Raven (Corvus corax)

This is the largest of the crows, and has a very glossy black plumage, large beak and fan tail. It can be mistaken for a buzzard due to the shape of it’s fan tail when it is in flight. It lives on sea cliffs, upland moors and forest edges. It will sometimes kill animals and carrion. It can often be seen on grassy banks digging for worms. It can nest as early as February. The nest is built of sticks in a tree or on a rocky ledge and the 4 - 6 eggs will hatch after 20 days.

The dark black of the bird makes the exposure more difficult as it is easy to under expose the bird. This will result in ‘noisy’ digital images. Use center weighted metering and meter directly on the plumage of the bird. It is a large bird so to have it all in focus you will need a good depth of field, the pictures here were taken using F11 and above.