Month: June 2008

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page from…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page from number six.

These are wild poppies self sets growing in our front garden. They spread so easily that they are all over. Sue.

Koala photographed in the wild in N.S.W. Rose W’canton.

High up in a neighbour’s tree, a Blackbird was singing it’s heart out. Julia.

Another photograph of Hurrican Katrina. Elsie.

Honey Bee taken along the Great River State Trail in Wisconsin, USA. Penny, Chicago.

Thornton today seems completly well. Last night he had his milk with a little glucose in it and hehas been feeding as normal since. As soon as he had his feed this morning he made his way to the Kitchen door to let us know he was wanting to go out side. He made his way to the barn to where the other Lambs are. He camne back at midday for another feed and away he went again.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo page from Lindsay. There is only a few photographs left for a couple of days.

There were masses of Marsh Marigolds in all the ditches on the Isle of Lewis,Outer Hebrides. Lindsay.

A Skylark on the Isle of Lewis.I don’t think it had ever seen a human being ! It was quite tame. Lindsay.

There was absolutely no rubbish on these beaches.This was the Atlantic Ocean near the Butt of Lewis,Outer Hebrides. Lindsay.

Sea Pink grows all over the cliffs .This is the Butt of Lewis with nesting Fulmars’.This was the most northerly point on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Lindsay.

The Standing Stones of Calanais.Isle of Lewis. Outer Hebrides.These reminded me of Druids standing around but are very much older. Lindsay.

The live streaming web cam at Rye Harbour can see the first (of 26) wind turbine tower erected at Walland Marsh and will be able to watch the blades being installed when the wind calms down. To view the cam, go to the Web Broadcasting Corporation web page click here. Scroll down and click the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve webcam 1 link. To get an idea of scale you can just see the top of the massive electricity pylons to the left of the turbine. The camera is moved by our volunteers and visitors, but I have asked that it be left on the developing wind farm

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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 from Vicky.

Duck with carp swimming around it taken at Elvaston Castle in Derby. Vicky.

Large Canada Goose Family taken at Elvaston Castle in Derby. Vicky.

Signet taken at Elvaston Castle in Derby. Vicky.

Elvaston Castle in Derby. Vicky.

Head of a mute swan taken at Elvaston Castle in Derby. Vicky.

Thornton has become unwell this afternoon. We had to go out this morning for a short while when he seemed fine, but when we returned home we found him waiting outside the kitchen door calling out. At first we thought that he was waiting to be fed, but going by his droppings outside the door he was unwell. We have tried to give him a feed but he has not taken it, he just wants to go to his bed in the washroom and lie down. We managed to coax him out for a walk down the Valley, hoping that it would help buck him up. It didn’t achieve that, as he went straight back to his bed when he got back to the Farmhouse. We have managed to give him some glucose in warm water. He wouldn’t take it by his bottle so we have had to use a syringe to get him to drink it. I can only think that he has eaten something that has not agreed with him. We have have to see how he is over the next few hours, giving him drinks to make sure that he does not dehydrate.

Gordon the Goose arrived from Jack today. Until Thornton became unwell I had hoped to have tried him out on the Lake. There is a bit of wiring to do to get the wireless connection working. The forecast is for rain tomorrow so I am not sure that I will be able to do it tomorrow.

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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. Three from Vicky and two from Jack.

Badger feeding at Denbury taken from the hide. Vicky.

Woodpecker at Denbury. Vicky.

Harlequin Ladybird. Vicky.

Gordon the Goose. Jack

Jack and Brian on Gordon’s maiden voyage. Jack.

As you can see from the photographs that Jack sent to me yesterday, Gordon is working very well. Brain in the red shirt, I have never met Brian, bit of an exhibitionist with that colour shirt if you ask me, and Jack worked on making Gordon. Gordon is in a box on his way home to me, and will be here tomorrow. I will find the time to show you him working with the camera over the coming weekend. I don’t know about Brian but Jack unfortunately is taken and unavailable, just in case any of those seeing his photograph are bowled over by his obvious desirability.

We managed to get the new Valley camera set up and working today. It is going to be a vast improvement on the old camera with the amount of panning around that we do so that we can see the large variety of wildlife that visits the valley. I don’t know about you, but I get very annoyed when I see the wildlife but we are to slow to focus before it has moved away. The new camera has about the same zooming capability but a larger wide angle view, that makes it able to see more of the Valley. At night time the cameras wide vision and infra red lamps will stand more chance of seeing the wildlife’s eyes that we can then follow and zoom in on, getting immediate good images with the automatic focus. The camera also has a windscreen wiper that I have tried and have found very good.

We have still to fix the infra red lamps to the camera, so we will be unable to use it of a night time until we have, hopefully that maybe tomorrow, but what ever it will be by the weekend. You will also have to be patient, as the camera is controlled from a computer and we will have to get use to this different way of controlling the camera.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo page from Judy.

Braemar Castle . Royal Deeside. Scotland

Red Deer Stag on the shores of Loch Mullardoch. Glen Cannich.

Urquhart castle ruins. Loch Ness. We didn’t see Nessie though.

Old Packhorse Bridge, Carrbridge. Speyside.

The Bullers of Buchan. Near Peterhead Morayshire. The word “Bullers ” is believed to stem from “Boilers” referring to the sea rushing in through the hole and Swirling around or bubbling up in a “Boiler Like ” way. The cliffs were teeming with birdlife, all swooping ,squarking and busy nesting. Judy.

The Geese were all gone this morning. Where I can only guess, as I saw two Goose feathers in an area around the Lake that the Geese would have been unable to get to. How they all managed to have been killed, which I can only assume that they have, I cant understand, in one go by a Fox when they had the whole of Lake to take refuge. There is a very remote chance that they have gone back to where ever that they came from, that I believe was some where in the over grown pond area at the far end of the Lake, but I very much doubt it.

The Kingfisher has been fishing from the branch a few times today. Some time this week we hope to get the time to put in another branch in the Lake in a different area, a bit closer to the Lake bank where it is shallower. The water is always warmer in the shallow places where the smaller Fish will bask in the sun. We may then see the Kingfisher catch a meal.

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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.

Giant echiums growing in my garden here in Cornwall. My brother has recommended your website and you’ve shown some of his photos, so I thought I’d send in a few pictures to keep up with him. Sue.

Badgers taken whilst holidaying at Denbury. Vicky.

Rufford taken when I went with school. View across the lake, in the distance you can see a bridge which we crossed. Elaine.

Yesterday evening, we had a few birds visiting the feeders and seeds on the patio. I started to take photos of the Coal Tit (I think), when I heard a beautiful sound. Julia.

One of the Gosling were taken last night. I taken bread down to the Lake just after 9.30pm to feed them just after I had fed the Badgers. I was thinking to myself just how big that they were getting and being the size that they were they may just survive. Probably they were the biggest Goslings that we had ever had on the Lake. As I thought the other night they were showing the first signs of feathers coming through. What has taken this one, I again really don’t know. I am sure that if it were a Fox they would have heard it. Although when we went to the Lake yesterday afternoon with Tass and Kye, they picked up the scent of something by the gates that I have put up for their extra protection, but that was outside the area that we have made for the Geese. It could have been an Otter or Mink that took the Gosling on the water. There is nothing more that I can do to try to protect the Geese. Tonight we will walk around the Lake with Tass and Kye in the hope that their scent will deter any threat to the Goslings. What ever took the one last night will try again for another.

I hadn’t said anything about it before, but we have had a remote controlled Goose made. Although Donald was very good, the picture that the camera was sending out wasn’t very good. The Goose being larger has allowed a full size CCTV camera to be installed into the Gooses large body. Believe me it is large, even a little bigger than the Geese on the Lake. We have also been able to put a larger and a much better quality wireless connection into the Goose. Jack and his Friend have been made it and it will be back with me before the end of the week. By all accounts the picture quality is as good as the webcams installed. Donald has has had to be cannibalised to make the Goose. All of the equipment that has been used to make the Goose are bits that I have had hanging about doing nothing for a few years. The Goose would have cost in excess of

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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 all from Elsie.

Sky – before Katrina struck- awesome & terrifying

These pictures were made by a man in Magee , MS where the eye of the storm

passed thru – what an experience.

Magee is 150 miles North of Waveland , Mississippi where the Hurricane made land fall.
Worth passing On!!!
The dance with Katrina, part of her beauty as she left destruction on her exit. They are remarkably dramatic.

I don’t know if you managed to see Kye swimming in the Lake yesterday. The reason that I have mentioned it is that the Geese don’t seem to be worried about her being close to them when she is swimming. It makes you wonder if the Geese are worried about any Fox that are on the prowl. Kye is the only German Sheppard that we have had that likes water. Tass and her Mother Cass never swam, although when kye is swimming Tass does try to be brave by putting a foot in the water.

Breaking Smuggler is going well. He seems to be enjoying the work he is getting in the breaking procedure. We do take our time in breaking Horses, only going at a pace that the Horse is comfortable with, that is of course that the Horse wants to be broken. As long as the Horse has always been treated well, or at least has been well treated by those breaking them, it is an enjoyable experience for both those breaking and the Horse. We have broken many Horses at Denbury, and have never had any Horses that we have had problems breaking. At the moment Smuggler is being long reined. That is when he has a bridle and bit on, with long lung lines fitted to the bit in place of reins, you then walk behind the Horse steering the Horse with the lunge lines. This is done to teach the Horse to turn, steer and stop before the Horse is mounted. There is little point in sitting on a Horse that doesn’t want to turn or stop when you want it to, especially stopping. Later in the week we will show Smuggler being long reined in the sand school.

It was an opportune time for the Buzzard to show itself on the pole today, as we are hoping to put the new Valley up next week. Because it needs to be controlled from a computer different wiring had to be put up over a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile, it also had to have an untried piece computer equipment put on to get it working. We think that we have now managed to get it going now and as long as we get a free day next week we start to install it. It should be a vast improvement on the camera that is installed now. Being auto focus as most of the camera that we use, so instead of having to focus the camera manually on a subject it will focus immediately. It is also capable of seeing completely up into the sky, this will give us the chance of seeing the Bird flying high and hopefully the Buzzards hunting.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo page all from Lynne. We have a few days of photographs left to put on the Photo page, but not as many as I had first thought.

THESE WERE ALL TAKEN IN THE GARDEN OF OUR HOLIDAY COTTAGE IN PEMBROKESHIRE 2 WEEKS AGO. LYNNE.

I ran out of petrol on the Quad Bike down the Valley yesterday afternoon. With no petrol and a CCTV camera pointing at it there was very little chance that anyone would ride away on it, so I didn’t bother to go and fetch it back until about half an hour before I fed the Badgers. I walked into the Valley for about 25 yard and startled a large Red Deer Stag in velvet that was no more than ten feet away feeding on cowslip by the Stream. To tell the truth I don’t know who startled who more, for if I had been zipped in I would have jumped out of my skin. It ran into the left hand side wood and as I walked past where it had entered, it was standing a way back watching me.

The hay was had dried so that it was able to be baled this afternoon. It looks as if the rain hasn’t spoilt it. I don’t mind a little rain on hay as it tend to make it a little course that the Horses tend to like more. As it is early hay it will have most of the grass seed still on the hay which then has very good feed quality. We always try to make seed hays, but the weather doesn’t always allow us to make it. Last year because of the heavy rain that we had the hay was made very late, so that all of the seed had fallen. It made well and the Horses and Sheep never wasted any at all as there was a good sweet smell to it, but we did use more.

Bliss and Misty’s passports arrived in the UK from France on Friday. I must admit I was concerned that they may have been lost in the post. The exportation and all relevant paper have been prepared and the Fillies passports were returned to France the same day. This time they have been sent back to France by recorded delivery. They should arrive by Tuesday. They will then get their racing names and should get their first race very soon after. Bliss will be called, It’s Me and Misty will be called Live the Moment. We had also had the name Gypsy reserved but it is not very well liked in France.

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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. I do have a few photographs from various people. They will all go on the Photo page.

A few days ago we had another visit from a rather large flying bug – a Maybug, I think. It landed on my sweater and remained there even when I removed the sweater in an effort to get a few photos!! Julia.

I thought I would share this story about our local Canada Geese. We live close to the Water District

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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 of Bliss and Misty.

Bliss and Misty galloping.

Bliss and Misty on their warm up.

Bliss.

Misty.

The grass Gallops at Chantilly. The men are there two fill in the divots after the Horses have passed.

As the drainage work on the Farm was going so well and I seemed to be standing around doing nothing, I decided to make a quick dash to France to see how Bliss and Misty were doing. I managed to book a seat on the 2.04pm Eurostar to Paris, leaving the Farm at 10.am, arriving at the Trainers Stables in Chantilly at about 7.0pm Tuesday evening.

On arriving at the stables I went straight to see Bliss and Misty. Both Fillies had their heads down eating their hay. I would like to think that they remembered me for as when I called their names they came straight over to the stable door. In the rush to catch my trains I had forgotten the Herbie treats, it did make me feel guilty.

I ate with the Trainer and his Family and had the use of the guest cottage for the night. Trouble was that as you go through the Channel Tunnel the clocks go forward an hour. The Trainer and his Family turned in at 10.30pm, in UK time it was 9.30pm. As there was nothing else to do I made my way to the cottage. There was no television either, I had never been to bed so early since I was at School.

Even with going to bed early the night before I still managed to miss the first group of Horses on the morning 6.30am training session. After breakfast it was time to see Bliss and Misty on the 8.30am training session. I so much enjoyed seeing them work it seemed it was over before it had started. The group of Horses that Bliss and Misty were with did their warming up and then went to the grass gallops. I thought that they would have done a warm up canter on the grass before any galloping, so I wasn’t that concerned about getting a photograph on the gallops, until it was that I realised that the first run was going to be the only opportunity to get a photograph, so it was taken a bit in haste, that made me take the photograph to quickly so that Bliss and Misty were to far away and unrecognisable in the photograph. As it was the only photograph a friend enlarged it for me. It has turned out really well.

After seeing the other training sessions it was time for a quick lunch with the Trainer at a restaurant that he was meant to have lunch with a group of people with Monty Roberts the so called Horse Whisper, who I was introduced to, but not before I had scrounged a few carrots from the Trainers kitchen to give to Bliss and Misty before I left. After lunch I got the train back to Paris for the 4.15pm Eurostar back to London. The connections once back in the UK went well and I arrived back home in time to feed the Badgers last night.

Bliss and Misty are doing really well, but we wont know if they will make it until they start to race. They should have been racing by now, but there is a problems with the Export Certificate that the transport people should have applied for when they travelled to France last November. We cant name them until all the paper work is in order. To do that the Horse passports needed to be returned to the UK from France. They were sent from France early last week and should have arrived in the UK by Monday gone at the latest. They have not arrived, so new passports will need to be applied for if they haven’t been received by the coming Monday. That will need a Veterinary describing on paper all of Bliss and Mist body markings, and a renewable passport fee that is more than one we would have to pay for.

The dash to France was a hard two days, but it was well worth it to see Bliss and Misty. Trouble was the drainage work was not finished when I got back to the Farm and I had to help top get it finished.