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One of the pairs of Swans who flew off of…

One of the pairs of Swans who flew off of the Lake were waiting by the feeding place when I went to feed the Swans this morning. I half expected it after seeing a pair flying above the Farm two nights ago but is was still a surprise. It does look very much as it is the breeding pair that last flew off a couple of weeks ago. How long and if they will stay we will have to wait and see.

Made a mistake in cutting the grass for hay. It bucketed down last evening and night and the laying grass is soaked through. Got to hope for wind, sun and no more rain.

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Last night when I walked around the lake to make…

Last night when I walked around the lake to make sure that all was well two Black Swans were flying above. I reckon that they must have taken off from the Lake just before I had arrived. With a bit of luck it maybe the breeding pair that flew off just over a week ago and are coming back to to nest in the Autumn.

The new Pen is settling in well and is now being accepted by the Cob although after the hard time the Cob gave her when she arrived she is a little wary to feed with him and we are having to throw her food out to her. It will get better over time.

We started to make our hay yesterday. This year is the latest that we have ever started to make it as the weather has been so dry the grass has not grown as it has in previous years. I kept putting off making it in the hope that we would get enough rain for the grass to grow a bit more, but it never happened so I am hoping that it now stays dry so that what grass we have got will make. Already there is a shortage of hay in this part of the country and is costing more than it has for many years. I should think that we will only make 60% of what we normally make. Fortunately we have some hay from last year so we may be in a position to be able to sell some.

I still have not found the time to change the Bees into their new hive. Mind you something maybe telling me in my head to put it off. I must try to do it this weekend.

I must admit I don’t like to see Horses tethered by the road side but if they were not there is a great danger of them straying and getting hit by cars or lorries. I like to see working horses as long as they are not over worked. You do find that most people who are on the road with horses drawn caravans do look after their horses. They have to or the horses would not be able to do their work. Not having ready water is wrong especially in hot weather. It is better to have some that could be knocked over than none at all.

About a month ago whilst I was away from the farm an RSPCA inspector trespassed on Denbury after a complaint that Branston was not being looked after. The inspector trespassed around the cottages and spoke to our holiday guests who assured the inspector that the report was wrong. I phoned the inspector and asked what knowledge she had of horses. Guess what she admitted none. She said that Branston was old. He is 5 years old. I am sure it was that Branston is a grey horse that she thought he was old. Our horses are very well looked after. With the holiday guests that we have at Denbury we would soon get complaints if they were not. The RSPCA do some very good work but they seem to be always looking for easy headlines to help bring in donations.

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When I first decided that I was going to make…

When I first decided that I was going to make Cider our apple trees were in blossom. As I had not seen any Bees to pollinate the trees I decided to purchase two Bee Hives, one with Bees. The Bees only arrived four weeks ago and as it happened the Trees were well pollinated without the Bees I had purchased.

I had purchased the Hive and Bees from a large honey supplier in Shropshire who I believed to be reliable source so I didn’t bother to go and see what I was buying. What a mistake that was for when they were delivered I could not believe what I had been sent. The Bees didn’t need to go in and out in the hive through the normal entrance. The hives were so rotten they could have gone through the rot.

As you can imagine I squealed like a pig in protest and the seller agreed to take back all that I had purchased. The cost of returning the hives and bees would be over

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That was a bit of an eyeful last evening about…

That was a bit of an eyeful last evening about 8.pm, there were eight Red Deer Stags all very relaxed and chilling out. I had to go out so I didn’t see what time they left or in what direction they went. Later there was a Roe Deer and Karen saw another Stag early this morning. I haven’t seen so many in a few year as what have been coming to the Valley over the past weeks. A few year ago when there were a lot of Red Stags in the Valley we had a rut here in the Autumn. Who knows we may be lucky this year.

Simon one of this week Holiday Guests has put a hide up in the Valley so that he can try to get some photographs of the Deer. He managed one evening but last night he was up by the Badger Sett. He missed the lot.

This last month or so has been a disaster with the Black Swans. We have lost five that have flown off, I am not best pleased with the people that they came from as I was assured that they were all pinioned or had their wings clipped to stop them flying off. Fortunately they did not cost me anything and they will survive elsewhere. The last three that came consisted of a pair that had bred before so there was a good chance that we would have had Cygnets this Autumn. Not going to happen now as the Female that we introduced yesterday is only eighteen months old so we will have to wait until next year.

The new Pen that we introduced yesterday is being given a bit of a hard time by our Cob. He is chasing her away quite often. Don’t know enough about Swans to know if it is normal. It did not happen last week when the other three arrived. Mind you they must have been hatching up their escape to worry to much about fighting. This morning when I fed the Swans the Cob chased the Pen away when she attempted to join him to eat. I know a Lady who will know and speak to her about introducing Swans to each other.

Simon has taken some photographs of the Swans yesterday and Vicky has some from last week of the three escapees. I will get them put on the new Gallery page. It is possible that the first two who have been here for over a year will return later in the year. Last weeks three I don’t except to see again.

The new Gallery page is a free download for any one who wants to try it. jalbum.net It should take up to 50 photographs and is very easy to use.

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Hi everyone as you know Mr Farmer has been very…

Hi everyone, as you know Mr Farmer has been very busy, we now have a new look photo page which makes it a lot easier to upload photos. I am helping Mr Farmer while he is busy. Could you please send photos to wildlifetv@yahoo.com for them to be put on the gallery. I will try to update the gallery once or twice a we

Some of you may have noticed that you haven’t seen the 3 black swans on the lake which were released on Monday. When the swans arrived we were reliably told that there wings had been clipped and wouldn’t want doing for a while, but unfortunatly it looks like this isn’t the case as they flew of on Wednesday morning. Mr Farmer is having another black swan delivered on Monday that has had its wings pinioned, this means that the flight feathers wont grow back and this is done when the swans are young. As i am writing this there are 3 Roe deer and 3/4 Red deer in the valley this evening.

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Hi Everyone Vicky here some of you may have noticed…

Hi Everyone Vicky here, some of you may have noticed that there is now only one black swan on the lake. On sunday evening we sat outside the cottage and suddenly saw a black swan flying over head and circling the lake. The swan took off and landed three times each time landing back on the lake, about 9.30 that evening and the swans were both there. When Mr farmer went to feed the swans on Monday morning one of the swans was missing we presume that she flew off at first light that morning. The remaining swan is looking rather lonely and sorry for himself but mr farmer is working on finding him a companion.
When i was here at Denbury in April two Emus hatched and they were named Easter and Friday they are both doing very well and are rather lively.
Some of you may know that i was hoping for a photo of the kingfisher here at Denbury, this afternoon i stood at the cottage door and i saw him in the tree at the side of the little stream which runs beside the cottages, i grabbed my camera and went down the that lake but unfortunatley he had gone, i was too late.

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Monday night I forgot to close the doors of two…

Monday night I forgot to close the doors of two of the Chicken Houses. It must have been on my mind as I woke at 5.am Tuesday morning realising what I had done. On checking the Chicken House close to the Kitchen door all was OK with the eight Chickens that live in it pecking around the Lawn. On my way to the other house my worse fears were justified as I came across white Chicken feathers. There were some of the Chickens including Asbo walking around but not in the place that they normally should be and not greeting me in anticipation for their morning feed. On checking the House inside was the remains of a Light Sussex hen. The Hen was the Mother of three Chicks that she had hatched over six weeks ago. The Chick were OK and at an age where they would no longer rely on their Mother. They were already usually on their own so loosing their Mother would not be to much of a hardship. By the side of the Chicken House I found parts of another Light Sussex and a trail of feather around a large area but no sign of an other Chicken. After a count it was two Light Sussex Hen that had been killed. Another of the Light Sussex looked as if had a very luck escape with the amount of feathers that was missing from various parts of it body.

On this occasion I am quite sure that it was not a Fox that had killed the Chickens. Recently on quite a few occasions when I had checked around the Farm Buildings last thing of a night I had disturbed the Badger Cubs with an adult Badger just by the stables within ten metres from the Kitchen door, I am sure it was them that had killed the Hens. They had found some old Emu eggs that I had left in a bag and had been trying to break into the eggs for a food source. That day I had collected the remaining eggs and had put them in the dustbin for the Dustmen to take away, it had made the Badgers look elsewhere for another food source. The other reason for blaming the Badgers was what remains where left of the Hens. I would have expected a Fox to have taken the Chickens away. The remains of the hen in the Chicken House had been only partially eaten.

Asbo and his family usually house themselves very early at night compared to the other Chickens, but last night not surprisingly they did not want to return to their House. It took a long while and not before nearly 10pm did we get most of them shut up in their house, and that only with the help of one of our Holiday Guests and a large fishing landing net. I must admit I nearly gave up trying. The Light Sussex that had a lucky escape and a Leghorn found another place to roost and were found this morning.

The Welsh Assembly got put in their place yesterday by the High Court for the proposed Welsh Badger Cull. The Judgement was that the cull would be unlawful. The better news is that there will not be an appeal against the Law Lords decision. It puts it even more in doubt that there will be a cull in England. Not that I expected this new Government would have wasted any money with an English cull.

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Saturday evening when I went to feed the Swans and…

Saturday evening when I went to feed the Swans and Geese one of the Swans was missing as were five of the Geese. I can only assume that when the Geese flew off of the Lake the Swan followed. I had not seen the Geese practicing flying this year as much as they did last year so I was just a little surprised that they had gone. The one remaining Gosling was being given a hard time by the two remaining Swans, so much so that I thought that it may well have flown off as well. The Swans and the Geese did settle down by last night and the Gosling had started to get quite close to the Swans without being chased away.

This morning when I went to feed the three they were still on their own. About 8.15 am when I checked the webcams there were five Geese swimming around. It looks as if one of the Goslings that flew away has not returned with them. Just before 9.am the four Geese that had returned flew off of the Lake taking with the Gosling that had been left behind, It was as if and I should think for the short time that the Geese were here that those that returned this morning had come to collect the Gosling that had been left behind. We will never know what happened to the Gosling that did not return this morning but there is a good chance that it is where ever the Geese are going to. As last year they may all return later in the year. It was really satisfying that all of this year Goslings flew off of the Lake. I was surprised that the Geese nested at all with me introducing the Swans to the Lake this year, but the Swans helped the Geese to be confident of us and came to be fed every time that we fed the Swans. Hopefully they will return to nest next year.

Unfortunately the Swan that flew away with the Geese did not return with them this morning. I have not given up all hope that it will return as I believe it was the Swan that had paired with the Female. Going by the Swans size it looks very much as if there is now a pair of Swans. It may well be that the one that flew off was a male. I still intend to get another Female this week as I know the one that is on the Lake can fly. It could well be that she flies away too.

The Fish Photo page that is on Denbury Farm is very easy to load with photographs and very less time consuming. If the forum is used I will restart the Photo page.

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A couple of nights ago I was sitting outside with…

A couple of nights ago I was sitting outside with a few people. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a large bird quite high up. At a quick glance with the birds long neck I thought that it was a Heron flying towards the Lake. I then realised that it could not be a Heron as it was Black. At the same time of me thinking that one of the other people said it was a Black Swan. It was and I had just one thing in my mind it was one of our Black Swans. I ran to the Lake and my fear was justified, there were only two Swans on the Lake, our third was flying very high above me. By the time that it had got back the Swan was making a decent and flying towards the Lake but far to high to make a safe landing. We lost sight of the Swan behind the Farm House and trees so I once again started to make my way back to the Lake. The Swan must have realised that its decent was to high and it came into sight climbing. It circled very high above the Farm for a long while only coming into sight every couple of minutes or so. It was getting darker by the minute and concerns were growing if it was able to land safely or not. With the power lines that are around the Lake any landing poses some danger and this inexperienced Swan would not be an acception. The Swan made a couple of more attempts having to abort at the last moment. It was getting imperative because of the fading light that it landed soon. It once again started to descend towards the Lake still much to high. I was sure that this was the Swans final chance. When I arrived at the Lake it had landed. It was at the far end very close to the bank so it had only just made it. Any further it would have landed on hard ground and been injured if not killed

When I first got the Swans I was told that they were pinioned making them unable to fly. Pinioning is a simple and painless procedure that should be done when the Cygnets have just hatched. Quite obviously it had not been done properly. Next morning two Swans were on the smaller Pond so it could be that another Swan that came from the same place had also not been done correctly. I know one has been so I have ordered another female just in case two Swans fly away leaving one on its own. Hopefully it is arriving next week.

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Thornton has decided for a few weeks that he wants…

Thornton has decided for a few weeks that he wants to be a Sheep. It started over the Winter when he lived in the Farm House and decided that he would take control of his treats. He would head butt the kitchen cupboard door that his treats were behind. If whilst I was outside he fancied something he would head butt the door until it opened, pulling all of the cupboard contents out hoping he would find what he wanted. It happened so many times in the end Thornton had to be banished out into the Barn with the other Sheep. Not in the pen I should hasten to add, Thornton would have none of that, he had his freedom but would sleep next to the pen near the other Sheep. Come shearing time when the Sheep were let out into the Field Thornton followed and has stayed there ever since. He comes to the gate now and then but never wants to come out of the Field. How long that will last we will just have to wait and see.

The Sheep are in the Horse Field that we have now had fenced. They are now unable to free range and cause problems for neighbours, although Ewy and her followers have not been seen for a good while. We attempted to get them in to be sheared but Ewy has made them wild and they were not for catching.

The Cider Press arrived from France a few weeks ago. It would have been a duel purpose press for both apples and grapes for wine. It is an imposing piece of antique machinery, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was working through the French Revolution. I purchased it from Kevin an Englishman who live just outside Mayenne. He estimated it weight to be a quarter of a tonne. Did he get that wrong. A transit type vehicle collected the press and when it arrived at Denbury the wheel arches of the van were all but touching the wheels where it was so heavy. It had to be dismantled for transporting because of its size. The three main pieces weighed nearly a quarter of a tonne each. I reckon its weight to be over a tonne, and was it a struggle to get it unloaded from the van. On Monday it was reassembled and that was a major operation because of the weight of the press. It now stands in our Farm Yard. The intention is to put it into a Barn, but because of the construction of the press it wont go in without a wall being taken down and rebuilt. Not a major problem as the wall in question is in a scruffy state and needs desperately to be rebuilt and has been so before we moved into Denbury. I hope to be making Cider this year, but i will have to wait and see.