Blog - Page 91 of 109 - Farm Holiday Cottages - Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

We let Tass and Kye out after we came in last evening. They were outside a lot longer than normal, when we went to investigate they were both under the garden table, sniffing around something. We called them in. Tass had something in her mouth that she carried into the kitchen. At first we thought that it was a toy, but on closer examination we found it to be a Hedgehog. Nothing significant, but it is the first Hedgehog that we have seen in fourteen years of being at Denbury. Our friends who we went to dinner with, on seeing the Hedgehog told us that on their way up our driveway they had seen one that had kept them waiting for five minutes to move out of the way. Could well be the same one.

How Tass managed to carry the Hedgehog into the kitchen we will never know, it was quite big, there is no way that the spines didn’t prick her mouth, mind you after she put it down she kept well away from it. Kye seemed a little more sensible.

We had the same old problem with the sheep today. As we drove down the drive the Texels had broken out of the fenced off area around the lake and were walking in front of us. I really had not expected them to get out. If any had of I would have expected it to have been the Portland’s, they were happily munching away. We had spent a lot of time thinking that we had secured the area for the Sheep, obviously we thought wrong. The Texel will normally follow a rattled bag, and they are very tame. They did follow the bag and we early got them into a stable for the night, then Tass and Kye spooked them. What a performance it was after that. Two hours later we managed to get all but two back into the lake area, not the ideal spot as they had just broke out of it. It took another half an hour to electric fence off an area, so that we can keep the contained for the night. Tomorrow will try to get them into a stable so that they can be easily put into a vehicle to send them off to market next week, now that the Foot and Mouth restriction are being lifted. I may try to keep the Portland’s, they have one chance, if they break they will be on there way to. Once Sheep get use to breaking out, they tend never to stop.

The young Buzzard seems to be always around. One of the adults was with it just before 8.30pm at the same time the Kingfisher was pretty busy on another webcam. A fox frightened the Buzzard away. I reckon it was going up the the Badger sett for dinner.

I had hoped to have had the telescope working tonight, but unfortunately I am having a few problems, one with the remote connection to the house and the other I am having difficulty setting it up. I am hoping that it is not the problem that I have experienced before. I will try it again later. It is becoming a bit of a nuisance and I am spending a lot of time getting no where . I am getting to the stage when I am thinking is it worth carrying on with it.

hedgehod

Sorry but there will not be a Diary tonight, as we have been invited out to dinner. We will be back to feed the Badgers and if it is not cloudy I will try to set the telescope up so that I can show the moon on the Astro webcams tomorrow night.

Lady doesnt seem to be missing Woody. I think that because Woody was sometimes kept in of a night, when Lady was out it has helped.

Smuggler is also a lot better than I thought that he would have been after being gelded

We had another unpleasant job today with the Veterinary. We had to have Smuggler our four year old Colt gelded. He has been at Denbury most of his life, the intention being to break him for riding. Unfortunately we have not had the time, so the time has come to try to sell him to someone who can do something with him. His Sire is a Horse called Double Trigger a very well known race Horse. His Mother was a Horse called Jua, who had a very good Dam, a Horse named Good Thyme. Going by Smugglers breeding, he should make a good jumping Horse, maybe eventing or show jumping. We could have had him trained for the track for jumping, but I am really not keen on that part of Horse Racing. It would worry me that the Horses would get injured. He is wasted at the moment, but I will miss him when he goes. I had to help when he was being born.

Smuggler was Jua’s first Foal and she did have problems giving birth to him. She wasn’t to keen to let him feed. For the first three days I had to milk Jua and bottle feed Smuggler. Gelding Smuggler should make him easier to sell, most people don’t like Colts or any entire Horse. They can be a bit of a nuisance if you are not use to them, and of course you have the problem if you have Fillies or Mares. We wont have that problem now. Smugglers friend Sonny is also a Colt, he is a Dartmoor Pony, who we got so that Smuggler would not be on his own. He will also have to be gelded if we sell Smuggler. When he is, he will make a very smart first pony for some child. Gelding is not a very pleasant procedure and you need to watch that the Horse does not get any infections after the operation. Smuggler will also be feeling a little discomfort, so we will need to give him pain killers. I am watching him munching with Sonny on their hay and he seem alright at the moment.

Whilst here the Veterinary also had to microchip Willow. Again this is done to identify Race Horses so that they are not nobbled on the Race Track. Willow didn’t like that a lot, but they cant go on the race track without without going through these procedures.

I went up to the Observatory to set the Telescope setup last night. I had gone through most of what is needed to get it tracking correctly. One of the final part was to align the Telescope to two stars. When I looked through the spotting scope to find the stars, it was broken. The spotting scope is what it is, It has no magnification just helps to find object in the Sky. I am going to try to do it again tonight with the broken scope, other wise the new one that I have ordered will be here tomorrow.

Rose Wincanton, nature will tell you when the Hazel Nuts are ready, by falling from the tree, if the Squirrels don’t get to them first. At Denbury we have never seen so many and so large, as this year. With a bit of luck we may get some after the Squirrels.

Woody died this afternoon. It was a very difficult decision to have to make and one that I really did not want to make. Even up to the last minute I nearly stopped it from happening, but I knew that I would be stopping it for my feelings and not for Woody’s suffering. I just had to remember when we found her laying flat out in her stable unable to move with the pain she was having, or when she was pawing at the floor with her front feet or lifting her back legs up to her belly in pain.

Woody was collected from Denbury at 2.30pm and taken just a few miles to where her life was ended. I followed her and was with her until the very end at 3.pm. It was a very quick end and I promise she did not know what was going to happen to her, or did she feel any pain what so ever.

I knew last night that I needed to make a decision today. Once that decision was made it was important for the end to come immediately, or we may have changed our mind, leaving Woody to suffer for longer than she needed to.

It did not help that Woody seemed to be having a good day. To save Woody any stress by bringing her in on her own, all the Horses were brought in together. Although slowly she did actually trot in with the other Horses, who were all standing on the top of the hill in a group, fanning each other with their tails to keep the flies away. There was no fuss getting Woody into the horse box, she was spoilt with her favorites, apple, carrot and Herby Balls, even at the very end Woody was eating an apple.

I know that Lady is going to miss Woody, they have been together for about six years, always being stabled next to each other. Woody was the boss and she would let Lady know it. When we stable the Horses, we will put Breeze next to Lady to keep her company, although Branston is always next to Lady’s and Woody’s stable when they are in.

We know that we made the correct decision to end Woody’s suffering.

The eggs in the Swallows nest at the top of roof have hatched. It looks like the chicks are a few days old by the down that they have on them. I think that I have counted five chicks. I wasn’t sure if there were any eggs in the nest, It seemed to close from when the first nestlings fledged. Again it looks that the chicks are hot, not really surprised as the roof of the barn is made of corrugated iron, that will attract the heat on hot and sunny days, as it is today. Although it is not over late for for the Swallow chicks to have hatched, it is always a worry that they will not be as strong as they need to be for their migration.

I spoke to the Manager of the Lock of the Lowe’s centre this morning. Any time now the Osprey youngsters will be starting to migrate, the female has not been seen for a couple of weeks now, so we must take it that she has already left the Lock on her migration. She has been breeding for at least nineteen at the Lock, probably for a good deal longer. It only seems such a short while ago, that we started to host the webcams for the centre, it has been a great success and I know that every one has enjoyed the experience. In October the centre is going to have a Pine Martin open evening. When the itinerary is done the manager will put the details on the Diary.

The Buzzard is this years youngster, I would think that it was eating a Pigeon by the colour of the feathers. If I get time I will go down the valley to have a look tomorrow. It could be a Magpie but I reckon they are a bit to cute to be caught by a Buzzard.

Woody has started to act a little strange for the past couple of days. Yesterday evening when she came in for her feed she didn’t seem to know where she was going. She finished up eating the grass on our lawn by the entrance of the farm house. This evening she didn’t move when the other Horses came in for their feed. We finished up taking the feed up to her on the hill. If we hadn’t of taken it to her, she would not have come down for it, definitely not like her to miss a feed.

I believe now that we might be prolonging Woody’s suffering for longer than it needs to be. We would not want to be guilty of that. It is hard to make the final decision, but we must make it for the good of Woody and not for how we think is best for us. It is going to be hard but it is going to have to be sooner than later.

I do hope that many of you caught that eyeful just after 8.pm, of the small herd of Red Deer with their Calves. They all seemed to be really enjoying themselves, prancing and racing around the field. I counted six adults and two Calves, but there could well have been a lot more. They didn’t stay around to long. They could be back tonight or tomorrow, as they were enjoying the new grass, that is coming through after the hay was cut. It was really good to see them. We often see a herd with up to twenty Deer, but rarely with their Calves, especially with the spotted coats.

I caught a glimpse of the Moorhen with her Chicks when I walked around the lake this afternoon. I don’t know where they came from but I also saw another four adult birds as I walked around.

Denbury never ceases to amaze me with the variety of wildlife that we have and see regularly. When we first did holidays here in 1998, we didn’t have webcams to see what wildlife we really had. It was obvious that like most farms there was a certain amount, and it was with that premiss, that we offered wildlife watching in our brochures. The webcams showed us, as well as those people who came here for the wildlife, what a haven for wildlife Denbury really is.

Last night the weather forecast was rain and cloudy. When I looked out of the window at midnight there was not a cloud to be seen. It would have been an ideal night to set the settings for telescope. This evening it looked promising that I could have done the setting tonight, it was little cloudy with some clear spots. Now the sky is so black it looks like it is going to pour down with rain. It did this morning for a good three hours, so heavy that it would have been unfair to put the Horses out after their morning feed.

We put up the new wire for the camera for the new webcam at the Trust. It will be in a barn that has a nest box and perching area focused on the orphaned Barn Owls. They are free to come and go as they please, so it should be interesting watching them. We have been having a problem with the camera that you can see on the webcam now, that is why it is in black and white. The new camera hopefully will allow the Barn owls to be in colour during the day. The new camera should be up and running over the next few days.

The three Red Deer that we saw a lot of last Winter, showed themselves this evening, one of them had a Calf. It is the first time that I have seen them for a while. I regularly hear them in the woods when we walk the valley. We heard them this afternoon when we went for a walk with Tass and Kye. With the grass now short we will see more wildlife on the valley webcam. Just after I had got the Deer on the webcam a Fox trotted into view. On our walk we also saw the Buzzards hunting.

The camera we have down the valley is a different type than most of the others that we use. It is a full pan tilt and zoom, but one than you can put larger lenses on, and IR lamps so that that turns with the camera. It is a lot slower and tends to bounce about a bit when you move it. We have a very large 300mm lens on the camera, when it is zoomed in every movement is exaggerated.

It is the first time that have walked the valley since we made the hay. The tractors tyres have made some large ruts and cut the ground up because of it being so wet. The ground is still very wet, this continuous bad weather is not helping it to dry, although the grass is growing very quickly.

Kye is getting quite big now, she is only a couple of inches smaller than Tass, it wont be long before she catches up and probably be even bigger than Tass. Tass is one of the biggest German Shepperd’s that I have seen, so Kye is going to be a big dog. Trouble is that she is on the go 24/7 and she expects Tass to keep up with her. Tass does try and mostly likes playing with Kye. This afternoon on our walk Kye didn’t stop nagging Tass to play with her, running around her, biting at her feet to try to make her run faster. What ever distance we walked, I reckon Kye must have doubled it. We haven’t heard lately, about any of the other pups from the same litter as Kye, if any of the owners see this let us know on the forum.

I didn’t say a lot about Woody in last night Diary as we could only say what we all ready know about her condition. The Veterinary saw her, but not to treat her. I would say that he was a little surprised that I am prepared to keep her going for the time we have. If I had known that the weather was going to be as bad as it was I would have brought an end to her life before now.

The Veterinary when he scanned Lady, gave us a print of the scan. It is not a promise but I will try to get my webmaster to put it on the website next week. I don’t know how it will turn out, with a bit of luck it maybe OK.

The reason that I don’t leave the Kingfisher branch all day, is that I would think that it would be pretty boring to watch a branch all day in anticipation that the Kingfisher may show its self. I have another camera positioned on the branch, but I am having problems with getting the focus sharp, there may be a problem with the camera, unfortunately I have not had time to change it over.

I also want to put another camera at the back of the Badger Sett, and another lamp down the valley, so that we may be able to see more wildlife down there, of a night time. Again unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day. I have not seen the Buzzards down the valley for a couple of days. I have direct views of all of the cameras, so although you cant see them, I am able to when I am near to the monitor.

We have got the Telescope computer working and the remote control back from the observatory to the farm house. All we want now is some decent weather, and I will set it up. I cant do the alignment until it is dark. Once it is aligned I will be able to get it going. I have a CCTV monitor as my TV, it has a picture in picture facility. With the remote and my wireless computer it will be easy keep an eye on it. The last time we had the telescope going regularly, it was a pain keep on going to make sure that it was tracking properly. I wont mind doing it now with the setup I have. The Moon in in a good position at the moment, hopefully if the weather forecast is correct, it maybe working next week. Once setup we can also get the Solar telescope on the sun going.

The Holiday Cottages have CCTV monitors, so that our guests can see the farms webcams on a larger screens, mainly for watching the Badgers if they don’t fancy using the hide every night. When the sun was out a week or so ago we put the solar telescope on for them. It couldn’t be for to long as I could not control it, but they really enjoyed watching the flares. We have just purchased a couple more Telescopes for our holiday guest, who come in the Autumn and Winter months. With the days being shorter after they have seen the Badgers they will be able to watch the Sky. With all the equipment we have, and the really clear skies that we get at Denbury, it will be a great experience for those people who have never had the opportunity to use a telescope, and for the true Amateur Astronomers who want good unpolluted light conditions.

Farm Holiday Cottages – Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

We let Tass and Kye out after we came in…

hedgehod…

Sorry but there will not be a Diary tonight as…

We had another unpleasant job today with the Veterinary We…

Woody died this afternoon It was a very difficult decision…

The eggs in the Swallows nest at the top of…

I do hope that many of you caught that eyeful…

We put up the new wire for the camera for…

The three Red Deer that we saw a lot of…

I didn t say a lot about Woody in last…