Hi Tweeters,

My computer was in Da Shop for a few days, so forgive if I'm covering
twice-trod ground here.

Did anyone see the *photographs* of a pair of Common Raven in the Welsh
mountains repeatedly sliding down a snowbank *on their backs*? Apparently,
the birds were snow-bathing. One decided to--heh, heh--lark about a bit,
rolled on its side, then on its back, and merrily sailed down the slope for
about 3 meters, "...righted itself and, with typical loping gait, hopped
back to its starting place and repeated the manoeuvre two or three times.
Its mate, which had been watching from a short distance, came the same
spot, began snow-bathing and, as its partner, rolled on to its back and
slid at about 3--5 kph down the slope." There are five shots of these two
goofballs having a heck of a good time: one can almost see the
"YEEEEEHAAAAHHHHH!" word balloon.

British Birds, vol 77 No. 7
July 1984

The same issue, BTW, that has the Jonnson/Grant article on Stints and Peeps
with those wonderful plates, and is just the right size to take into the
field for those tough-to-ID calidris sandpipers. It's apparently still
available as a back issue, and makes a great *field* supplement. I don't
leave home without it. Cheers.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
michael_price at mindlink.bc.ca