With coronavirus panic sweeping the world, as I opened the driveway gate this morning, I could have sworn I heard an airborne CRONK!. There it was again! I looked up to see a magnificent raven flying past. The first raven I have ever seen from our garden! It flipped upside-down briefly, in that weird way ravens do, then headed off across the fields in the general direction of Nutclough Wood.
When I tweeted about my sighting, my favourite TV presenter, Prof. Alice Roberts, was on hand to made a joke:
Only later did I realise today is the Ides of March… And the raven had flown in from the left: a quite literally sinister portent to the ancient Roman augurs.
I bloody well hope it wasn’t a sign!