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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.

Need more photographs and please keep watching the adds.

A late photograph of our Black Silkie a little bit wet as you can see by her spiky hair. We hope that the Owl doesn’t eat her. Taken by year 8 year old Sam (one of this week Holiday Guests)

After the discussion about puffins earlier this week I thought I’d send in a couple from Skomer this year. Jill.

Does anyone know the name of this” pretty “! rockery shrub? It has taken me a few years to realize it is responsible for a vile smell, I used to think something had died in the area! It attracts horrible big flies.Cant remember where I bought it.Rose W’canton

The Swallows nest was empty this morning. We haven’t seen any Magpies near the Barn where the nest is. I can only think that it is either a Rat or more than likely the Tawney Owl that had the Silkie a week back. It was the same barn that the Dove chicks were on the webcam and they have also been taken. As have the eggs from another Swallows nest that I had intended to show once the Swallow chicks had fledged.

We have never had a problem with Owls raiding nests before, but we have never had an Owl take a Chicken either, be it that the Silkie was a youngster and only half of the size of our Chickens. We have been leaving the Swallow webcam on most nights, it was on last night so it is possible someone may have been watching when the Swallow Chicks were taken.

I have been looking for another Swallows nest to put on the webcams, as of yet I cant find one. It is still not to late for the Swallows to nest again this year. I should think that the Swallows that have lost their brood will try again. I don’t know If they will use the same Barn. I should think one pair will.

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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.

Duck. Karen.

Hot pink water lilly in our pond. The blooms open during the night and early morning. By noon they starting folding back up. Karen, Florida (USA)

Monarch Butterfly caterpillars forming into their chrysalis (cocoons)
Karen, Florida (USA)

Two pictures taken at Kew Gardens.May 2009. Janice of Leeds.

One our Holiday Guests pointed up to a Bird who was flying high above us this afternoon. The Bird was so high that I could not see what it was other than it was the colouring of a Swallow, it wasnt, or I don’t think it was as it was flying quite slow. The Bird seemed to be playing with something that was in its beak. It was letting the something fall from its beak and flying around to catch it. I saw it happen twice our Holiday Quest a few time more. Strange.

The Chicks on the Hatchery webcam are white Turkeys. Unfortunately our broken computer was repaired after the Chicks had all hatched. Tomorrow there will be Geese eggs that should be hatching any time. I must admit that we are not best pleased with the eggs that we purchased. Out of 35 eggs only one has hatched. The eggs that we got from our Geese have been very successful with all but two that we have put into the incubator hatching, with all of the Gosling being healthy. To be honest I didn’t think that after moving our Geese on to Denbury that we would have had a fertile egg.

We were given three Rhea eggs from Cricket St Thomas. The eggs are from a proven pair of breeding Rhea so with a bit of luck we may have some Rhea at Denbury. The eggs are going into the incubator tonight and take between 36 to 40 days to hatch.

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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.

Cheeky Cyril the Squirrel trying his luck on the bird feeders. Jill.

Highland cattle on Hothfield Heath. Jill.

Bog cotton. Jill.

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For the second time we were caught out with the Turkey eggs hatching. The incubation period is normally 28 days, that would have been on Saturday that they were going to hatch. The intention was to put them in the hatcher today but on checking them this morning a good few of the eggs were showing sign of the Chicks breaking out (pipping) so it was a mad rush moving the Bantam Chicks from the hatcher to a box with a heat lamp above it. The hatcher needs to be thoroughly cleaned to stop any chance of the new hatched Turkeys Chicks from getting
any infections. In the hatcher the humidity is a lot higher allowing the Chicks to break through the shell of the egg easier. We have needed to help a few of the Chicks break out from the eggs already. I should think we will need to help a lot more.

We decided that until we have some success with hatching the Geese eggs we wont put any more into the incubator. There are about 40 Geese eggs in there now, some due to hatch next week and more the week after. Our Geese are still laying eggs so we have left them in the stable where the Geese are housed of a night in the hope that the Goose may sit them. This morning one decided that she was going to sit the eggs. With a bit of luck she may have more success than us.

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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.

Only one person has sent in photographs for the Photo Page. There cant be a Photo Page with out photographs.

ALL TAKEN IN THE MOSS VALLEY NEAR SHEFFIELD
LYNNE.

The Geese intruders have been coming to the Lake most days. Our pair with the Goslings are starting to get use to them and the Gander has stopped attacking them. He just marches back and forward on one side of the electric fence with the intruders on the other. Last year another pair of Geese must have nested by the pond. The area was well over grown that must have given them protection from any predators. This year other than a small area around the pond has been mowed leaving it open. As last year I did consider putting into the pond a floating island made from a pallet so that the intruder could nest. I don’t think that it would be a good idea, especially as this morning the bottom two wires of the electric fence around the Lake were loose where some thing has tried to get into the Lake area.

Some of the Bantams that hatched over the weekend needed a bit of help in breaking out of the shell. Two that I needed to do had nearly broken all around the shell mid morning time. As far as I could see the Chick should not have had any problem getting out. By mid afternoon there was very little movement. On looking I could see that the Chicks were not going to get out as the membrane had dried out and was sticking to the Chicks. On breaking away the shell it looked as if I was to late to save then. I broke most of the shells away and one was having a good try, the other was all but finished, so I removed it from the shell and damped both down with water to get rid of the dry membrane and shell that was restricting their movements. It seemed to have done the trick as both after a good few hours started to look a lot better. Both seem to be alright at the moment. Although there is a chance that they may not survive. One of the two is only half of the size of the other Chicks, it is really tiny. The eggs were an assortment of eggs from various purebred Bantam that may have cross bred, so we wont know what type it is, or any of the other until they get a bit older.

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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.

Some of the colours at Denbury this afternoon.

Marsh Marigold on the edge of the Lake. Going over a bit, I should have taken the photograph last week when you could see very little green.

Apple Blossom in the Orchard.

Bluebells in Ash Wood. One of Jades special places.

More Bluebells.

Wild Garlic in Denbury Wood. All of the Wood is a Carpet of white.

Living at Denbury we at times forget what a beautiful place it is. I thought that you may like to share some of the special places at this time of the year. The Whole Valley is alive with the smell of the Wild Garlic. As I was taking the photograph of the Garlic I startled three Deer who were within twenty feet of me in the Wood. A young Vixen making her way towards the Farm House turned back when she caught sight of me as I was coming out of the Wood. Just as well with the Chickens and Geese in the Farm Yard and surrounding area.

Eleven of the Turkey Chicks have gone leaving us with six. four of the eggs did not hatch and one Chick died at the hatching. We made a mistake with the hatching by leaving the hatching tray uncovered, it was to slippery for the Chicks. This caused three of the Chicks that we kept to have splayed legs and they were unable to stand. We have hobbled the splayed legs with cut strips of elasticated bandage. The Chicks can now stand but if they fall on to their backs they are unable to roll on to their front and we have to turn them over so that they can stand up. We are hoping that the splayed legs will get right being hobbled. There is a a chance with odds against it that they wont. The Chicks are still in the Hatcher and will stay in there until we have to put the Geese eggs in it. That should be Tuesday or Wednesday next week. If the Chicks are able to walk properly I will put the webcam back on.

After speaking with other who have incubated Geese eggs we are told that they are quite difficult and that we may well finish up with no Goslings. We will see how it goes. If we are unlucky then we will let our Geese incubate their own eggs.

One Lady put an entry on the Forum twice over the past few days that at work she has numerous streams running at the same time, all minimised so that she can quickly look at them in between work. I would appreciate any of you doing so, not to. I am charged for every webcam that you have on. You cant watch two things at once. I cant and I don’t know any one who can. The donations that some of you have sent in, and the Google adds, that again some of you are accessing (thank you) is just about making it possible for us to continue. Leaving more than one webcam on, and also leaving them on when you are not watching them is causing unnecessary costs that in the end I wont want to pay, and the site will have to close.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one.

Sunrise over St Michael’s Mount,Cornwall. Lindsay.

FUCHSIAS IN OUR GARDEN. LYNNE.

Pair of ducks pictured at Savil Gardens. Bec.

Heavy horses taken at the Bloxham Steam Rally near Banbury. CH.

Black Pheasant. Maddi.

The Geese managed to loose one of their Goslings by this morning. You can only guess why, but there is a chance that some thing has taken it. The Goslings also got quite wet in the showers that we had here yesterday. A Veterinary told me some time ago that although Ducks and Geese spend a lot of time in water, their chicks can die if they get wet through with rain. I am worried that they will survive tonight. As you have seen there are now another pair of Geese on the Lake. After a little bit of squabbling they seemed to have been getting on with each other through the day, but the new pair look as if they are going to nest. This morning they made their self comfortable on the island. If they get on the Island before the Chicks tonight, I don’t hold out a lot of hope that they will be alive in the morning. All four Geese and the Gosling have been grazing on the Holiday cottages lawn for part of the day quite close to the Farm House.

We have moved the Sheep and Fillies camera onto the Wrens nest today. The Wren has had her head looking out for a lot of the time. I am going to try over the weekend to position the camera to be able to look right into the nest. If I can find the right place, the eggs will be clearly visible. We also found a bit of time to put the cable into the barn for a Swallow nest. They are in and out of the Barns all day tidying up last years nests. I will get that camera working over the next couple of days.

Thank you for reminding us of Willows Birthday, and Elsie for her email card to Willow. Unfortunately she wont be having a party.

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The eggs in the Swallows nest at the top of…

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.

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The Bird on cam 1 this afternoon was a Buzzard…

The Bird on cam 1 this afternoon was a Buzzard, I must admit from a distance it did look slightly like an Osprey. Buzzards do come in various colours and sizes, so a lot a people do mistake them from other Birds of Prey. Now that we have made the hay we should be able to see the Buzzards more. We hear their screeching call a lot this time of year, as this time of year they will be teaching their young how to hunt, mostly catching Rabbits. I should think that is what it was eating this afternoon by the way it was ripping at the carcass. Quite often when we go down the valley we see the young Buzzard on a fence post eating what the parent birds have caught for it. It could well be that the close up shot that we saw, was the Chick calling for food. I am sure that the early distance shot was an adult.

Now that the grass has been cut in the valley I will leave the camera down there on more of a nighttime. With grass as long as it was there was very little chance of seeing much. With a bit of luck we should be able to see more of the wildlife in the valley, including the Deer.

I saw a Moorhen on the with a couple of Chicks on the lake yesterday, they were on the straw sacks. I haven’t seen them about today. We are still having a Rat problem around the lake, we saw one under the birds feeders and have had to put the poison down again. All I hope is that a Rat didn’t take the Moorhen Chicks. They normally last longer than the Goslings and Ducklings.

Touch wood the Sheep are staying where we want them, It took a good couple of days to fence the area around the lake to keep them in. There are so many places that they could of got out of, so we needed to make sure that it was all fenced. It is a good area to keep the sheep for they will keep the grass down, hopefully so that we do not need to mow it as often .We managed to catch all of the Lambs. The needed weaning off of the Ewes, and we have put them into one of the stables until we are able to take them to market to be sold. If the Lambs had stayed with the rest of the Sheep they would soon had been through the fence taking the rest of the Sheep with them.

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It must be well over a week since the Swallow…

It must be well over a week since the Swallow chicks left their nests and they are still returning. The first fledglings from the first nest perch on the wire every night, and sometimes in the day if it is raining. The fledgling from the roof nest are going back to the nest of a night and when raining. It could be that the nearest perching place is at least six foot below the nest. Now and then they perch there. They all seem to be managing well in this bad weather. I have not managed to find any other nests to watch, but again it is still not to early.

I cant remember if I told you when I had converted the holiday cottages. We had a booking for a holiday in the four bedroom cottage. In the kitchen area a Swallow decided to nest in the ceiling space. We hadn’t noticed it until we went to put the plaster board up. We couldn’t remove the nest as the eggs had hatched, There wasn’t long before the booking. Every morning we would check to see if the chicks were ready to fledge. Of course when you want them gone they seem to stay longer. We finished the cottage as best we could. We were fortunate that we had stable entrance doors fitted, so the was little chance that any creature could have got into the cottage, as we were able to close the bottom part, allowing the adults to get to the chicks with the top part of the door opened. We also had to make sure that no other birds tried to nest in the cottage.

There was no way that the cottage could have been used with the Swallows nest still in the ceiling space. You don’t realise how much mess they make until you experience it. To us it looked even worse. The day before the holiday guest were due we found the fledglings sitting on the kitchen worktops. They weren’t given the opportunity to go back to the nest. That came down real quick, the plaster board up and painted over, having to plaster it at a later date. We left the door open until the day the quest were due to arrive, and on the first opportunity when all the Birds were outside we closed the door. An Orthodox Jewish family with eleven young children had booked the cottage for the fortnight. No television was allowed, but the children enjoyed the Swallow fledglings flying in and out of the cottage. Mum weren’t best pleased though.

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Who s the cleaver one Within a few days of…

Who’s the cleaver one. Within a few days of putting the branch in to the lake, we got a Kingfisher on camera at 4.15pm this afternoon. I have only seen one twice in all the time that have been at Denbury, as you can imagine I am really pleased that we managed to see one today. I hope that some of you also managed to see it.

Both Swallows nest have now fledged. The way it was looking I thought that the Swallows in the nest in the roof would not be leaving for a few days. As it happens they have been flying around the farm yard all day, only returning to the nest in the roof this evening. On the other hand the first nest, although chicks fledged yesterday, have been perched on the wire by the side of the nest waiting for the adults to feed them. Unlike the roof fledglings they look as if they will perch on the wire, rather than return to their nest.

The Farmer who’s farm our lambs had eloped to, brought them back. The idea was that he was going to phone us when he was getting his sheep in, and we were to help. Because they are young he took his Ewes into his field, where my lambs were. They all mixed in together and he was able walk them back to his barn, where he sorted mine from his flock, and put them into his truck, to return them to me. They will be on their way to market on Saturday. Five of the lambs are still missing. It could be that they were washed away in the flood, although I have not seen any signs of them.

Woody is still loosing weight. She is not in any pain, with the pain killers we are giving her. Although if any one sees her in the poor condition that she is in, they will feel that I am being cruel and I am making her suffer. I don’t think that unless the weather changes that I can keep her going much longer.

The Osprey chicks should continue returning to the nest until about the 20th of August. The Bird box that you may have seen on the SWT camera two today, is where you may see the Pine Martin. There have been four around that area for the past couple of days. The camera unfortunately is mine, that has gone wrong. I am sending a new one to them tomorrow. They also have an IR lamp that is going to be installed, so you may be able to see some thing at night.