& they are incredibly smart too they always place one as a guard to watch the flock while feeding etc the guard is alerting him to a possible threat, hence is searching for threat nice shots & video
Based on the clicking sound and the dancing behavior, it is likely that the young raven perched on the pole was a female seeking a mate. The clicking sound is often associated with courtship behavior in ravens, and the dancing and head movements could be part of a display to attract a male partner. Ravens live in a family bond until they are young, and when they grow up they find a partner that they stick with throughout their lives. In this process, there are many different socialization steps, because among families living in a fixed place, games, boundary violations, teasing each other are also part of their behavior.
Festive greetings to you Mike. Once again a fabulous video. I always learn something from your videos and appreciate your straight to the point approach. Keep up the good work sharing your knowledge.
Got some good shots over the years more by chance encounters of the Raven ! An underrated bird for sure ! Nice video to start the festive day ! Seasons greetings 👍😍
they are very very smart birds. i have magpies and jay's in my garden, basically from the same corvid family and they are crazy smart. they are as a 5 year old or prime minister.
I’ve never seen a raven myself, so this was of great interest. They’re really substantial looking birds and more imposing than carrion crows. Thanks Mike.
I hasn’t seen any either until 2020. In April 2021 there was an influx of them in Buckinghamshire where me and my wife made out over 60 birds in field after seeing a report on a bird club. However Walbury Hill is a good place to spot them all year round as well as many parts of Milton Keynes surprisingly, the former is probably easier than the latter.
Great video as always! Seeing you messing around with that mossy stump I had to laugh as I´ve spent a lot of time doing exactly that recently :) I love spending time in hides- one starts to see things that are totally hidden to most people. Regarding ravens I´ve only had them come once and it was still almost dark so I only have a very grainy footage. They are extremely clever and cautious. I even suspect they are able to asociate my presence in the hide with my car parked nearby. Near the road and quite far away form the hide so they should have no problem with it - buzzards certainly don´t- but anyway...
Great birds. Recently had a regular group of up to four birds, feeding on the carcass of a dead seal on the shore near my house in Lerwick. Very wary though, especially when I brought my camera!
Thanks Mike for all the great videos. I look forward to them each week. Why don’t you give us a chance to buy you ‘a coffee’ ? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like to do so. Brian
Great vid Mike. I'm lucky to have these birds literally everywhere I go locally but they are super wary. I've been putting pheasant out for them (have a lot of shoots locally) and while they'll come and sit in the trees or fly around, rarely do they come in and even then it's only for a few seconds before they don't like something and go. Presentation is on the ground, tied and tent pegged, so after seeing this I'll try a similar presentation to yours and see how that goes. Stunning birds with a vocal range that is off the chart, ravens bring a smile to my face whenever I hear them.
We have loads of them around us in North Shropshire, as you know they lay early, mostly February, so from Oct onwards I see them engaging courtship, chasing each other and participating in display flights, I feed the Ravens locally sometimes in a small quarry where I work and I always see this behaviour when the presumed male has found food too large to carry off to the female so he entices her down with his performance. My interpretation only but seems to work and eventually she will come down to feed.
I work in Northern Alberta, I never knew they were so wary in other parts of the world. At work you have to be careful not to set your lunch down outside unattended. A Raven will undoubtedly take off with it within minutes. It's great when you have some down time just to watch them fool around, they are very curious.
There are two ravens living and raising young in a park in Solihull, four miles from central Birmingham. I watched them raise two broods and they seem to be curious if cautious about humans. One of the pair definitely appeared to recognise me, circling overhead repeatedly. Because they are in a public park I never brought food to them. I think they are feeding at the local tip and possibly clarion from the nearby motorway
Here in Denmark Ravens are quite rare these days. I believe I’ve only seen them twice. Unlike the Crows, Rooks and Magpies that I see every day. Jackdaws are very common as well. Carrion crows I only see occasionally, and I’ve only once seen a Jay, although I’m told they’re quite common. Just not around my place. By the way, I think the Raven looks a good deal more spectacular in sunlight when the feathers look really black. In overcast conditions you may be able to see more details, but the bird looks grey and rather dull which I don’t find as interesting.
Depends on what country you live in. In the U.K. Wood pigeons are legally shot in large numbers. You can buy them very cheaply in butchers that specialise in game animals. Some fancy restaurants serve them, but demand is not high so most just rot. Photographers use road kill. The estate I photograph on was a large shooting estate rearing thousands of pheasants and every day you could pick up 2-3 dead pheasants hit by cars.
Mike, I'm curious about your choice to use m4/3. When on the move, I fully understand why the smaller size of the kit makes it an attractive option, but in most of your videos you're static in a hide and using a tripod. In such situations, wouldn't the generally superior image quality and editing latitude of full-frame, or even APS-C, trump the portability of m4/3?
I do all sorts of wildlife photography, not just hides and it certainly makes getting on airplanes with camera kit easier. However I did not swap to MFT for the weight and bulk. Canon were too slow moving to mirrorless. Silent shutters, Procapture, seeing exposure compensation for real, 60 fps, 32000th shutter speed. When I first used an Olympus em1 Mk2 I could not imagine why I would ever use my Canon gear again. Canon and Nikon have now caught up. The image quality of a MFT camera image is excellent. Good enough for A3 prints, magazines covers, competitions. My Sony A1 now has advantages over the Olympus, but I only have one Sony body and one lens. I am hoping the next Olympus will catch up with the A1. I have never known advances in camera technology to move so fast.
Fabulous upload Mike, as you mentioned, they are very wary. Like you I've only ever had them come to carrion I've put out on two occasions. I live near Warwick, so not far from your location. Such a good watch for Christmas Day. I must say I've been bingeing on your uploads recently. The scrim you are using on that hide, is it the "clear view" netting?? If so, can you give me the brand or supplier. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge, experience and expertise. Phil.
Hi Phil, I have seen your excellent Buzzard films on YT. You met my friend Peter Preece somewhere who sent me a link to your YT. I do not know what brand I have. I was given some and did buy some online, but don't know from where. It lasts a long time, Look on Ebay for "clear view netting".
Mike Lane FRPS . Thank you Mike for getting back to me. Yes, I met Peter at a presentation he did for the Warwick natural history society. I have also met you on a number of occasions and purchased from your eBay online store. You have always inspired me, sorry don't mean to sound patronising. I had some success recently regarding Buzzards, they are one of my favourite species. I film them on my mother in laws property where I now live, how privileged am I ?? Thank you for the information about the clear view, I'll take a look as suggested. I noticed it was installed on the hide where you did you little owl upload. Keep doing what your doing Mike, passing on knowledge,ideas and technique. Perhaps you might like to take a glimpse at my latest upload which I put up a couple of weeks ago?? Thank you for sharing your adventures with us Mike they are amazing.
