A couple of footnotes to previous Diary entries. Last night when we were talking to the Fisherman, our relations went on in front and did not hear the stories, that he told about the landslides. I couldn’t resist telling them about what he had told us. No, no one of the relations told us, I wont sleep. I wonder if they did.
In the conversation with the Fisherman, he told us that a couple of weeks back he was going out Mackerel Fishing. They were sailing past Hurlestone Point near Porlock, which is at most two miles around the coast from Minehead, when one of his lads on board pointed out a Peregrine Falcon on a crag with three chicks. I have only seen one on the farm, that was about ten years back. Unfortunately it didn’t stay around or return. About forty years ago the Peregrine were in a steep decline because of pesticides being used on farms. The Birds that they caught in flight to eat, mainly Pigeons, had eaten from the fields that had been sprayed with the pesticide, the poisonous chemicals in the pesticides were causing their eggs shells to be very thin, and very few eggs were hatching. They are probably the most exciting Birds of Prey to watch when they are hunting, reaching speeds of of as much as 120 miles per hour.
The Magpie and it fledglings have been feeding in the Bird feeders recently. Including the Adults I have counted six. It is the first year that I have seen them on the feeders. When they are using the feeders at least they are not raiding other Birds nests of the eggs and nestlings. I reckon going by the Magpie verse, I should be in for some gold.
The Swallows do seem to have suddenly got big. With the weather as it is I am surprised that the five chicks are all still alive. The other nest has three chicks in it, they are also ding well. I will put a light in that barn tomorrow so that you are able to see the nest more clearer.
I hope some of you managed to see the Badgers playing last night. There were as many as seven at one time. They were really enjoying themselves, play fighting and running around jumping on and over each other. I will try to catch it on camera tonight.
We had the insurance assessor look at the damage that the flood had caused to the farm and cottages. The assessor has had to come to the farm on a couple of occasions, very recently when a contractor who cuts the hedges, reversed into a bridge on the drive, causing a lot of damage, and leaving it in a dangerous state. The Contractors insurance will pay for that damage. I was rather annoyed as I only found out about the damage a couple of weeks after it happened. It wasn’t very noticeable when you drove down the drive and the Contractors labourer, somehow forgot to tell me about it. I came across the damage when I walked around the lake and decide to make my way back to the farm along the drive. The Assessor knowing the farm was surprised at what damage had been caused by the flood. He was very understanding and fair. Now we can get on with the work. But it is going to be costly for our Insurance Company.