Yesterday Ruth was in a department store in Hereford. She was looking after Thomas (one of our twin grandsons) who was seated in the pushchair. As she passed a full length mirror Thomas called out " Rory" in a loud voice. Obviously he was finding it difficult to distinguish between his own image and that of his brother. Talking of reflected glory.......

The carrion crows are beginning to pair up and soon we will have the annual Spring problem at Holt Farm Holiday Cottages. The crows examine their images in the windows and much impressed by the beauty of what they see they peck at their reflection.
The downside of their activity is that they remove much of the sealant from around the bottom of the double glazing units. They do not clean their beaks or their feet before making contact with the glass so leave impressive smudges on the panes. Also they have not been toilet trained!
It seems as if freshly cleaned windows are best for this exercise as the image they see is much clearer and more attractive. They also are early risers and can on occassion peck loudly at the windows long before our guests in the cottage wish to be woken. I have tried to persuade Ruth to cease window cleaning but my suggestion has been vetoed.
The carrion crows have a warning system whereby one or more is always on duty as "callers". If someone with a crow deterrent(shotgun) arrives the "caller" persistently announces the new visitors approach. Whilst they are very clever they do not seem to have realised that if the gun is in my hands they are perfectly safe!

Rooks are already nesting in their colonies nearby but they cause us no harm and indeed help control lots of insect pests.

I guess the moral of the story is to be careful about what you identify when you look in the mirror !