Month: May 2007

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webcams

We do need a stable name for Lady s Filly…

We do need a stable name for Lady’s Filly Foal. As I have said before Thoroughbred Horses are not given names by the breeder, if it is the intention to sell it for racing, the racing owner should name it. We did consider the names that were suggested on the forum. Some we did not like and the ones that we did were more the sort of name that we may have chosen if we were going to race the Horse. We have thought of a few that we like, but we really cannot make up our mind what to name her, see what you think and let us know from these, unless you have any other suggestion for us. Pepper, Spice, Whisper, Whizz, Fizz, Ceder, Willow, Sky and Twist.

Talking about names, when I have written about the Deer on the farm, I have named the sex, as maybe Stags or Doe etc, But certain breeds of Deer do have different names that go back over the centuries. The Red Deer Male is a Stag, the females are Hind and the young are Calf. Roe and Muntjac Deer adults are both called Bucks for the Males, Does for the Females. The Roes young are Kids and the Muntjac is a Fawn. Fallow Deer that are not found in the West Country, are named the same as the Muntjac. Even though I know the names, I do at times get it wrong. Although you know what I mean if I do.

I don’t know if it is good or bad news. Coming back this evening from supper in Minehead, as we came along the drive, we saw one of the Geese on the island, the other one was swimming around it. I will start to put the bait down for the rats, I believe they are the main problem. In the area that the Geese use to lay out on, and graze, I will put in fencing posts about five feet out of the ground. I will then string in between them, so that if any Rooks or Carrion Crows come down they will touch the string, that will make them fly off. Also I can use the posts to electric fence the area to stop the Fox and Badger. I will also put a ramp from the water onto the island. After all that, I bet they don’t nest, and if they do the Otter or Mink will get the Goslings.

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webcams

I managed to see a little of the Osprey egg…

I managed to see a little of the Osprey egg hatching today. When I looked earlier today the female was turning the egg, that hatched and I saw the chick still in the shell, I missed the breaking out of the shell as I had to do my chores on the farm. I have been looking over the Internet and I cannot find any other real-time live Osprey cameras, I think that this is the first live broadcast of the event.

When we had Ostriches we use to incubate eggs. We had a very big incubator, that had the capacity to incubate up to five hundred eggs. We also had a hatcher that the eggs were put in, two days before they were due to hatch. The incubation and hatching is amazing, you see the eggs rock as the chicks head goes into the air pocket to give it the air it needs, to be able to break out of the shell. You have probably seen an air pocket in a boiled egg when you have opened it, the area between the shell and membrane is the area. The air pocket will only last until the chick manages to break the shell. With the size of Ostrich eggs we were able to see through the eggs with a bright light. On many occasions we had to start to break the eggs open, or the chick would have died before the eggs hatched. Hatching the Ostrich eggs was one of my favorite jobs on the farm.

When we first had Ostriches we use to use someone to hatch our eggs for us. We would take and collect the eggs for incubation. On collecting them, they only survived for two or three days. They were dying of yolk sac infections, that we later found out was caused by a dirty hatcher. We then started to hatch our own eggs, we were very successful. Unfortunately or maybe not, I had the same problem that I have with all the animals I have kept. I don’t like to send them for slaughter. For that reason we stopped breeding Ostriches. I do have some good stories of the experiences that we had with them. I will tell you them at another time.

The Sheep need to be shorn. I managed to speak to the lad who will shear them for us. He will try to do it this week. He is also going to trim their feet and tidy them up, to get them ready for sale. Fortunately he also has a sheep dog to get them in for us. There is a lot of work keeping sheep. It is important to shear them about this time of year. Without being shorn, there is a chance that the flies will lay their eggs in their coats. If you don’t treat them against flies and you don’t see them on the Sheep, there is a chance that when the flies eggs hatch, the maggot will eat into the Sheep. With us not being able to catch them, the chance increases. When we first got the Sheep, about this time last year, three did come with maggots. Sheep’s feet also need attention or they are liable to get foot rot, that causes lameness. Their feet need trimming regularly. Fortunately we have not had any problems with their feet.

Woody is surprising us, she is no longer on pain killers and is getting back to her old self, that includes being horrible to the other Horses. When we let her out in the morning with Bliss and Misty, they both wait to greet Woody, her response is to lunge at them with her ear back, trying to bite the youngsters. She nearly got Bliss this morning, Woody’s teeth were on the rump of Bliss. She is definitely on the mend.

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webcams

MOST OF THE WEB CAMS ARE NOW WORKING THOSE THAT…

MOST OF THE WEB CAMS ARE NOW WORKING. THOSE THAT ARE NOT WILL BE GOING TOMORROW.

A elderly Gentleman came today, to holiday on the farm for a week. He has been watching the web cams since CJ Bird foods linked to Denbury Farm, getting on for two years ago. He like most of our visitors, came for the wild life. His hobby is wildlife photography and he is going to photograph the wild life at Denbury.

Whilst showing him the Badgers hide this evening, he mentioned seeing a Badger mating session last year, on camera one. I did forget that I had recorded the mating on a CCTV recording machine. It is stored on a hard drive. If I can find some one to save it to a DVD I will show it on the web site. At the time I recorded it I made numerous enquiries of any other recordings of Badgers Mating, I found none. The BBC did not know of any footage either. I did a lot of recording last year, If I can get it all downloaded and it looks interesting, I will get a DVD made.

Going back to last night diary about Wasp stings. The reason I came to farm and live in Somerset, was that my family holidays were taken on a farm in the area. I wont fly and I am not one to lay on a beach. A farm holiday was a nice break from London, and the children enjoyed the countryside. On one of my holidays I went for a drink in the local pub with the farmer, with whom we stayed. I had a pint of beer, on bending my arm picking it up to drink, a Wasp got caught in the joint of my elbow, that started to squash the Wasp. The Wasp went down fighting, the sting made me move so fast, that the full pint went in one direction, soakeding at least six people, two of which spilt their drinks. That Wasp cost me a lot of pain and a few drinks in the bargain.

I cant believe it, isn’t it always the way. The web cams are down, and as I am writing the Diary at 10.pm two Badger Cubs came out of the sett and started to play, believe me it is pure fun, and now their mother has come out to join in the fun. I am pleased for those who have never seen the cubs playing. The cubs are quite big, I really don’t know if one is not the one that has been coming out for the past few weeks. Hopefully you will see them tomorrow.

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webcams

Last night we were sitting in the lounge For over…

Last night we were sitting in the lounge. For over half an hour there was a constant buzzing Bee noise, some where in the room was a Bee, the noise wasn’t moving, so it should have been easy to find, we spent most of the half hour looking for it, it was just no where to be found. We would just have to suffer the buzzing, but it was aggravating. Ky was on the other side of the table, that was in front of the sofa we were sitting on, she was pawing at something on the floor in front of her, I realised that was where the buzzing was coming from. On looking at what she was pawing, I soon realised that it was not a Bee, but a Hornet.

Personally I don’t get to excited about Wasp, Bees or Hornets. I reckon that if you leave them alone they are not liable to hurt you. On saying that, I have been stung quite a number of times. I can understand those who do dislike them, with my fear of Rats. Although partly what frightens me of Rats, is the disease they carry and spread. Ky was fortunate not to have been stung by the Hornet, although when I got it into a glass, to put it outside, it was a bit dopey. It is the first one that I have seen this year, others have seen them over the past week or so. At night the lights attract them to the windows and they tend to bang quite hard into them. Normally when this happens they are nesting in a recess or in the roof of the farm house. I would prefer to leave them alone and try to get their comings and goings from the nest on camera. Sadly for them I am not the only one who lives in the house.

I don’t remember Hornets being about this early in the year, more like July time, I seem to remember. I could be wrong, but I have seen Bumble Bees around. I was meant to try to find where they are nesting. The best places I find to start looking is at corners and roof areas of the house, that are in front of a clear sky. Black dots are all you see of them against a clear sky, but you can then follow them to their nesting site. I didn’t look to hard today, but if it is a clear day tomorrow I may try. When I do find it, I will try to convince others to let me try to watch the nesting with a camera. It may not be that easy.

When we kept Cattle, a nest of Bees swarmed in the field that we show the Horses in. The Cattle were in the field at the time. At the farthest end of the field from the farm house, I saw a small black area that looked like a cloud, about six to eight foot above the ground, moving towards the Cattle, who were in the field. When they got close to the Cattle, the Cattle stampeded towards the gate. I reckon that the Cattle must have turned away from the gate. I don’t know for sure, as I thought it wise to get in doors away from the swarm.

Three years ago whilst eating a cake, I got stung on my tongue by a Wasp, that was inside the cake. My tongue quickly started to swell. I didn’t hang about, I was driven to the Hospital, that is a fair way from the farm. I don’t know what would have happened if had waited for an ambulance, as someone suggested, as my whole mouth and throat were swelling up. I made the person driving break the law so many times, that their driving licences would have been taken away for ever. I made them overtake on bends and go past a speed camera, at twice the speed, and worse.

By the time that I got to the Hospital I was really worrying about the problem that I was having to breath. I didn’t book into casualty, I went straight to a Doctor who was attending a patient. He understood why and attended to me straight away, I was given some sort of jab and the swelling quickly went down. Within twenty minutes I discharged myself. The Doctor did comment, that this unusual emergency made a nice change from his normal emergencies. I don’t reckon that he would have liked to been on my end of it.

Woody seems to have been a lot better over the past few days. She hasn’t been laying down as much and is a lot livelier.

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webcams

THIS SATURDAY MAJOR WORK IS BEING…

THIS SATURDAY MAJOR WORK IS BEING CARRIED OUT ON THE SERVERS THAT BROADCAST THE WEB CAMS ON THE WHOLE SITE. FOR SOME HOURS, POSSIABLY GOING INTO SUNDAY YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO ACCESS THE WEB CAMS. WE DO APOLOGISE FOR ANY DISSAPOINTMENT THAT IT MAY CAUSE YOU.

Looking by what looks like egg shells in front of the Swallows nest, I should think that the eggs have hatched. Unfortunately as the Swallows nest has been built close up to the roof of the barn, I an unable to get the camera looking any more into the nest. It only needed to be a little lower and it would have been a much better view. The chicks should be showing their faces for food in a day or so.

I think that we have found who killed the Goslings. When the hedges of our drive were cut back some weeks back, the tractor driver reversed into a wall of a bridge, under which a culvert runs under the drive. Part of drive was also knocked away. It needed a major repair. Today after returning from a shopping trip, we stopped to speak to the workman who was doing the repairs. Our driveway runs along the side of the lake and the bridge is very close to where the Geese with their Goslings would lay when not in the lake, the same place they use every year. Whilst talking to the workman a rat ran from the lake across the drive in front of us. I commented about the rat to the workman, unconcerned he told me that they ran back and forward all day long. Water and rats go together, but I never thought that we had a problem in that area. We will start putting down poison in that area tomorrow. I think that I will have to bait around the Bird feeders, or we shall have a major problem there.

When I went to feed the Badgers tonight the Badger Cub was at the entrance of the sett, when it saw me it scampered down the entrance of the sett, then popping its head around corner to look at me. Although I was not long there it managed to repeat the same procedure a few times, before starting to walk towards the food as I was leaving. I don’t know how far it got out, as it was not out when I returned to the farm house, and looked at the monitor. It seems that there is only one cub this year, such a shame as when the youngsters play together they seem to have so much fun. It is possible that other cubs have not come out yet. But I wont be holding my breath.

Being such a warn and sunny evening we went to Minehead for a fish and chips supper on the beach. I don’t know where every one was, as there was no one about. Even the treasure hunters with their metal detectors looking for peoples lost pounds and jewelery on the beach, were absent.

We where asked a while back if we had heard the Cuckoos this year. Since then I have been listening out for them, but I have not heard any this year. I know that it is not to early now, normally every year we hear them.

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webcams

Of course I did take the Sheep comment as a…

Of course I did take the Sheep comment as a joke, unfortunately you wouldn’t have realised how appropriate it was. Or you may well have jinxed me.

Just as we were finishing feeding the sheep this morning, down the farm lane came the next door neighbours Land Rover. I knew exactly what he was going to tell me, and he wasn’t best pleased. The Sheep were in his fields again. It has been happening for the past few weeks. Most of his fields border onto my land, the one down the end of the valley, where the sheep are, is surrounded on three sides. Trouble is that it is very quite up there. It is a very steep sided field on both sides, with a lot old gorse, and ideal spot for Deer, who regularly knock down the electric fencing, that gives the Sheep the opportunity to wonder into my neighbours fields.

Sheep soon get use to it when they learn to break out, and it is very difficult to stop them. It doesn’t matter how much grass there is in the place they are meant to be. Remember the old saying, the grass is always greener on the other side, how true. They would have to be moved. Knowing that my neighbour has a Sheep Dog it was the ideal opportunity to get them back to the farm yard, to be able to get them ready for Market. He agreed to help get them back for me. Bliss and Misty being turned out gave us the opportunity to use their pen to put the Sheep in. It would comfortably hold the twelve Sheep and lambs that we were going to bring back and the free range ones that I would try to catch later.

My neighbour returned to his farm to get his Dog. He would go round the back way to bring the Sheep back, I was to walk up to meet him. Three quarters of the way up I met my neighbour walking towards me. Had the sheep passed me he asked. For although he had got them out of his field earlier, they were not where he had last seen them. We walked back to where they were meant to be and heard a bleat from another of his field.

We eventually got the twelve Sheep with lambs back to the pen, were I wanted them. It took us getting on for an hour and a half, the Sheep were going all over the place, in and out of the woods, with my neighbour and his dog doing most of the getting them out. How he did not loose his patience and walk away, I don’t know. I was doing to much running around, I reckon that I must have lost a good stone in weight. I gave them water and hay and left them in the pen.

Because I had to go out and get on with other work on the farm I did not see the Sheep until this evening. How many Sheep did you bring back, I was asked, twelve and there lambs? because there not all there now. I thought that it was a joke and went to look. There were not twelve and lambs, there were just ten including lambs. I could not believe it. I was fuming. They had got out of a gap in the corner of the pen, the gap was caused because we deep litter the pen because of its size, meaning that we clear out the dung and add new straw on the top of the old, it give a very warm bed with the fermentation. The build up of the bed had pushed a gate away leaving a gap. A couple of the Sheep with their lambs were bleating to get back with the ones in the pen. Every time we tried to get near them to push them on, they had it away. The remainder of them I saw when I moved the Badger camera onto the feeding area. You probably saw them as I.

I had to go around the back way to feed the Badgers, to get the Sheep out of that field. On the way I had to pass near to the pen where the Sheep are. I could hear two lambs calling out. I had to see if there was a problem, there was, they were in the stream close to the pen. I jumped down into the stream to grab them, getting my feet and legs soaked through in the bargain. To stop me getting hold of them the blighters legged it up the other bank, over a small bridge and back into the pen.

Hows that television add go ” I hate fish ” I hate Sheep.

Some of you probably saw the two pair Geese on the lake this morning. Arguing as usual, I wonder, just maybe.

I believe that the Osprey eggs are due to hatch on the 20th. Remember the foaling. I have been wrong before.

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webcams

As you have probably noticed we are continually looking for…

As you have probably noticed, we are continually looking for new sites and organisations for which we can host wildlife web cams. With that in mind, today we had a meeting with a representative of The Somerset Wildlife Trust at Fyne Court, a National Trust property, that The Somerset Wildlife Trust manage. It is only a short distance from the farm. If you are ever in the area, it is well worth a visit.

We discussed with the Trust various locations that may be suitable for web cams. Over the next week we plan to visit two of the sites. Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve and Catcott Lows and Catcott Heath that are very close to each other. WestHay Moor on the Somerset Levels and is recognised as one of Britains top bird watching locations. It is often featured in documentaries and BBC’s Springwatch. One of the biggest attractions is the arrival in the Autumn of several million Starlings, that fill the sky as they arrive to roost in the reeds each afternoon, before dusk, Their synchronized display before they roost is breath taking. If we can get an electricity supply and a broadband connection, we could be broadcasting from the site very soon. From the site you get many different types of wildlife throughout the year. This is NOT the site that I have not told you about.

I also made telephone contact with two other organisations that we will be talking to about hosting their web cams, both are very exciting and would make great viewing. One is going to look for potentials sites over the coming days. I will tell you who they are even if we are unsuccessful in attracting them to our site.

Woody had a bad night last night, you may have seen Lady and the Foals moving around their stable and Woody’s legs going in different directions, I just caught the end of it and saw her up, soon after. She got cast, and was unable to get up as she had laid down in an awkward position, she must have been stuck for a while as the walls of her stable were very scuffed. This morning we had to give her pain killers, again you may have seen her walking aimlessly around the field. She eventually laid down. The pain killers did not take to long to work, but she was not on her feet until this afternoon.

The Geese returned to the lake again today, I phoned Rye Harbour to ask what chance there was that the Geese would lay another clutch of eggs. Barry wasn’t to hopeful, as it was late in the nesting season of Geese.

We managed to get the Telescope in the observatory this afternoon. There were two workmen on the farm and I managed to convince them to help me. The Telescope is a research grade telescope that many Universities use and many others would like to have. It is going to take me a little while put all the accessories on to the telescope and get the dome automation reset. We will be broadcasting with it soon.

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webcams

I finally spoke to Veterinary about Woody this morning The…

I finally spoke to Veterinary about Woody this morning. The blood samples taken some weeks ago were looked at again, they showed very little to what is the cause of Woody’s problems. There were small signs of worm infestation, but it would not be uncommon to find that. Our Horses are regularly wormed. The most likely cause of her illness and loss of weight is that she has a cancer of some sort. Unfortunately to pinpoint it is virtually impossible and inoperable if you do find it. Further blood tests could be taken, but other than showing more accurate results on worm infestation they would be of little use. I will re worm her, if that is the problem she would soon gain weight. I wont take any drastic action unless I believe she is suffering. We will see how she goes through the summer before making any final decision.

Elsie on today’s forum brought up the subject of the Badger cull and the findings of a cull in the Republic of Ireland, that ended in 2002. I have not read the report, only what was on News 24. It seems that there may have been an increase in the amount of cattle needing to be slaughtered, in areas that Badgers has been virtually exterminated.

There is so much conflicting evidence on the cause of Bovine TB, that you really don’t know what to believe. Recent evidence suggests that cattle infect Badgers with the disease. Until recently cattle had free movement around the country. Unknown to either the seller or the purchaser, infected Cattle were transported to Bovine TB free area, subsequently incidents of TB were then found in those areas. Now Cattle have to be tested before they are allowed to be moved, since the testing Bovine TB has in most areas dramatically decreased. That must prove something.

My biggest concern is how the NFU is conducting their call for a cull. Farmers do have problems with Badgers. They cause damage to fields and the tunnels of the Badger setts do at times go a good way into a field, this has caused tractors to turn over when they have gone through into the tunnel, when they have driven over them. I believe a couple of farmers have been killed this way. Farmers are not the type of people who on mass run to a union rep. Please Mr Union man get these Badgers culled. They are not that type. It is more like the Union trying to prove that they can make things happen and their representatives positioning themselves by who can get the most done, for future promotions. They have gone so far down the route that they have, that they will never admit that they may have got it wrong.

I am sure those responsible for any decision on a UK cull, will take all the evidence into consideration. Woe betide them if they get it wrong.

I also believe that the Badger Trust has very little foresight. On many occasions I have asked them to give us a link. Surly if more people saw our Badger web cams, the more support they would get. We did get a link when they wanted us to help promote the annual Badger day, that they organise.

Also Elsie, the Badger is mightier than the fox.

Karen and Pat, A massive box, and I mean massive has been in our kitchen for two weeks, with the telescope inside. It has been away for a small repair. It needs three people to get it into the observatory. There maybe three people here tomorrow. It I do get it in, it will still take a little while longer to fit it up for broadcasting.

Sorry who ever asked about the owl cam. Be patient, there may not be an owl cam, although there was one, on one of their sight last year. But there will be other exciting possibilities. One of their Wardens, who inspects areas near the farm is coming when next in the area to see me, It wont be long. You will be surprised.

The Geese flew back onto the lake this morning. They stayed for a while. I don’t know if they ever have a second clutch of eggs. What ever we do have a couple of things in mind to try to stop the Gosling from being taken.

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webcams

The possiable Badger cull issue is again in the news…

The possiable Badger cull issue is again in the news because of the findings of a savage cull in Ireland. The cull in Ireland has done nothing to reduce the amm

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webcams

I am a little disappointed that the Veterinary has not…

I am a little disappointed that the Veterinary has not contacted me about Woody. It is a concern, I will get an answer tomorrow, what ever. She has not been as ill as she has been recently, at time she has been very lively.

Unfortunately, for a change the weather forecasters got it right. Mind you, so much rain fell out of the sky today, there is no way they could have missed it. Their satellites and computers must have shown one massive big dense black area of rain, it must have all fell on Somerset.

We let Lady, Woody and the Foal out into the field this morning. The Foal really does need to get out for a little while even when it is raining. The rain is not a problem unless it is cold with it. Young Foals go down very quickly if it is wet and cold. Just after midday we got them in. All three were soaked through. We gave the Foal a rub down to get a lot of the wet off of her. An hour later the skies cleared. We tried to get Bliss and Misty in, to give them a break from the rain. No way were they having that. As soon as they saw the head collars they hot footed it as far away from us that they could get. They have been stabled, for getting on six months. There is no way that they want to be in again. They are staying close to Breeze and Arnie when they are out. Although Arnie did look as if he was going to bully them last evening. If they stand about and let him it will be their own fault. Arnie would have no chance of catching them, so they only have to keep out of his way.

The Geese flew off the lake today, I thought that they may have stayed for a couple of days longer. I should think that they will return tomorrow, only staying for an hour or so. The other pair flew and landed in the Horse field not long after they had left. If they had flown onto the lake instead they may have stayed around for a while, with the lake having no Geese on it.

The Sheep and Lambs are doing really well, I never did manage to catch them all. The flock is split in two, about half up the valley in the field that I prepared for them, the other half free range. They decided to show their faces today, the first time for nearly two weeks. It is a nuisance as I have go looking for them daily to make sure that they are alright. Most times they are easy to find, on others it can take me an hour or more. I will have to get them shorn and tidied up, then off to market they will be going. I may keep the Portland Ewes and one Ram, but that will be the most if I do decide to keep any. Mind you Dolly and her gang are very friendly. I had better shut up, for if I keep on like this, I wont get rid of any of them.