in Llandaff Fields. 

We left the house around 7.40 a.m. It was very cold, the sky was clear. Dawn made the Eastern sky pale. it was an orangey pink. In the West, the moon was still huge, but had started to lose its fullness.

We heard some raven calls, but not as many or as loudly as during the dark, early hours. Then, as we came to the top of the big field, I saw two ravens sitting in the top branches of the trees in the spinney. They came down to meet us in the big field, where I fed them. 

I did not go further - Madame is not doing so well in the cold, I didn't want to imperil her health, now that she is off the antibiotics.

The pair who had waited and came to feed was my young pair. As they got their scraps, the other young pair arrived, from the quarry side. 

At first all was well, then there was a brief scuffle between three of them - it cannot have been over the food because these two pairs were quite a distance away from each other (a good 15 yards), and I was between them. They soon settled and the one raven from the second pair, who had flown up to my young pair to scrap with them, flew back to his companion.

While this was going on, I noticed a single raven sitting even further away from us, still in the big field. I hadn't seen him come, and the two pairs took no notice of him. It was not my bold raven. He got some food as well, and when I'd finished distributing all I had with me, one of the other young pair squawked and displayed the juvenile food-begging posture.

We left them, to go home, meeting Jack (a Westie) and Alison, and then Toby (a Border Collie, such a sweetie!) and Martyn. Some chatting ensued ...

Today, however, not one raven followed us from the big field. 

The snow has been thawing, the pavements and roads are wet - if its icy tomorrow, I'll try and see if I can get those early-morning calling ravens to visit our frozen little back garden ...

Jan 1st, 2010 - New Year's Day

We left the house around 8 a.m., it was quite cold, the ground frozen hard, but it was dry. There was no perishing wind this morning, and dawn was well under way, with a clear, pale sky in the East.

The very first sight, coming into Llandaff Fields, was the huge, enormous full moon in the Western sky facing us. 

What an extraordinary, beautiful sight to greet us on this first day of the New Year!

We had not heard any raven calls, and it was very quiet indeed. Only a very few dog walkers were around. I let Madame off the lead, and we walked to the top of the big field, not having seen any ravens in any of the trees.

But at the top, coming from the spinney, my young pair got to the ground while we were still quite some way off. They seemed to wait for us, or rather, for the food, and were patiently sitting on the frozen grass while Madame and I talked to a handsome young Pointer called Milo ... and his owner ...

These then went their way and I called Madame to sit next to me while I gave my young pair some scraps. They didn't call, and no other ravens turned up.

We then went the usual way into the ravens field, both ravens following us, and I first gave them scraps on the ground, then in the enclosure. 

I noticed again that the raven with the Roman nose is more confident and does come closer, especially when Madame isn't staring at him, but lets his companion take the scraps first.

I did not feed them much in the enclosure, as they don't seem to like it in there. They also, unlike my bold pair, make holes to hide the scraps inside the enclosure.

Going back to the big field the 'more food' way, again, and different from the bold pair, they first flew up into the trees at the side of the footpath before following us into the big field.

Here, they did not call today, and thus they were the only ravens to get food.

 

Then, a single raven came flying in, silently, landing on a tree in the spinney - he came from the direction of Pontcanna Fields, but not the way the other ravens usually come. 

My pair flew into the tree next to him - neither squawking nor calling. They flew up to that raven immediately, without hesitation. All three then flew off together towards the small arboretum, and out of sight.

This is very odd - I wonder who that raven is, and if he was the intruder who came on Dec 28th.

We went home then, meeting Billy and Marianne on the way back, as no other ravens turned up. I'd got so much food for them, there was still some left over! 

I assume the ravens found lots to eat from the left-overs from the New Year's Party in town - this was held near the Castle Grounds, and thus easily accessible for the ravens.

More cold weather and freezing nights predicted - we'll see what surprises the ravens have got for us in this New Year.