"Brute of a bird"

There has been a pair of Ravens visiting Rainham RSPB for some time now, reputed to fly in from Kent, where several pairs have been reported, with one pair breeding somewhere along the white cliffs of Dover.

From a distance I find it difficult to distinguish between Crow and Raven, this has led to me checking every encounter with these black corvids especially when flying in pairs, and especially when at Rainham.

Today as I casually ate my sandwiches in the shelter of the " Shooting Butts Hide" I could see a distant black corvid take to the air, joined shortly by a second bird.

They appeared quite large, could this finally be a sighting of the Ravens, I followed them closely with the binoculars they were heading my way straight towards the hide.

I could hear a short contact call from one of the birds, you could only describe it as a deep throaty "cronk" repeated as it flew towards me.

I could pick out a few features now, the massive size was unmistakeable, which makes me wonder why I have had so much trouble picking these out. the black feathers extending down the beak were clearly visible, and the wedge shaped tail clearly different from the Crows fan shaped tail.

I think I can claim these as a definite Raven sighting at last. Impressive brute of a bird.

Raven 

Raven Silhouette showing tail shape