Raven?

I did go down to the woods and when I was there I saw Ted, whom I have not seen for some time. So we had a catch up and I told him about the dog. I knew he'd understand as he had a lovely flat-coated retriever called Raven who died when she was nine.

I met Raven in these woods. Ted was running with Raven and she beat him to a four foot gate which she leapt over. She was a lovely dog - beautiful and sweet-natured.

As we were talking, I thought I heard a raven and my mind was all abuzz... are there ravens here? Will I meet one?

As I drove out later, I saw a big black bird in a tree and thought, Raven!! But it was probably a crow.

Later, I was at the vet - cat, no issues - and as I walked out I saw a small black bird - a blackbird - flicking dead leaves out of the guttering, noisily, impatiently and rather determinedly. I imagine he was looking for insects - but then I wondered if he was looking for a crow's cache. I have seen the Driveways hide peanuts in the guttering of houses opposite the park.

Then I thought of how I had just had my guttering cleaned out - I was hosting an ecosystem up there. It only cost £10... but I wondered if blackbirds would do it for mealworms? No, it would need ravens to clear the moss and mud from gutters.

This is not such a stupid idea: in both Sweden and the Netherlands there have been schemes to get crows to clear cigarette butts. The crows take them to a special dispenser and get a bit of food for every butt. Really. I mean, these are plans but I don't know how operational they are...