I Wish I was a Frog

Why are frogs so happy?
They eat whatever bugs them:))

After the freezing temperatures of the last few winters our garden frog population seemed greatly reduced despite having three deep ponds in which they could hibernate. I am therefore really pleased to see their funny little faces popping up from the ponds again especially as we have an explosion of Mosquitoes...

The garden continues to be neglected due to our lack of time but the self sown wild flowers are making the garden look quite pretty.  In particularly the Red Valerian and Purple Toad flax...

It is a great relief that the garden isn't looking too bad as time is so short.  We have now completed one month working for the Downland Project, filling in for the absence of a Grazing Officer, and have just done our first week without even the Grazing Assistant to advise us.  So far all is good, although the days are long and physically very demanding.  The longest day (so far) was the first of the shearing days when we started at 9am but didn't finish until 9.50pm!  Unfortunately the shearer's trailer had broken so she was 4 hours late arriving but at least we got the job done.:)

The sheep being sheared in this first batch were the non-breeding ewes, the Herdwicks and the breeding ewes, 58 sheep in total.  The ewes and lambs needed to be separated so we took the opportunity of dosing the lambs against a parasite called coccidiosis which a faecal egg count had shown they had in high numbers. They didn't mind having their medicine but they did object to being separated from their mums and persisted in making a terrible din...

The mums didn't seem to mind one bit that they were not with their progeny and happily awaited their turn at the hairdressers...

........and then, turning their backs on their offspring, enjoyed a tasty hay supper:)

The shearer was also able to tell us what to do about a horn that had grown uncomfortable close to one of the Herdwicks eyes....

"Get some loppers and chop it off," she said, so we duly passed the loppers to our trainee lad saying it would be 'good experience' for him!!:))) So under the shearers guidance the deed was done and I'm sure the Herdwick (who didn't seem to feel a thing) will be a lot more comfortable.

Now the sheared sheep need to be moved out from the farm and back to their conservation grazing sites.  Last week we took he non-breeding ewes to Hutchinsons Bank, a largish area of chalk grassland that has expanding areas of Kidney Vetch, the food plant for the Small Blue butterfly caterpillars.

The sheep were going into a small scrubby enclosure yet to be clear enough for Kidney Vetch to survive as it doesn't like competition from other plants. However the enclosure is adjacent to an area where scrapes have been dug into the bank for the Kidney Vetch and where it is growing prolifically.  We wondered if we would have trouble encouraging the sheep up the steep bank into the enclosure but we needn't have worried as with one shake of a bucket of nuts they trotted up with no hesitation (there is actually netting running along the right side to stop the going on to the scrapes on their way up)...

We have also just put the ponies on to another enclosure at Hutchinsons Bank that does include several scrapes with areas of Kidney Vetch in. In general the ponies don't eat many of the wild flowers but we are monitoring it carefully.  The ponies looked like children in a sweet shop when they first arrived as they had come from a field of predominantly rather boring grass.  Tavey immediately started pigging out on Hog weed and was eating like there was no tomorrow.... not good when he is already overweight.....

Needless to say by the next morning he had a tummy ache and didn't look too happy.......

Young Rufus, who is more sensible, was ok though and as we got to the field gate the next morning, he buried his head into the long grass and lifted it up with a bucket in his mouth that he had pulled out from under the water bowser.  Then, looking very pleased with himself, he proceeded to wave it up and down in greeting to us. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera but I'm sure you can imagine it.......

I have become very fond of the ponies, especially little Rufus.  He was so brave when he first arrived  at 18 months old, just a baby really. My husband and I were their first stock checkers and being  horsey people, we soon became involved in working with them so that they could be caught and handled without problems. Tavey was fairly confident when he first came but unfortunately someone must have frightened him when he was grazing a site in Chipstead as he is now very difficult to catch. It will take a lot of input to regain his confidence.  Rufus, although nervous to begin with, is now a lot better.  He always tries so hard to understand what is wanted of him and really wants to interact.  He's very intelligent and inquisitive and I love him to bits.  Unfortunately, because I am one of the few people that have consistently been around him since he first came, he is beginning to form a bond with me (and me with him).  That would be ok if he was my pony but he is not and I am not always happy at where or when the ponies are sent to graze, especially this latest move (for several reasons which I won't go into) and I am beginning to find it quite upsetting. So I have decided that when the assistant grazing officer returns I must try to back out of their care and return to just being a stock checker for them:(((