Feb. 16th

It was raining, easing to drizzle, then strengthening to rain again as I left at the usual time of 7.30 a.m. 

No raven calls earlier in the morning, but lots of robins singing. The sun was hidden behind the rain clouds.

No ravens until I came to the ravens field - and the young pair were the only ones who turned up. They picked the scraps in a desultory fashion, flying off quickly, probably because there were even more dogs around today. Well, it is half term, so people's time tables in regard to walking their dogs change.

So I went back home with a pocket full of scraps left. 

I'll have to think about when to go and feed the ravens - even earlier, or quite a bit later.

We'll see.

Feb 15th

It was a grey and damp morning, not too cold - which simply means the temperature, just above freezing, felt warmer because there was no wind. 

There also was no sun when I left the house at 7.30 a.m. 

Earlier, the robins and blackbirds were singing loudly, but no raven calls were to be heard. 

Once I was in Llandaff Fields, no calls and no ravens - until I got well into the big field.

There, coming from the toddlers' playground, first one, then a second raven approached, the first one making a soft quorking sound as he walked towards me, then he displayed the juvenile begging position and cawed, still walking towards me. The second raven was quiet - but calls came from behind me: the quarry pair had also arrived and was walking towards me.

The first pair was my young pair, the second the quarry pair. Both pairs were very wary because there were a few dogs romping around, one a German wire-haired Pointer, six months old, called Milo, who came right up to me to say hello.

I managed to feed quite a few scraps to my ravens - but then Bas turned up, joyful and bouncy - and the ravens fled. I walked back with him and his 'mum' - so there was neither time nor opportunity to wait and see if my bold pair would appear.

I've got to work on my timing, I believe, and let the actual light conditions rather than the clock determine when I go out. Today looks like confirmation that the young pair and the quarry pair are watching for me while it is still darkish, the bold pair turning up when it is proper daylight.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Sunday, Feb 14th - St Valentine's Day

There were many raven calls early this morning, around 6.15 a.m., coming from Pontcanna Fields but sounding much closer than usual. 

I left the house at 7.35 a.m. It was grey and clouds covered the sky, but their tops were tinged with pastel shades of dawn. It felt milder than the weather forecasters had predicted - still cold enough, mind! - and ravens called from the boundaries of Llandaff Fields. 

No dogs were around, and at first no ravens either. One did turn up as I got to the enclosure at the top of the big field: one of the quarry pair. While I got the scraps of food out of my jacket pocket, the bold raven also turned up. Then both their companions appeared. 

Once the bold raven had taken off with loads of food inside him, the young pair joined us. Interestingly, both the young and the quarry pair have now also split into one raven trying to get all the food, the other waiting. This has however not changed their degree of timidness, with the quarry pair still being the most timid.

Before the bold pair came back - his companion had again taken off after him, after picking up two scraps for herself - the young pair got themselves into a tussle. They both managed to pick up the same scrap, so there was a raven at each end of the little strip of fatty meat, tugging at it until it came apart in the middle. Both then took off.

(The scraps are meat off-cuts which I slice into strips of about 3/4 inch length and 1/8 inch width, btw.)

The bold pair came back for some more food while the other two pairs had flown away. Then Bart came bouncing up to me, and as he's big, the ravens fled. By that time I had fed them all the scraps I'd got anyway, so home I went.

It looks as of the quality of day light determines when and if the bold pair appears. The other two now seem to hang about, waiting for me to get to the top of the big field before they come. I suspect that for these ravens the presence or not of dogs also plays a part. The bold pair don't seem too fussed about dogs while they're still hungry. Once they've had quite a bit of food, they leave in any case.

We'll see how this works out tomorrow.

Feb 13th

Unfortunately, I seem to have caught the Saturday-morning lay-in-itis! 

I left the house at 7.50 a.m. - really late, but Llandaff Fields hadn't yet invaded by dog walkers. The sun was up, although not visible behind the clouds, and it felt a bit milder than yesterday because the wind was coming from the West. 

The top inch or so of the ground had thawed slightly - and the ravens I saw on the ground, in the middle of the big field, was poking it with his beak.

There were a few soft calls, and when I got to the ravens field, one of my young pair was waiting in the big sycamore. He cawed, came to the ground, got a scrap - and flew straight to the enclosure. He sat there on a fence post while I had to walk up there from the spinney. He did call loudly, but although there were what I can only assume were answering calls, no other raven turned up, at that time.

I walked back, having met Jack, the Westie, with Alison, and while we were walking towards the spinney, my bold raven turned up. He is the only one who lands on the ground facing me. He got a few scraps, but was a bit nervous of Jack, whom he'd not encountered in my company before.

Alison and I walked round the spinney the 'no more food' way, but on the grassy bit near the footpath, the bold raven came to the ground yet again, facing me. So of course I kept feeding him. His companion also appeared, again waiting patiently until my bold one had eaten some scraps, then filled his crop, then flew off. Then she took two scraps and went away as well.

I walked back through the big field, and in spite of the now expected flock of black-headed seagulls on my left, near the toddlers' playground, two ravens flew in when I was in the middle of the big field. 

One was from the quarry pair, and one from the young pair. They cawed, got some scraps, keeping their distance - then the bold one came again. 

The other two ravens retreated a bit, but there was no dust-up between the three, who got the rest of the scraps between them, the bold one taking off first, then the other two.

Hopefully I can get out earlier tomorrow - this lay-in was a bit shameful, really - and can investigate a bit more of which ravens turn up where, and why ...

Feb 12th

It was as good as broad daylight when I left the house at 7.30 a.m. Still cold, but dry, and the wind hardly noticeable. The ground was frozen hard, but there was no frost on the grass, which looked dun-coloured and dead. More clounds than yesterday meant that the sun was not visible.

There were numerous raven calls coming from the boundaries of Llandaff Fields, and the first raven I saw was again checking out the waste bins and the food waste in the first field. He flew into the huge lime tree, eyeing me, but it was not one of 'my' ravens. I think he's the one I've seen going through the food waste bags, and he is probably also the one I saw a few days ago at the bottom of the Horse Chestnut Avenue near the big road. He flew off.

I walked to the ravens field, no other ravens to be seen - but lots of dogs! Must be the increasing daylight which gets them all out ... While they chased each other, the ravens preferred watching from the sycamore at the ravens field, some flying off again, not being happy with being chased by some juvenile spaniels, who hugely enjoyed doing just that. 

In the end, there were only two coming to the ground, eventually. One was my bold raven, the other, I think, was one of the young pair. It is their behaviour which allows me to identify them. The bold raven's companion has taken to erecting her head feathers, and she is less shy that the one who came to the ground today.

The bold raven again scoffed as much as he could, eating quite a few scraps himself before storing the rest in his gullet and flying off. As the ground is frozen hard, none of the ravens can make their food-hiding holes quickly enough so that dogs won't get at them.

 

I walked back to the big field, only the bold raven following me briefly for a few mores craps - but the dog population increased even more, so he prudently vanished as well.

The ravens must have started to build their nests for this year's breeding season, I think. That could be the explanation for their coming singly and not in pairs. With the dawn now starting perceptibly earlier, and thus the dog walkers coming out earlier, it seems a good idea for me to do the same ... we'll see how that works out after the weekend - daylight or not, most people like their weekend lay-ins, thus I expect the park to be less populated tomorrow and Sunday, giving me the chance to meet my bold raven again.