The Raven – Evermore?
By Richard Price
As a boy growing up in the 1970s and 80s I loved The Saga of Noggin the Nog, a classic of early children’s television. Noggin struggled against his wicked uncle, Nogbad the Bad, who was determined to steal the throne. Noggin’s trusty friends were Thor Nogson and Graculus, the Wise Raven. It delighted me to hear the sounds that Graculus made. I thought the bird, if it existed, inhabited an exotic northern country.
When I moved to Hastings and started bird watching, I was thrilled to see a raven at Ecclesbourne Glen. Since then, I have seen the bird often, and it’s always rewarding. The peregrine falcon and raven are associated species, often seen together and preferring to nest near to each other. The cliffs between Fairlight and Ecclesbourne Glen are important for breeding birds such as the peregrine, raven and fulmar.
CREDIT: Mimmo Lusito/Pexels
Once, whilst walking alongside Ecclesbourne Meadow I saw both species flying low. Normally, I see the falcon fly from high to low. Perhaps it was displaced in some way by the raven, which seemed determined to play. It chased the falcon and flew above it. To my astonishment it then circled 180° from above to below the falcon. The remarkable part of all this was that the raven flew upside down with his feet held upwards towards the belly of the peregrine. The potentially dangerous, if not impossible, manoeuvre didn’t last long before both birds parted in different directions. What a thrill it was.
I recorded the birds using an app that records my voice along with the GPS location. I have a backlog of records to send to the British Trust for Ornithology and one of them is this recording, punctuated by yelps of joy.
On another occasion I stood at Ecclesbourne Glen and watched a courtship display of synchronised flying which was a joy to watch. Most of my sightings are of the raven passing by, sometimes calling with a wonderful sound that I would describe as a ‘cronk’.
Until the 16th century the raven was a common bird that enjoyed protection for its scavenger role. By the eighteenth-century attitudes had changed, they were so numerous that people considered them pests. By 1900 ravens had ceased breeding in England. The cliffs between the glen and Fairlight hosted the last breeding pair. They retreated to the rugged mountains of Wales and Scotland. Then, in 2008, after an absence of almost one hundred years, the ravens returned to East Sussex to breed once more on the cliffs between Fairlight and Ecclesbourne Glen. They prefer inaccessible cliff-edges, eyrie-style nest sites, overlooking foraging areas.
The recovery was possible because of a new law. It became illegal to kill a raven under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The raven’s principal food is carrion, but they will also eat seeds and fruit, small mammals, lizards, frogs and insects. They are scavengers and prefer to feed on dead animals. Modern research indicates that although a raven will kill a sheep or lamb the animal would have died anyway because it is sick.
Ravens mate for life. They have a bluish-black plumage and very thick bill. In flight they can be identified by the wedge-shaped tail and size, they are one third bigger than the rook or crow. They are very intelligent, sociable and very adaptable and are sometimes comical. They are playful, interacting with other species.
The extremely wide occurrence of place names containing the word ‘Raven’ suggests that the bird once had very widespread distribution across Britain and Ireland. The inspiration for Noggin the Nog was ancient Norse sagas that survived in mediaeval manuscripts. The raven is part of the rich tapestry of our culture and history and its connection with nature.
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I live in Westfield and we are in increasingly seeing Ravens fly over.
Yesterday, 24th Jan, I had the privilege of watching one perched on the tree opposite
He was very vocal and ignored the crows who were shouting at him.
After a while he flew off towards main village.
Unfortunately I hadn’t taken my phone with me but will try to get some video when he returns.
What a great article, I didn’t realise they were friends with peregrine’s, I also didn’t know we had them living so close, so will keep any eye out on future walks.