Crowborough 16/12/2016

Another first for Crowborough flew over today in the form of a Raven. I was just doing some gardening in my back garden, as it was a very nice day, for December at around 1200 hrs and a large black bird flew north over the garden, pausing for a moment to chase off a Carrion Crow. At first, I thought that it was a Carrion Crow seeing off a Jackdaw, but the size of the larger bird was quite incredible for a Carrion Crow. I snatched up my camera, and took the quick record shot of the bird in flight. It was a rubbish photo, but since the bird then disappeared, never to be seen again, I was glad that I had taken it. I examined the photo (the one below is very heavily cropped) carefully, to see if I could spot any markings or shapes which would help with ID. The wings looked normal enough for Carrion Crow, as did most of the rest of the body, but the tail was the clincher. In the photo, the tail is distinctly diamond shaped, the one reliable way of telling Carrion Crow/Rook and Raven apart.