I talk to ravens. There, I admit it. We have ravens in the forest up the road where we frequently walk. When I hear them I call back to them.

Often they come to investigate me. Over the years I’ve come to believe that they know it’s me and recognise me.

My studio is under their flightpath from the Forest across to Wales. They call out as they pass by. I’m so attuned to their calls. (Ravens have a large vocabulary of sounds, unlike the other corvids.)

I leap out of the studio and call back to them. Sometimes they circle round to fly over me but the more exciting response is their aerobatics.

Sometimes, often in bright, sunny weather, they will swoop and dive and, best of all, do victory rolls, completely spinning round in the air. This is so obviously done for fun and amusement. It lifts my heart when they do it. I know, in that moment, that we are communicating just for the hell of it!

Here’s an old video of walking in the Forest and talking to ravens.