Raven overhead

Ravens fascinate me, I have met them at Scotland, Wales, the Canaries, Mallorca, the Pyrenees. I am reading a lot about Ravens lately. The two fascinating books by Bernd Heinrich (Ravens in Winter and Mind of the Raven), Derek Ratcliffe’s monograph reporting on the decline and resurgence of Ravens, a Shadow Above, by Joe Shute…

Last year I witnessed indications of this recolonisation first hand when I found a pair of ravens on a valley in Staffordshire where I’ve been birdwatching for the last 20 years, my first sighting of this species there. While Red Kites and Buzzards have become regular breeders in East Yorkshire, the Raven remains a rare occasional bird. But last year too I saw my first raven in East Yorkshire, a couple of deep croaks made me look up while at Tophill Low and a wonderful Raven flew above. A photo of a Raven at Spurn by Bethan Clyne, only the 9th record there, inspired me to draw a sketch. Ink and pencil on Wacom tablet.