Happy New Year....

A Happy New Year to all my readers, or as we'd say in this part of the world...
Ath bliain faoi mhaise díbh go leir.
Mind you as far as I'm concerned the new year began on the 22nd of December when the days started to get longer....
Also apologies for those expecting a post about classic old flute makers, as suggested by Moritz, and agreed to by me....I'm afraid my camera is refusing to work, so it'll have to go off to the Nikon repair shop. God knows how long that will take....
In the meantime, I'll try and think of another topic that doesn't require photos....or at least ones I can do on my phone..
I'll also take the opportunity to comment on something that I said I would in my profile...the natural world...which is my other main passion.
The raven, that wonderful bird which features so much in folklore around the world, particularly in Scandinavian and Pacific Northwest Native American lore, has always been a feature of the Irish landscape as well, but in the twentieth century became much rarer, and whereas in times past it was a bird found all over the island, in my boyhood it was restricted to high mountains, and one only glimpsed it when walking in those areas.
Now I'm happy to say, it has been making a comeback, and even where I live, at the modest elevation of  185 metres is now a reasonably common bird.
At this time of year they're beginning to start their wonderfully acrobatic aerial displays where, especially in high winds they cavort and roll, fly upside down, and do this amazing thing where they fold their wings and drop from the sky, almost like the way notes on an iPhone disappear when you delete them.
Wonderful and uplifting.