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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.

FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS ALL TAKEN AT THE TROPICALBUTTERFLY HOUSE NEAR WORKSOp.LYNNE.

Here are some photos of Rosie who is a Tortie. She doesn’t look much like a Calico. What do you call this type in England please? Rosie’s Mum in Toronto.

The way that one of the Badgers was collecting bedding and taking it back to the Sett a couple of nights ago, I would reckon that one has given birth.

We tidied up the Island this afternoon and strimmed the grass back so that we will be able to see the Goose sitting her eggs. That is of course if they decide to nest on the Island. There is a chance that with the grass cut back they will not bother to nest on the Island. I don’t think that will be the case, although it may take them a couple of visits to get use to it. The Geese landed on the Lake this morning. The webcams were on when they flew in, their reflection being seen a long time in the Lake before they landed, They only stayed a little over an hour before flying off.

We altered the Bird feeders today in the hope that we can keep the Squirrels off. The Squirrels were taking over the Bird feeders. We have also put a Squirrel deterrent under the tray that the feeders are now on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t find a way of getting to the Bird food.

The Squirrel feeder and obstacle course is in the Badger Field, so I guess if they cant get on to the Bird feeders they will go there. Most days the Squirrel are knocking the front of their feeder out causing all of their peanuts to finish up on the ground. I have got to put a different front onto the box, and try to put an addition to the course.

We are having a few problems with our broadband connections that is causing the webcams to go off intermittently. I have been trying to get it sorted out since Thursday. Unforetunately the initial contact is with an overseas call centre who are not opening another line of contact that will sort the problem out. I normally see that the webcams are off very quickly unless I have to go out.

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webcams

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

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

GJ and B wedding cake. PM.

I thought the ladies would like to see Robin in his bridesmaid dress!! PM.

I had to put this email on. Not to get you to holiday here.(hope you don’t mind Jenny) We thought it was very funny. The photograph of the Reindeer is of two that are coming to Denbury taken when Jenny and her family visited Cricket St Thomas.

Thankyou again for the brilliant week we had at the farm. We are determined to return next year even if we have to sell one of Jasmines kidneys!
I know the weather is plotting another wet week and sincerely wish you a drier week sometime very soon.
Noah has decided that he is going to move to the farm so watch out for any suspicious large unplanned parcels (the clue will be the address written in crayon).
As promised I have attached the pictures of the Reindeer herd I am sorry they aren’t brilliant but I only had the digital camera with me. Jenny, Gareth, Jasmine and Noah.

I took this photo on the way up the lane to the stables, of some ducks, my sister threw out most of a loaf so i could get a good photo, only managed this the others turned out blurred. Karen Stoke.

We just had a real nasty storm in Florida today and after the storm, a double rainbow. You can just make out the 2nd rainbow, but the other rainbow was real bright. Karen, Florida (USA).

Unfortunately the Green Woodpecker cant be enticed onto our bird feeders, their diet consists of Insects that they eat from the crevices in the trees and Ants that they eat from the ground, so what is on offer on the feeders is not what they would want. We hear their chattering laugh every year close to the Farm House. This year we have heard them a little more than other years and a couple of days ago the chattering laugh seemed to be all around us. Sitting in our lounge yesterday evening we realised why, for sitting on the garden wall were a couple of fledglings with one of the parent birds in a branch overhanging the wall, with an insect in it beak. Today as many as five have been flying around. They must have nested close to the Farm House. Next year we will watch to see if we can find where they are nesting. We wouldn’t be able to put a camera in the nest, but we could put a camera so that we are able to watch them entering and leaving the nest.

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webcams

Starting from number onethere are five new photographs on the…

Starting from number onethere are five new photographs on the Photo page from Lynne. There will be five from Lindsay tomorrow.

A FRIEND OF A FRIEND HAS A FARM WITH HORSES AND ALPACAS WE TOOK THESE WHEN WE VISITED LAST WEEK. LYNNE.

We have had to move the Bird feeders today to try to stop the Squirrels from using them. The amount of Squirrels using the feeders this year has got out of control. There has been as many as five Squirrels at a time on the feeders and the Birds are not getting a chance of feeding on them. Both feeders are now on poles with Squirrel guards on them, but a couple of the Squirrels have managed to get on to the feeders by climbing up one pole and jumping across on to the top of the guard on the other pole. Earlier this week one of our Holiday Guests had seen ten Squirrel at once along the track where the feeders are placed. That is to many. There are also Squirrels using the Bird feeders around the Lake. Soon after moving the feeders we noticed more species of Birds using them. We will put a Squirrel feeder in another place and show them on the webcams, it may even make me start the Squirrel obstacle course that I have been promising for ever. It will be some thing to see at the end of the Summer.

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font color red As the Badgers don t use clocks…

As the Badgers don’t use clocks, we will be feeding them from 5.30pm ish as from Sunday when the clocks go BACK.

Off course the reason that is given for the clock change twice a year, is that it allows Farmers to start work in the light. The Farmers that I have spoken to in the past, really don’t care one way or the other. It messes up our work on the Farm every time the clocks change. The animals still expect to be fed at the same time. I suppose we finish our work earlier, and I managed to get the Telescope working more often. Every time the clocks do change there is talk of Parliament going to change it. They need to hurry up.

The Bird and Squirrel feeders have started to be used more in the past week. There was so much wild food we were not having to fill the feeders as much as usual. Every year the Woodpeckers disappears for a while, they seems to have come back earlier this year. A new Squirrel is using the feeders, it must be a new one as it hasn’t worked out how to open the lid of the Squirrel feeder yet. There is also a couple of Birds that I do not know using the feeders. They look like large fluffy Finches, I am sure they must be very common, but it is the first time that I have seen them on the feeders.

Elsie the Sheep that you saw was asleep. I also thought that it was ill. I had introduced it with the rest yesterday, it was one of the two Ewe Lambs that we are keeping, the other one drowned a few days backs. We also took one of the Ram Lambs out of the paddock yesterday. If I get time, it is going off to market with the others that are stabled on Saturday. I wish you could have seen us catching it yesterday. It is a bit wild and has not been in the fenced area for long. My two Lads and myself went into catch it. Every time that we got it cornered, it was so fast that we missed it as it got past us. It jumped over the electric fence wire a few times, fortunately it jumped back in again. It also jumped into the stream and somehow from standing jumped out without touching the side of the streams five foot bank. In the end one of the Lads got fed up running around after it, took a running dive and caught it. Did he get dirty. He had mud on him from head to toe.

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Elsie if you like the Sheep that much how many…

Elsie, if you like the Sheep that much, how many do you want? We are going to keep a few, not sure which one yet. It is a difficult decision. It would be nice to keep the Portlands as they are a rare breed and they normally only have one lamb and most of them have not escaped. The Texals and Cross Bred were hand reared by a Child whose Father was once the Curator at Cricket St Thomas, they are very friendly but they have escaped, although if I shake a feed bag they will come back. Mind you as they will not be going for slaughter, they could be here for a good while, with the Foot and Mouth restrictions that are in force.

I am pleased that some of you saw the Kingfisher this afternoon. I hadn’t seen it for over a week, and was beginning to think that it had moved away from the lake. There are not as many Birds using the feeders either. I have not seen a Greater Spotted Woodpecker for getting on for six weeks, we see and hear the Green Woodpecker every day, but they don’t use the feeders. I did see one earlier in the year on one of the feeders, but that was only once. This time of year there is a lot of seed and berries about for the Bird. Earlier in the year I thought that there were not going to be any Blackberries, they flowered very early without any fruit forming. I got that one wrong, there are now plenty of fruit on the bushes.

There are no Squirrel using the feeders at all, we can see them in the trees taking all the Hazel Nuts. With the amount that were on the trees, we thought that we may have have got some this year, but the Squirrels seem to have had most of them, even before they have ripened. Most years we do manage to get Walnuts. As soon as there is a windy day you can be sure that there will be lots on the ground to pick up. By the look of it the Squirrels have had them this year, as we haven’t really had any windy days, the walnuts are falling from the trees slowly giving the Squirrels time to hide them away. We also get a lot of Chestnuts on the farm, but in all time we have been at Denbury we have never had any that were worth eating. To get to the nut is a painful experience, more so when they are so small that you could do nothing with them.

I am getting very annoyed with the unreliable weather forecasts, It is absolutely tipping it down here tonight. The forecast was maybe a shower. Because of the forecast we left Breeze without a rug, if it continues as hard as it is we will have to get her in. It would be interesting, if a few of you may try out an experiment, to see how reliable the forecasts are over the Country. It would be interesting if a number of you could from tomorrow, for about two weeks write down what weather was forecast for your areas including my area, either from the forecast on the BBC TV, or the Internet from the BBC or Met Office websites, some sites you can also put your postcodes in. Although don’t put your postcode on the forum , just your area. The following night let us know what the forecast was, and how accurate it was. If it proves that the forecast are unreliable, I will ask the BBC and the Met Office for their comments.

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I really don t know what has happened to the…

I really don’t know what has happened to the Swallow chicks. There were three alive last night. This morning I thought that there were three, but had not seen three feed. I went and checked the nest, some of you saw my hand. There were three, but one had died. I later checked again and there was only one beak opening for food. I changed the camera over, and felt into the nest, and found another had died. Rats would not be able to get to the chicks where the nest is. It maybe that the adults have fed the chicks with some thing that killed them. I really don’t know. It could also be that they have not been getting all the feed that they needed, and after the whole day and night that they went without last Sunday caught up with them. We will never know.

It is a full Moon tonight, as last night. I had intended to put the Telescope cameras on and to track it. I did not bother to see what time it would have been visible. It actually showed above the horizon at just past 11.pm. To late for me to have left it running, as I had not tested the Telescope to make sure that it would have tracked the Moon without wandering. It is cloudy here at the moment, so unfortunately I will not be able to do anything with it tonight.

I know some of you saw the Foxes this morning feeding by the Bird feeders. When I fill the feeders in the morning, I always throw a couple of hand fulls of sunflower hearts onto the path, so that you can see the Pheasants and other wildlife, in the background of the Bird feeders. Just recently the foxes have been eating the feed. It has annoyed the Magpies, for they are pecking the Foxes brush. It wasn’t pleasing the Foxes to much either, as in between feeding they were turning to chase the Magpies away. The Magpies don’t seem to have any fear of the Foxes or Badgers.

When I go to feed the Badgers of a night, there are always a lot of Rabbit feeding along the path on the way. The older ones amble back to there burrow, the younger ones just carry on feeding as if I were not there. I have never tried it, but I am sure that could pick one up. When we walk with the dogs along the path the younger rabbit dont run off, they just move over as if letting the dogs pass. That probally why the Buzzard find it a good spot to hunt. Although it hasnt been about this week.

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This morning when I went to fill the bird feeders…

This morning when I went to fill the bird feeders, I startled the Buzzard that had been perched on the feeders last evening. It was in the orchard close to the feeders, eating a freshly caught young Rabbit. The feeders are a good vantage position to swoop on Rabbits, that have many warrens in the banks along the side of the pathway, by the orchard. Now that the Buzzard has caught one Rabbit in the area, I am sure that it will return regularly.

There are also a lot of Squirrel that use the feeders, and they are as likely as the Rabbits, to be a dinner for the Buzzard. The Rabbit warrens are very close to where the Rabbits graze, and is a quick and easy refuge for them. The Squirrel when startled, will run the length of the path, about fifty metres in the open, to their drays, or where ever they hide out, so for sure if the Buzzard returns, the Squirrels will be a target. There were six Squirrels in the area today, so one or two will not be missed.

We tried to get Ky to swim in view of the camera this afternoon. If you missed it, you didn’t miss much. In view of the camera she had a paddle, with the water a litter deeper than the underside of her belly. We walked around the lake and out of view of the camera, she then decided to plunge her self into the water. After a quick swim and paddle she came out. We thought that she had, had her swim for the day, until walking back she decided to plunge herself in again. Unbeknown to Ky, it was quite deep, with no paddling area. A bit of panic set into Ky and ourselves, she was trying to doggy paddle and lunge herself back to the bank at the same time, but she was getting nowhere fast. It seemed like forever, but of course it was only seconds. One of us may have had to paddle out to rescue her. I don’t know if it would have been me, for she somehow managed to get back to the bank, to having to be unceremoniously dragged out of the lake by the scruff of her neck. Surprisingly it did not put her off, for although she did not swim, she did paddle once again when we got back into view of the camera.

Lady and the Foal went off to the stud this afternoon, for Lady to be covered by a Stallion called Generous. We have only sent her for a walk in covering, so that they are returned back to the farm, as soon as possible. As soon as she has been covered, hopefully within a few days she will be returned. We have purposely sent her to the nearest Stud to the farm, that has good Sires. It is in Dorset, a little over an hour away from us. I wont send Horses on long journeys if I can help it. Believe me some horses are sent on journeys of many hours, including overseas by ship and air. Lady and Woody will miss each other. I can hear Woody calling out as I write, and Lady wasn’t best pleased once she realised that she was in the Horse box, we could hear her calling out all the way, as the Horse box drove up the drive. Woody hasn’t been to good today, she hasn’t eaten her feed and has been laying down a good deal of the time that she was in the field. Her condition is up and down from day to day. It does seem that she is a little better, on the bad days. We will just have to wait and see how she goes through the Summer. It would have been nice if she had have been able to stay out with the other Horse tonight, but then it is not possible to keep a check on her. Branston is company for her, although she does put her ears back every time he puts his head into her stable. Without lady being around, she may decide to be a little kinder to him.

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Sorry that the Osprey web cam has not been working…

Sorry that the Osprey web cam has not been working for most of the day. The worse part about it was that at 12.30am in the morning the second egg hatched. I had checked at about 12.15am, before I went to bed, that all the cameras were working, it was working fine then. I must of just missed the hatching. The problem of the camera not working has been a lesson to me. One of the telephone sockets at the Lock of the Lowes centre did not have a micro filter on it. That is the box that you are supplied with, when you go onto broadband, it fits into your telephone socket that you then plug your phone and computer socket into. I knew that they were important, but this was on a telephone extension. It has been rectified now and the picture is a good as before.

I went to bed later than I wanted to last night. When I checked the cameras before going to bed a few of the Badgers were out. One that looked like a Sow was playing with a cub. The Cub was having great fun trying to get the other who were out to play with it. After seeing one cub out last night I am sure that two of the Sows had Cubs this year. The one we have been seeing for the past few weeks must be a single. The other two Cubs that I have seen in the past week, must be a younger set of twins of another Sow, as I am sure that they look smaller. Hopefully all three will show themselves at the same time.

Some of you saw a Bird of Prey on the bird feeder this afternoon and this evening. It was a Buzzard. I should think that it was a female, the male would be a fair bit larger. I would guess that it was waiting for a Rat or Rabbit for dinner. There are a lot of both in that area. Rats wait for the seeds to fall from the feeders as the Birds feed, and there are always Rabbits that can be seen in the back ground of the feeders. When I walk up to refill the feeders or feed the Badgers, there are always six or more along the path.

We went this morning to a couple of the wildlife sites that are owned by The Somerset Wildlife Trust, to see if there were any locations for web cams, hoping that we could incorporate the Starling Roost during the Winter months with other wildlife in the other seasons. At both of the sites of the Trust, that we visited, it would have been difficult to install the cameras, although for wildlife enthusiasts they are excellent sites to visit. We did enjoy our short time there, and have promised ourselves a few hours there later in the Summer. We were told of another possibility, of another organisation that have wildlife sites in the area of Westhay, that may have the facilities to host a web cam, so that we would be able to broadcast the Starling Roost. On our way to the site we asked a local, who told us that the site we were going, would be a good position to view the roost. The person who we met who seemed to be in charge, denied that it was a good site to view the roost, when I questioned him on the possibility, he told us that a web cam would not be allowed at any place in the area because he would not allow it. What a shame. I will try as best I can to show a roost this winter. If I don’t succeed or you want to see it live, Westhay in Somerset is a good location, not far from junction 23 on the M5.

Congratulation to all who use the forum. Today the forum past the thousandth entry. Thank you all for supporting it. There has not been time to get a fun forum going yet. I will get it up and running very soon. It was nice to see the 25th anniversary greeting on the forum this morning, I am sure that there would be no objections to this type, similar entries.

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I was asked on the forum about my Bird Feeders…

I was asked on the forum about my Bird Feeders being busy. They may look it, but over the last week or so they have had some of the feed still in the feeders when I fill them in the mornings, when normally they are empty. I should think that the Birds are busy nest building and some will be sitting on their eggs. I had a period in the late summer of last year, when we had very few Bird visiting the feeders, the Squirrels also disappeared, the Squirrels only returned recently. I thought that I had given the birds a bad lot of feed, and that it had killed the Birds off. If I remember correctly the feeders were very quite for a good couple of months. When they did return the Green Finches came in larger numbers than the Tits, when it was the opposite way round, before their disappearing act. When the bird did return we had a lot more Gold Finches visiting the feeders.

We have also have more Woodpeckers on the feeders this year. We have a few Green Woodpeckers on the farm, I have never seen any on the feeders as yet. We had a bird feeding on Monday that I did not recognise, I will look it up to see what it was, If any of you saw a different bird feeding, and you know what it was, please let me know. Be careful that you don’t leave any whole peanuts that the Woodpeckers may be able to get. I am told that the young bird have been known to choke on them, when fed by their parents.

On the Farm Cam 1, in the position when you can see the Squirrel feeder, as well as the Bird feeders, very often feeding below are Pheasants. They wait for the Birds on the feeders to drop seed. I cannot show them as there is a large amount of bramble to clear, that is obstructing the camera view. It is a very busy area, there are always Rabbits that you can see in the background.

Another question on the forum today, asked about seeing the Otters. There would be a good chance of seeing them if I had the time to move the Lake camera. We could also see the Geese sitting on her eggs on the island. One pair have nested on the island. I cant make out why the other pair are hanging about, If I had the time I would secure a pallet on the lake for them to nest on, for I am sure they would.

I hope that I have not offended you Ladies concerning the chat. The entry on the forum was right, it was taking away part of the forums idea. I liked the banter and the information you were giving. If you cut it down, I am sure you will not get any more negative entries. I am sure that interesting subjects concerning pets and ideas would be welcome by all.

Please do not put your email address on site, It can be dangerous for all, but mainly children.

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Over the past two weeks there has been two Squirrels…

Over the past two weeks there has been two Squirrels feeding on the birds sunflower hearts. At the end of last summer the Squirrels disappeared and stopped using the Squirrel feeders. They had used the feeders for nearly two years up to then. We did not even see them about, maybe they had got a disease and died, we could not imagine what had happened to them. Although we had a very dry summer the hazel nuts were very large, maybe they had plenty of feed stored, and did not need to feed on the peanuts in the feeders.

At about the time they disappeared I had obtained various items to make a squirrel obstacle course, I had been planning it for a few months but never got it up and running. If they stay for a few weeks now, I will start it up. I have seen one Squirrel near the Badger sett at camera two location, that looks to be an ideal site.

I don’t know why I encourage Squirrels, they are very destructive to trees, especially saplings and the younger trees, they eat the bark, this kills the trees. They also raid bird nest for their eggs, all in all they are a menace, but a lot of people do get enjoyment watching them at the feeder, lifting the lid of the feeder to get the nuts out. They also remind me of rats, they are one animal that I hate, I cant even bear to look at them, if I see one I run as fast as I can in the opposite direction.

When our Springer Spaniel, Jade was younger she was a very good ratter and would dispose of them within a few seconds. On one occasion someone had left an animal feed bin open all night, I went to feed the animals and there was a rat in the bin, I screeched, nearly had a heart attack and ran. As normal Jade had heard me and knew instantly it was a rat, she jumped into the bin, by this time the rat had buried itself in the corn. Jade was nosing about in the corn trying to find the rat, who in turn bit her on the nose, did Jade yelp, she was having none of that, she got the rat and where normally she would dispose of it instantly she played with it in revenge for the bite. She is to old and slow to catch them now. Fortunately now we don’t see many rats. Just as well, for Tass is not a very good ratter.

It looks like Lady will have the Foal any time in the next week. The Veterinary is coming tomorrow to check her and Woody out, I will let you know tomorrow what his thought are.