WHAT TO SPOT
Natural wonders to watch out for this week…
Raven
As the nesting season approaches, one species is already way ahead. Ravens are among the earliest breeders of the year, and by mid-February will be on their nests. If you are lucky to have ever seen a raven’s nest, you will know they are magnificent constructions befitting a stately bird that is king of the corvid family.
Ravens have an eye for Gothic grandeur and will happily nest in castle turrets and church spires. One of the largest I have seen is built into the stonework at the ruins of Corfe Castle in Dorset. Generations of birds have made their own additions to what is now a feat of engineering as impressive as the castle itself.
I should declare a special interest in ravens. A few years ago, I wrote a book, A Shadow Above: The Fall and Rise of the Raven, about their return across Britain and the myths and legends we have created around the birds.
Readers may well be familiar with the most famous raven story of all – that should the six resident ravens leave the Tower of London the kingdom will fall. That particular myth was invented by the Victorians to attract visitors to the Tower, but ravens have played a central role in our culture dating back to the Iron Age, when clan chiefs would be buried alongside the birds to help transport their souls to the afterlife.
Ravens were nearly wiped out in Britain after centuries of persecution, but are returning in record numbers. There has been a 45 per cent increase in ravens across Britain since 1995 and there are now well in excess of 12,000 breeding pairs.
You can spot them almost
anywhere, but they are particularly present in upland regions and along the west coast. Even at the height of their persecution, the South West has always been a stronghold of the birds, due to what some believe is local supersititon that King Arthur flies around in the guise of a raven.
Ravens are happy city dwellers, too, and increasingly being spotted in urban areas. Ravens once lived in such abundance on the streets of London that they were protected under law for the purpose they served as medieval dustbin crews (ravens are not fussy eaters, with a predilection for carrion).
For my book, I tracked the closest pair living in the wild to the Tower of London and found them just a few miles down the River Thames, nesting in electricity pylons in Swanscombe Marshes.
Sadly, those marshes are being eyed up for the site of a new theme park development, despite being home to an array of wildlife and more than 250 species of conservation concern.
Ravens are extraordinarily clever birds. Like parrots, they can mimic human speech and develop deep and lasting bonds with people. I have met one raven in Knaresborough, owned by a woman who flies them at the castle, and it has learnt to speak in a broad Yorkshire accent.
They are huge, impressive birds, with a wingspan of almost 5ft, but from a distance they can be difficult to distinguish from their corvid cousin, the crow. Listen out for their distinctive “kronking” call, which sounds a bit like a barking dog. Another giveaway is how they tip their wings mid-flight and sometimes perform full barrel-rolls.
Generally, my advice on spotting ravens is that you know when you have seen one. Each raven sighting is a thrilling encounter with a true emissary of the wild.