Tag: stream

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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 six.

Whitby harbour,I think the sea speaks for itself. Lindsay.

I had to share this beautiful bloom. It’s called a Maypop Passion Vine. I purchased this vine for my Zebra Butterflies. The caterpillars eat this type of vine. Karen, Florida (USA)

I took this picture of this unusual looking tree at Savil Gardens in Surrey. Bec.

A BLUE TIT HAVING A GOOD MEAL. LYNNE.

Sun flower I like to grow these for the seeds which the Birds love. CH.

The Gosling did survive the night, but they had a lucky escape this afternoon. I thought that last night the Geese were not going to the safety of the island. A couple of times it looked as if they were going there, but they turned away at the last moment. It wasnt until it was nearly dark that they eventually settled on the island, with the Gander keeping watch. Every time that I checked the webcam he was standing upright like a guard.

Around about 3.pm this afternoon I returned to the Farm, after a quick dash to get some plumbing parts. The Geese suddenly started to call out just after I had caught sight of Kye coming from the direction of the calling. I found the Geese in the sand school. On approaching them to see if the Goslings were with them, they flew away, landing in my neighbours next door field. There were no Gosling to be found. I must admit that I thought that Kye had killed them. I heard the other pair of Geese calling from the Lake. When I went to investigate one of the missing Gosling was with them, but they were trying to keep away. I called one of my Lads to help me look for the Goslings. As he came to join me he caught site of one of the missing Gosling in the stream, by the side of the Lake. He jumped down the six foot bank to rescue it. When down there he caught sight of another of the Goslings being swept away by the running stream. It went out of sight, so he climbed back out of the stream so that he could help me follow it. When we eventually caught sight of the Gosling again the last missing one was with it. We managed to stop the Gosling from swept down the stream and put them back on the Lake. All four were following the other pair of Geese while the parent were watching from the next field. Soon after my Lad and myself were out of sight of the Lake, the Geese returned to reunited with the Goslings.

I should think that it was Kye chasing the Geese that caused the problem. It would have been the first time that she had seen Geese. Fortunately it finished without loosing the Goslings, but we will need to watch Kye, especially as the Geese have started to graze with the Goslings on the cottage lawn. Since the Gosling have hatched the geese have been wandering all around the Farm. This morning we found them waddling along the Farm drive, looking very much as they were leaving. Fortunately they tuned around before reaching the Lane. But it is nice to see them and I am sure that our Holiday Guest will enjoy them.

We purchased our Telescope from the oldest telescope suppliers in the World called Telescope House. They have been in business since 1785 and are the main stockist for many brands, and they were the cheapest to purchase from. They have just opened a new business called Buzzoptics www.buzzoptics.com selling optical equipment that is used for as well as others, watching wildlife, Yesterday they offered to give us some sponsorship, not money I am sad to tell. They are supplying us initially with Binoculars and Scopes for our Holiday Guest to use for watching our Wildlife. We are putting a few links on the website. If they see that they are receiving sales from the links they will give us financial support. If you are considering buying any Binocular or Scopes please give them the opportunity to give you a price. I have found them very competitive and helpful when I have needed advice. Mention Denbury Farm and they will give you an extra discount. We may also get much needed sponsorship.

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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 six.

A photo of the cliffs in West Bay, Dorset that was taken last august. Vicky, Derby

A cheeky squirrel in my garden its hangs like this ages at a time. Our resident robin when we were clearing the garden up a few weeks ago it was hopping around within a few feet of us. Lynne.

An article about the much talked about squirrel.
Sending you these from Australia, hope you can open them. Their Magpies look different to our but have the same colouring. Elsie.

When we first came to Denbury the grass area that you can see behind the Sheep pen was a concrete yard for cattle that were housed in the barn in the Winter. We had Cattle in the barn and yard for the first few years of coming here.

When we demolished the cow yard we found an old local stone foundation all along the side of the stream. We also found an areas of old walling partially demolished to the left of the barn, very close to the stream. Over the years I had forgot about them. They had been completely obscured with the over grown bramble. As we were clearing the bramble today, we came across another part of the walling and large pieces of the local stone that I had never seen before. It must be part of the the foundation that we previously found. We have yet to find the large piece of walling that I can remember. The bramble is so thick that it is going to take a day or so to clear it all. As you must be well aware, bramble especially years of over grown bramble wouldn’t be the kindest of vegetation to have to clear.

The reason that I have mentioned the walling is that the field that can also be seen behind the Sheep pen and the bank of the stream, was ploughed when we re-grassed it about six years ago. When the field was being ploughed a large piece of stone was hit by the plough. The Contractor who was doing the work was not a happy man. The stone damaged the plough. We dug what we thought was a stone up, revealing a Mill Stone. I left it in the field by the side of the Hedgerow and until today thought nothing more about it. Could it be that the old wall that we still have to reveal and the Mill Stone go together?

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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. There are not many more to put on the Photo page.

What about the colour of this pony. They must really interbreed. Hardware Department in an Old time Co-operative Store and I am sure it will bring memories for some of our older members.
Elsie

The Grand Canyon My son took this a couple of years ago. He went on a helicopter ride over it then landed and walked down into it . He said it was spectacular. Lynne.

Another Willow Tit from Mary.

These gorgeous blue flowers cover a wall and fence im not sure what they are called but may be of the Columbine family they spread rapidly Marie.

Willow and Gypsy have been together all day. When we put Willow and Lady in the area Willow went straight to Gypsy’s stable and didn’t move until we let Gypsy out. They followed each other every where, it was if they were joined together. As soon as we get time over the next couple of days we will put Willow and Gypsy in the large stable that we have just finished. It is in Lady’s stable block, so we will move Lady next to them. We will then put Emmi in Lady’s stable until we can move Willow and Gypsy into the area that we made for them in the Barn next to the Sheep. It is the area that you may have seen Breeze and Arnie in.

Today we have started to tidy up the area that you can see in the back ground, when we put the Sheep webcam on. The part that slopes down is part of the bank of the stream that runs through the Farm. It is one of those jobs that we have been getting round to do for years. The people who farmed Denbury before we move in widened the stream to make a lagoon. They did tell me for what, but I cant remember the reason now. Once we have got rid of the bramble and weed we will remove the six foot chain link fence that can be seen, put a low fence up and landscape the area.

It has been quite windy here today, a gust of wind caught the Telescope opening on the Observatory, blowing the door off. I must have left the catch that secures the opening door undone. We were fortunate that it was not raining at the time, or we could well have had a problem if the Telescope computer and electrics got wet.

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There are three more photographs on the photo page tonight…

There are three more photographs on the photo page tonight. The first one is a Horse walker. I have a couple of Photos of Bliss and Misty using it. They are not very good, but I will get them on the page hopefully tomorrow. The second photo is when Bliss and Misty were being led on head collars to make sure that they were safe, when first ridden in France, by the French riders, in the fenced area. The last photo is when Bliss Misty returned from their first ride in the woods with the lead Horse, that accompanied them. I had reason to speak with the Trainer this morning, the day after the ride in the woods Bliss and Misty went out with all of the other Yearlings. Their training is now starting.

Once that I have been shown how to install photographs onto the new photo page, I hope to be able to let you have any photographs that you would like shown, to be put onto the page. It will only be for photographs of Wildlife, maybe your gardens or flower and maybe even you pets. We will not under any circumstances put up photographs of yourselves or any other person. Don’t send me any photographs until I let you know you can, or I will have to delete them from my email, as they are liable to slow my computer

My Lads have been tidying the lake area for a few days. By the side of the lake is a stream that runs all the way along the lake. I always believed it is where the Kingfisher nests, as the banks of the stream are from six to four foot high. an ideal spot I thought. In fact the Kingfisher nests on the opposite side of the lake behind the Bird feeders that you can sometimes see on camera two. Over the years the boundary hedge has overgrown so much that the stream is hardly visible, so my Lads are cutting the overhanging branches, so that we are able to see what is going on in the stream. It should be a little more inviting for the Kingfisher and other wildlife.

With the stream having large banks either side we are going to test the flow of water, to see if we will be able to generate any power from the water. The stream doesn’t run that fast, but after rain it has a fair bit of power. I think it will be touch and go, but we will try. Another option would be to try the flow from the lake when it runs into the smaller pond. It would be good to be more self sufficient with our energy needs, and of course more environmentally friendly. We need the Farmhouse roof stripped and re tiled or we would have installed both Solar Panel for our hot water and power on the roof. The Farmhouse roof is south facing and very long, so it will be ideal. That is one of our projects for next year. I have also been thinking of installing a Wind Turbine for power. The only good place for that is in the field where I feed the Badgers. That is one reason that I haven’t gone ahead with doing it. The other reason is that I think that they are unsightly. What we have managed to do this year is to put in our own water supply. I will tell you about it, maybe tomorrow.

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Any thoughts of a lay in this morning were quickly…

Any thoughts of a lay in this morning, were quickly dashed when Willow started to call, letting us know it was breakfast time. There really is no point of the clocks altering twice a year. The animals know when it is feeding time. The Horses and Sheep are waiting by the gate at the times they expect to be fed, the same time as usual. If I fed the Badgers by the clock, they would be long gone thinking that they would not be getting food. I try to stagger the Horses and Sheep feed over a week or so after the clocks alter. This way they are not stressing by the gates.

I don’t think that I have ever told you that there is a stream that runs the whole way through the Farm. The reason it may be of interest to you, is that on the Dog camera, that we mainly show the valley on, the stream runs through the overgrown area in the middle of the field, past the Buzzard pole and the trees in the middle, that some of you made a face of a while ago. That is why the Deer are very often feeding in the overgrown area. There the Deer will find lush feeding, like watercress. They also drink at the stream. We always find Deer footprints in the tree area. The stream is also the main reason that the valley sometimes get a thick mist come down in it. We are very lucky to have a stream like ours on the farm. It helps bring in the wildlife and allows the livestock to drink from it.

When the Tass and Kye are taken for a walk down the valley, you often see them go in to the tree area, this is to get a drink from the stream. It is not a very large stream, on average two foot across and no more than a foot deep. There are a few areas were it may be three foot wide, it get deeper in the Winter and can run very fast. Kye when she goes to get a drink from the stream very often she tries to swim in it. She hasn’t worked out that not all water is the same depth, so she lowers herself down thinking that she will be able to swim like she can in the lake.

We were lucky tonight Sue. Fortunately Tass and Kye must have just been having a roll. We know it when they roll in Fox scent, it horrible and they need to be bathed.

That was a Deer last night Pat, I had been following it earlier in the night and it laid down where you could see the glow. The wire has been run to put up another couple of IR lamps further down the valley so that we are better able to see the wildlife down that end. Mind you if it gets as misty as it has tonight in the valley it will be a waste of time. I saw the mist starting to form as Tass and Kye were ending their walk. We had quite a lot of rain today, then this afternoon a bit of sunshine and now it has got quite chilly. That is why we have the mist this evening. It may go later.

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There are parts of the farm that we rarely visit…

There are parts of the farm that we rarely visit, partly because we can see the places from a distance. This afternoon we went to the field that the hay that we sold earlier in the year is stacked. We gave the purchaser of the hay, two months to collect it. Two months because after that we would expect a fair amount of rain, making the ground soft. Any tractors would soon cut the ground up. I don’t want my fields cut up by tractor tyres. The two months have well gone and the hay has not been taken. To make matters worse I had lost the purchasers phone number. I found the phone number in the middle of last week and told them that I wanted gone. I would have expected to have been started to be gone by today. It hasn’t. If the rain does come and the hay has not been moved, I will stop any tractors from entering the field. They will have to roll the bales to the gate, if they want the hay.

On the way to the field, that is at the end of our lane, we pass the lake and a pond, surrounded by a rough area that we have left to encourage wildlife. The area is out of sight from the lake webcam, in the opposite direction to the Sheep. The rough area is mostly over grown, boggy with a couple of small streams. The far corner of the area although not very far away cannot be seen from the drive, when it is over grown. As we passed the gateway that leads into the area, Kye ran into the area to investigate. We followed her in as we knew that she would jump in to the pond for a swim. It is deeper than the lake, with very few place for Kye to be able to get back on the bank from. She does tend to panic, if she cannot feel the bottom. After Kyes swim, we decided to look around the area, it is where in the past we have found regular signs of Otters. And did we get a shock, and it wasn’t wildlife that we came across, just a four foot high wall of river bedding, mud and stones that had been dumped by the flood earlier in the year. So much had come down the stream in the flood, it was diverting the main stream that passes through the farm, making the boggy area, a small pond. Some thing will need to be done with it, as when the rain comes it will be a mess.

Seeing that area made me look at a place in the main Horse field where the stream dog legs. There the flood has washed away a very large area. A fence that is there to stop the Horses from getting into the stream is still there, but hanging in the air, where the ground underneath has been washed away. Again the flood has deposited a lot of river bedding that is partially blocking the stream at that point.

I haven’t seen the injured Badger Cub tonight. I didn’t look at the webcams for very long last night, so I may well have missed it yesterday.

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The clearing up the damage that was caused by the…

The clearing up the damage that was caused by the flood on Monday, has hardly started. It doesn’t matter where you start there is always another place that you should be doing first.

How such an insignificant unnamed stream became such a raging torrent I will never understand or know. The stream would be no more than two foot wide and eight inches deep. I suppose in a couple of places erosion may have made it three feet wide, but never more than that.

The first that I knew that we had had a flood was when one of the tenants in the farm cottages knocked at the farm house door at about 7.am, Monday morning, informing us that at about 4.30 am there had been a flood that had gone into the cottages. On making my way to see what damage had been done, I could see that a small pond in the farm yard had piled up debris on the fences, but on turning into the cottages parking area I could not believe my eyes. The force of the flood water had turned two cars ninety degrees, and were resting on each other, with a gate that had been ripped of of its hinges, that had travelled eighty metres in between the two vehicles. The water had risen to the steering wheel, and both vehicle are write offs. The stones of the levelled parking area had been moved to form two large mounds, with some that had been thrown onto the lawn. Every bit of vegetation from the cottages to the lake had been flattened tight to the ground. The Lake was now orange in colour, where the flood water had gone in. The spare capacity in the lake seems to have stopped the surge of water going any further, as at the far end only small area of grass and vegetation had been flattened as it made it way to a large pond next to the lake. I cant imagine that none of the fish were swept from the lake to the pond, but I did not see any that were out of the water.

The inside of the cottages were mud baths. All the carpets were muddy and wet, with a tide mark up to eight inches off of the floor, making the walls dirty. New carpets and underlay have had to be ordered, but wont be able to be fitted until the cottages dry out, by using hired air blowers and dehumidifiers.

Part of the drive tarmac has been lifted, fences broken and a substantial gate broken in two. We are still finding more damage all of the time. I went to the place where the streams enters the farm from a wood. Two trees have been knocked over, and it is obvious that a lot of water has passed through the wood. Before I got to the wood the width of the stream, where the valley camera is situated, would have increased from two feet to twenty metres. Although I have not looked any further, I am told that it started a very long way up the valley.

One of the cars that has been written off belongs to a person on holiday. The cottage has no carpets, there are three dehumidifiers in there and they chose to stay, without any complaints. Hopefully the new carpets will be able to be laid in the middle of next week, and the farm back to normal by the weekend.

We have a annex in the farmhouse. Although we had no damage in the farmhouse, the annex got flooded. The person using it is away in Brittany, entertaining the French, Morris Dancing. A friend of his left his car on the farm whilst they are away. His car is also a write off. They are in for a shock when they return at the weekend.

Although there was a lot of damage no one was injured. It would have been very unlikely that if it had happened in daytime that any one would have been injured either. I have lived at Denbury for some years, and the stream has only gone over once when the underneath of a bridge got blocked, and that was a one off, just as this incident will be.

Thankyou all for your kind words.

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A few of you may have seen one of my…

A few of you may have seen one of my lads on camera 2 today, on the lake, in a dingy. He was towing around four orange sacks. If you did see it on camera, It wasn’t meant to be quite like that. He was trying to submerge the four sacks that were filled with barley straw. We put it in a a precaution against algae.

The lakes are man made, that we put in about ten years ago. We had a small, very wet field, with the overflow of a leet running through the middle of it, It was an ideal site for lakes and would encourage wildlife, it has worked very well. The idea was to fill the lakes with water from a stream that runs by the side of them, before we had time to put a diversion from the stream into the lake it was half full and filling very quickly from underground springs, there was no need to use the stream as the water source. There is a constant flow from the main lake, that is about an acre in size, to a smaller pond of about a third of an acre.

When the lakes were finished we had a nutrient problem that cause a very large build up of the algae. Trying to clear it by hand is a never ending task. The chemicals released from the barley straw as it rots down, acts as a natural herbicide and kills the algae, a wonder fix really. We had not renewed the straw for a few years and I should think that we may not have a nutrient problem any longer, but it is not worth taking a chance.

Any way back to the boat saga, the idea with the bags of straw, is to put a weight larger than the weight of the straw, to take the bags to the bottom of the lake, unfortunately we got the weight wrong and it was not heavy enough to sink the bags, they would have floated around the lake until the straw got wet and the bags sunk, but they really need to be in a certain place.

My lad was in the middle of the lake with one oar, no rowlock trying to get the dingy, straw and concrete weight back to the bank, but the heavy weight was making it difficult for him to move, he was cursing about needing help and that we needed to throw him a line, so that we could pull him in. I hope there were no lip readers watching. What was not seen on camera was my other lad and myself on the bank, in fits of laughter at the site of him struggling to get back to dry land, so much so, we were unable to help him. Needless to say the job did not get finished and it will have to wait until next week. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he was on camera, will he curse when he finds out.