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Starting from number six there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number six there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Barn owl with vole. Janette

Moss – the European Eagle Owl. We thought he looked like a samurai warrior! Janette

Moss in close-up. Janette

Chocolate

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Some snowy photos from my failed efforts trying to get to work on the 2nd of February … a deserted bus station with marooned buses going nowhere, pretty trees in the forest, children playing, and a snowman!….Jill (Epping)

The way that the Little Egret has been acting today I would not be surprised if it was not ill. Although it was close to the side of the Lake it was not in a position to catch any Fish. It flew away for a short while, retuning to position itself in a worse place than before. It could be that it has not caught any food and is a little weak. Last week I found the remains of a small Fish that it had been eating before something had frightened it off. I always believed that Herons and Egrets swallowed their catch whole, so I was surprised to see a partly eaten Fish. On speaking to Barry at Rye Harbour he tells me that Little Egret will also eat little Scrimps and Insects, so maybe he is catching that type of feed when not on the edge of the Lake. Unlike the Herons Little Egret will only catch small Fish so it will not be a threat to the bigger Fish, so we will not discourage it from Denbury.

I hope that I have not turned the Geese off of nesting on the Island when I cut back the grass. They have not been near or by since the weekend when I got onto the Island. I did hear some Geese flying above the Farm earlier in the week and had expected to see them on the Lake when I went there, if they were our Geese they didn’t land.

Spring is on its way, our Primrose came out in bloom at Denbury today. Spring is on its way.

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We were going to name the Filly today with one…

We were going to name the Filly today, with one of the names that some of you liked. We cannot remember without going back on the forum, what the majority wanted. We liked both of the names, they were Whisper or Willow. Let us know what you think. To Lady’s annoyance she is becoming a little independent, very often wandering off with Bliss and Misty. When Lady calls for her, she now sometime doesn’t hear or pretends not to. Misty and Bliss get the blame, with Lady pacing over to them, with her ears back in a threatening posture.

As I am writing I can hear the Magpies intimidating the other birds. How they get away with darting in and out to take the Badgers feed, I cant imagine. A couple of times I thought that one of the Badgers may have hurt one of them. It is surprising how fast the reactions of Badgers are, and also how fast they cover the ground when they are on the move. The shape and size of them gives the impression that they are slow and awkward. Far from it, they can outrun me, and they can keep going at a constant pace for miles.

Over the past week or more there have been two or three Herons on the lake every day, after the fish. I have made you aware of my feeling for the Herons. I don’t want them here. That is why you may see me scanning the lake with the camera, from time to time over the day. As well as seeing what there is on the lake, it is also to look for Herons. From the house to the lake it is about a 150m. Believe me, when I see one on the lake I don’t hang about to get there to frighten them off. I don’t suppose that I see many of them.

Breeze is really getting the hump being behind the electric fencer on her own. We have had Breeze longer than any of the Horses, so she is a bit special to us, and we do feel guilty having to do it to her. We know that there is no alternative, but it doesn’t help. When we give the Horses a little feed in the morning and of a night we put Arnie in with her. I shouldn’t think that it helps a lot, probably it make it worse, as he is only in with her for an hour at most. Tomorrow we will get Breeze in with Arnie for a few hours. More than likely she will go out for a ride.

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As I was looking for the Geese on camera this…

As I was looking for the Geese on camera this afternoon, a Heron flew onto the lake, I hope some of you saw it. You properly saw it fly off a quick as it arrived, as I always chase them off of the lake when I see them. I run to lake as fast as my legs will carry me, clapping my hand with my arms waving in the air, making daft noises, If any one sees me they must think that I need locking up. Sometimes they fly right away, at other time they fly onto the top of a tree, or into a field in the farm next door, and wait for hours to get back onto the lake to have their dinner. I reckon they are tormenting me on purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I would not hurt them, and I like the look of them, but I sure don’t like them taking the fish from the lake. I should think that any of you that have ponds will know what I am talking about. Unfortunately it s not just a case of them taking the odd small fish that they can eat, they will try to take any fish in the lake, what ever size. The main way they fish is to stab the fish with their long bill. If they stab a large fish they are unable to eat it, and it may die or be scarred. More than one Heron visits the lake, properly every day, so you can imagine how many fish they will take over the course of a year.

Our farm drive runs down the side of the lake. One day, when returning home along the drive, I saw three Herons and a Little Egret, all on the lake at the same time. I could not believe my eyes. It looked like one was teaching a young Heron to fish. I don’t know a lot about Herons, so I don’t know if I am right that they are taught by their parents, or not. It was good to see the Little Egret, it was the only time that I have ever seen one, a very attractive, all white bird, I suppose a little more than half the size of a Grey Heron. Attractive as it was, no way was it going to fish the lake. I have heard people say that you don’t get more than one Heron on a pond or lake at a time. That is why some people put dummy Herons by the side of their ponds. An old wives tale, that one.

Back to the Geese, after all the bickering and fighting that the two pairs did yesterday, they were all gone when I went to look this morning. We heard one pair leave and I thought that the other pair were still on the lake. Maybe the two pairs decided that they had lost the territory argument. None had flown back in, this evening, but I should think that at least one pair will return within a day or two.

Woody has not had any recurrence of her illness. Every time we see her laid out flat in the field we have to go check her out, just in case.