Saw all the cows and ponies today, they all seem to be doing well and are doing a good job in keeping the birch down, and little Smudge is growing up fast!
Saw all the cow on the path leading up to the Corral when we went watching tonight. They all looked very healthy and happy even with the fly's. The ponies were at the top of the stairs leading down to the steam but decided to walk around with us so ended back with the cow's. Not sure if I have commented before about the broken step at the stairs and the fence at the corral looks like it has had some damage done to it.
Saturday 28th July pm. The valley area to the left of the footpath from the Blackbushe entrance to the stream is wildly overgrown and it seems this is where the herd most likely were hiding! We could only find one cow, munching unconcernedly, and a calf that looked completely lost as it couldn't see over the top of the undergrowth. We turned away momentarily, and when we looked back, it had disappeared too. This area is now renamed the "Bermuda Triangle"! There was absolutely no sign of any of the others - no telltale swaying of the bushes, or rhythmical munching sounds. A search of the rest of the reserve proved equally fruitless. However, the two ponies were grazing up near the seat. For info: One of the slats is broken on the first run of path heading up into the reserve over the river from from the Blackbushe side(sorry Rangers keeping you busy). Good luck to everyone trying to find the cattle now.
Wed 1st August 10:30am Sorry to say that we did not see any of the animals today, much to the disappointment of our young grand children who came along to help us count. May walk over there later in the week, we may have more success.
Just got back from checking on the cattle and ponies. All cattle and ponies were over the other side of the stream up by where the Nightjars nest. All looked very happy and healthy. I can't believe how big smudge has got and I even mistook one of the other babies for the bull until he turned round and I noticed he only had small horns. Sorry but we will not be able to do our watching next Friday as I am getting Married.
Sat 4th August 14:30 We were successful this afternoon and found the cattle grazing in the undergrowth of area 3 (near the gate). They were rather skittish when we first approached but then settled down. All looked well. Found the horses on the other side of the path in area 7, they were fine.
Saturday 4 August pm. Absolutely no sign of the cattle or the ponies at all. The only place we didn't look was round by the ruined house. Not a sound. No moos or munching. It's like they just don't exist. So where are the likely places to look? Someone please enlighten us! On another note, if anyone should find a pair of sunglasses, Andrew has dropped his up there somewhere. They are prescription lenses, so the cows can't use them. All in all, not a successful trip today. We did clear away quite a lot of litter though, so feel we did something constructive. Comments from the Rangers would be appreciated - the blog is a useful two-way communication! Thanks.
As much as possible we try to either update the blog or add comments to let you know when we have seen the cattle and ponies too. In answer to your question "where are the likely places to look?" i'm afraid we have no suggestions, when we go looking for them we are in exactly the same boat as you, they could be anywhere and unfortunatly its just down to luck whether you see them or not. All we can really ask is that you keep at it -with enough of us looking sooner or later someone sees them and can report back to us all that they are well! Unfortunatly everything is so overgrown this year that it's making it very difficult but they are still there!!! Your help trying to keep track of them is very much appreciated! Cheers
Sunday 5 August pm Although we went this afternoon to retrace Andrew's steps to try and find his sunglasses we had no luck finding them! But we did find all the cattle and both ponies happily grazing in area 6. All well and calm.
Tuesday 7th. Saw 8 cattle and both ponies, right near the bench over looking the site. Couldn't see the others for all the fern and birch growing! All looked good and certainly aren't short of food.
Friday 10th August early evening Found all 11 cattle up by the Blackbushe gate and the two ponies were charging around the hill to the left across the valley. Made a nice change from not finding any at all.
Tuesday 14th saw 11 cattle near the middle entrance. The last one must of been close, all look happy in the sun. Didn't see the ponies for the first time ever!
Hi James, Thanks for checking on the cows and reporting back, just a little reminder that we have 11 cows on the site now (1 bull, 4 calves, 5 cows and Smudge), so if you saw 11 then you saw them all! Hope you had a great holiday, good to have you back! Cheers, The Rangers
Saw all the cows and ponies in area 3 today, spents ome time with them and they are all looking very content and enjoying the grazing. There were quite a few flies on some of them so we are hoping to treat them with Spot-on over the coming weeks, but generally they are all fit and healthy.
Saturday18th August am. Phew what a scorcher. Went out early to check on livestock! All cows (11) found down by stream and surrounding area and ponies just further up the hill. Lots of flies but to be expected with the heat!!
Another hot day, cows all spread out in the mire near the stream/bridge. Only managed to spot 9 of them after a long time searching, didn't see the two young brown calves but they could well have just been hidden by vegetation! Didn't seem quite so bothered by flies today. Ponies were a little restless, the young one was galloping up and down the boardwalk to the stream and rolling around, they both seemed in good shape though!
Wed 22nd August 10:30am Refreshing weather today - just right for a walk. Caught the lovely scent of the heather on the breeze. Found cattle and horses grazing and lazing area 7/8. All looked well.
Despite traipsing through the mire for over an hour I only managed to find 6 cows today - bull, one cow, 3 black calves and the littlest brown calf (which has now completely shed its curly baby hair and now has a very smart new shiny mahogany coat!). They were just near the bank of the first mire (from the gate from the woodland), so the others could have been close but well hidden. amongst the trees. Ponies both fine too.
All cattle spotted guarding the coppers hill enterance. I didn't even have to go into the reserve to count them?! oh and both ponies 20m's down the path. easy peasy!
Wed 29th August 10:00am Set off early today in case the rains came. Found the cattle split into 2 parties. 5 - 2 cows,3 little ones, including the youngest - down by the stream. The other 6 were grazing in area 6/7. The 2 horses were grazing in area 3. All looked well. The morning rain that was forecast has still not arrived!
Found all the cows in the tree area on the path to the corral. They seem to like it there as it is shadey. All looked healthy and happy thou some seemed to have a lot more fly's around them then others. I also noticed the bull is also very dirty around his behind end and don't know if that will cause him problems. The horses were a bit further up from the cows happierly eatting the grass. Both also look healthy and happy.
Wed 5th Sept 10:30am Another lovely morning for walking. Found all the cattle in area 7/8, whilst we were there the ponies trotted over. All looked well.
Checked all the cattle today and found all 11 of them down by the stream. They seemed happy although their faces are covered in flies. No signs of fly strike though. We noticed one cow has a persistent cough. Managed to get her number: 300037. Hope this is helpful.
Another sunny day, only found 6 of the cows though - bull, 2 cows and 3 black calves (inc. the littlest). Thanks Yvonne for noting the number of the cow that was coughing, although I didn't see her today I will keep any eye out for her tomorrow. The animals I saw were moving fairly quickly through the woods/mire around area 11/10 and didn't seem to have many flies around them, it seems to just be when they are out in the open that they are bothered by them.
Wed 12th Sept 11:00am Found 7 of the cattle down by the river, along with the 2 horses. Cow 300037 was in the group and we watched them for about 10 mins, she did not cough while we were there. We had a good scout around for the missing 4 but could not see them.
Saw all the cows today, lying and grazing lazily in the sunshine near the crossroads. Surprisingly, the littlest calf was quite a distance from the rest of the herd, seeming quite happy to wander about on his own on the brow of the hill.
Found the cattle today around the cross roads area and some futher up in the trees at the corral. They seem to like it in that area. Was around 6pm so a bit cooler and less flies around bothering them. The horses were oven the other side of the stream up on the hill. We couldn't get round to close to them but they seems healthy and happy.
Saturday 15th September 9am Early morning to check on our herd!Lovely sunny morning. Found 10 cattle resting in area 3. All calves together (like a nursery group) Young dark bull looking very handsome with his little horns and very glossy coat! No sign of Big Bull or ponies.We are sure they were there somewhere!
Wed 19th Sept 11:00am Found the ponies quietly grazing in area 7. Eventually found the cattle grazing in the undergrowth in area 4/5. They seemed OK but in some cases we could not get very close as they were up to their horns in bushes.
Saw all cattle not far from the coopers hill entrance, all look happy and healthy as per usual. I walked through to the stream where I saw the ponies, as I walked up the board walk the smaller one seemed to run at me followed by the larger one. I didn't think anything of it and then I came to the runway entrance where three smallish children claimed that they were charged at whilst leaving (the little boy was in tears). Then when I went to leave the smaller one turned quickly and charged at me and came very close if it wasn't for a tree. I don't like telling you this but it's not the first if heard of it. Thanks, James.
Thanks for your communication regarding this, we have today been to Castle Bottom to check on the livestock and with your comments in mind put special attention to the ponies. We have in the past had ponies which have not been well behaved but have found this pair to be very friendly. I think here this is the problem. They can have a tendency to follow you and will probably break into a trot to follow if you run away. They will even give you a cheeky nudge occasionally. However their behaviour is not aggressive and they just want some attention. After me and my son saw them and I petted them they followed us off and my son got a little scared. Turning to face them I gave a stern command of "go on" a small clap and then they realised id had enough and left us alone. Today they came over to me I gave them a pat then stood there with them while they grazed with no intimidating behaviour from them and then walked away ignored by the ponies.
All cattle were seen and look very healthy, their winter coats starting to show. We stood there for a few minutes filming their grazing behaviour, suddenly an interesting encounter occurred, a Doberman Pincer with no owner in tow came bounding straight through cows and calves nearly bounding into us. The dog suddenly realised he was surrounded by cows and his route blocked by us, turning tail he ran back from whence he came. The cattle didn’t even flinch.
Well, we had a good look for the cattle, but although they're all there somewhere we only physically saw the black bull and three cows but as for the rest, all we could see was the occasional thrashing bush and waving branches as they nudged and chomped their way along in the valley. They were heading away from the stream where they had been drinking. As a bonus, the ponies were by the stream and seemed particularly docile.We stroked both and they made no attempt to follow us. Maybe the stern chat from the rangers has subdued them a bit!
Wed 26th Sept 11:00am We just beat the rain but we only found 8 cattle, plus the 2 ponies. The ponies and 6 cattle were grazing and lazing in area 12/13. The bull and one of the larger black calves were on the edge of the mire in 12/14, but we could not find the other 3. The animals that we saw looked fine.
Saw all the cow on the path leading up to the Corral when we went watching tonight. They all looked very healthy and happy even with the fly's. The ponies were at the top of the stairs leading down to the steam but decided to walk around with us so ended back with the cow's. Not sure if I have commented before about the broken step at the stairs and the fence at the corral looks like it has had some damage done to it.
ReplyDeleteSaturday 28th July pm. The valley area to the left of the footpath from the Blackbushe entrance to the stream is wildly overgrown and it seems this is where the herd most likely were hiding! We could only find one cow, munching unconcernedly, and a calf that looked completely lost as it couldn't see over the top of the undergrowth. We turned away momentarily, and when we looked back, it had disappeared too. This area is now renamed the "Bermuda Triangle"! There was absolutely no sign of any of the others - no telltale swaying of the bushes, or rhythmical munching sounds. A search of the rest of the reserve proved equally fruitless. However, the two ponies were grazing up near the seat. For info: One of the slats is broken on the first run of path heading up into the reserve over the river from from the Blackbushe side(sorry Rangers keeping you busy). Good luck to everyone trying to find the cattle now.
ReplyDeleteWed 1st August 10:30am
ReplyDeleteSorry to say that we did not see any of the animals today, much to the disappointment of our young grand children who came along to help us count. May walk over there later in the week, we may have more success.
Saw all the cows and both of the ponies today whilst out clearing rhododendron in the area above the stream, all looked well!
ReplyDeleteJust got back from checking on the cattle and ponies. All cattle and ponies were over the other side of the stream up by where the Nightjars nest. All looked very happy and healthy. I can't believe how big smudge has got and I even mistook one of the other babies for the bull until he turned round and I noticed he only had small horns. Sorry but we will not be able to do our watching next Friday as I am getting Married.
ReplyDeleteNo Problem, Thanks for letting us know!
DeleteCongratulations we hope you have a lovely day and wish you all the best for your future!
Sorry only just saw this. Thank you very much it was the best day of my life.
DeleteSat 4th August 14:30
ReplyDeleteWe were successful this afternoon and found the cattle grazing in the undergrowth of area 3 (near the gate). They were rather skittish when we first approached but then settled down. All looked well. Found the horses on the other side of the path in area 7, they were fine.
Saturday 4 August pm. Absolutely no sign of the cattle or the ponies at all. The only place we didn't look was round by the ruined house. Not a sound. No moos or munching. It's like they just don't exist.
ReplyDeleteSo where are the likely places to look? Someone please enlighten us!
On another note, if anyone should find a pair of sunglasses, Andrew has dropped his up there somewhere. They are prescription lenses, so the cows can't use them.
All in all, not a successful trip today. We did clear away quite a lot of litter though, so feel we did something constructive.
Comments from the Rangers would be appreciated - the blog is a useful two-way communication! Thanks.
As much as possible we try to either update the blog or add comments to let you know when we have seen the cattle and ponies too.
DeleteIn answer to your question "where are the likely places to look?" i'm afraid we have no suggestions, when we go looking for them we are in exactly the same boat as you, they could be anywhere and unfortunatly its just down to luck whether you see them or not. All we can really ask is that you keep at it -with enough of us looking sooner or later someone sees them and can report back to us all that they are well! Unfortunatly everything is so overgrown this year that it's making it very difficult but they are still there!!!
Your help trying to keep track of them is very much appreciated! Cheers
Sunday 5 August pm Although we went this afternoon to retrace Andrew's steps to try and find his sunglasses we had no luck finding them! But we did find all the cattle and both ponies happily grazing in area 6. All well and calm.
DeleteWed 8th August 11:00
ReplyDeleteFound all the cattle lazing under the trees between areas 6 and 7. The horses were grazing nearby. All looked well.
Tuesday 7th. Saw 8 cattle and both ponies, right near the bench over looking the site. Couldn't see the others for all the fern and birch growing! All looked good and certainly aren't short of food.
ReplyDeleteFriday 10th August early evening
ReplyDeleteFound all 11 cattle up by the Blackbushe gate and the two ponies were charging around the hill to the left across the valley. Made a nice change from not finding any at all.
Tuesday 14th saw 11 cattle near the middle entrance. The last one must of been close, all look happy in the sun. Didn't see the ponies for the first time ever!
ReplyDeleteHi James,
DeleteThanks for checking on the cows and reporting back, just a little reminder that we have 11 cows on the site now (1 bull, 4 calves, 5 cows and Smudge), so if you saw 11 then you saw them all! Hope you had a great holiday, good to have you back!
Cheers,
The Rangers
Saw all the cows and ponies in area 3 today, spents ome time with them and they are all looking very content and enjoying the grazing. There were quite a few flies on some of them so we are hoping to treat them with Spot-on over the coming weeks, but generally they are all fit and healthy.
DeleteSaturday18th August am. Phew what a scorcher. Went out early to check on livestock! All cows (11) found down by stream and surrounding area and ponies just further up the hill. Lots of flies but to be expected with the heat!!
ReplyDeleteAnother hot day, cows all spread out in the mire near the stream/bridge. Only managed to spot 9 of them after a long time searching, didn't see the two young brown calves but they could well have just been hidden by vegetation! Didn't seem quite so bothered by flies today. Ponies were a little restless, the young one was galloping up and down the boardwalk to the stream and rolling around, they both seemed in good shape though!
ReplyDeleteWed 22nd August 10:30am
ReplyDeleteRefreshing weather today - just right for a walk. Caught the lovely scent of the heather on the breeze. Found cattle and horses grazing and lazing area 7/8. All looked well.
Tuesday 21st. saw all 11 and the horses n the marsh by the stream. got really close to smudge, about 2m away and he just stared me out. all well!
ReplyDeleteDespite traipsing through the mire for over an hour I only managed to find 6 cows today - bull, one cow, 3 black calves and the littlest brown calf (which has now completely shed its curly baby hair and now has a very smart new shiny mahogany coat!). They were just near the bank of the first mire (from the gate from the woodland), so the others could have been close but well hidden. amongst the trees. Ponies both fine too.
ReplyDeleteAll cattle spotted guarding the coppers hill enterance. I didn't even have to go into the reserve to count them?! oh and both ponies 20m's down the path. easy peasy!
ReplyDeleteLucky for some - they always hide when they see me coming!
DeleteWed 29th August 10:00am
ReplyDeleteSet off early today in case the rains came. Found the cattle split into 2 parties. 5 - 2 cows,3 little ones, including the youngest - down by the stream. The other 6 were grazing in area 6/7. The 2 horses were grazing in area 3. All looked well. The morning rain that was forecast has still not arrived!
All cows and ponies seen today, all together and all looking healthy! Cows by the crossroads and ponies a bit further up towards the bridge.
ReplyDeleteFound all the cows in the tree area on the path to the corral. They seem to like it there as it is shadey. All looked healthy and happy thou some seemed to have a lot more fly's around them then others. I also noticed the bull is also very dirty around his behind end and don't know if that will cause him problems. The horses were a bit further up from the cows happierly eatting the grass. Both also look healthy and happy.
ReplyDeleteWed 5th Sept 10:30am
ReplyDeleteAnother lovely morning for walking. Found all the cattle in area 7/8, whilst we were there the ponies trotted over. All looked well.
Checked all the cattle today and found all 11 of them down by the stream. They seemed happy although their faces are covered in flies. No signs of fly strike though. We noticed one cow has a persistent cough. Managed to get her number: 300037. Hope this is helpful.
ReplyDeleteAnother sunny day, only found 6 of the cows though - bull, 2 cows and 3 black calves (inc. the littlest). Thanks Yvonne for noting the number of the cow that was coughing, although I didn't see her today I will keep any eye out for her tomorrow. The animals I saw were moving fairly quickly through the woods/mire around area 11/10 and didn't seem to have many flies around them, it seems to just be when they are out in the open that they are bothered by them.
ReplyDeleteTuesday 11th, saw all cattle and both ponies. all scattred about the site which was quite nice actually. all looked happy in the sunshine as was I.
ReplyDeleteWed 12th Sept 11:00am
ReplyDeleteFound 7 of the cattle down by the river, along with the 2 horses. Cow 300037 was in the group and we watched them for about 10 mins, she did not cough while we were there. We had a good scout around for the missing 4 but could not see them.
Saw all the cows today, lying and grazing lazily in the sunshine near the crossroads. Surprisingly, the littlest calf was quite a distance from the rest of the herd, seeming quite happy to wander about on his own on the brow of the hill.
ReplyDeleteFound the cattle today around the cross roads area and some futher up in the trees at the corral. They seem to like it in that area. Was around 6pm so a bit cooler and less flies around bothering them. The horses were oven the other side of the stream up on the hill. We couldn't get round to close to them but they seems healthy and happy.
ReplyDeleteSaturday 15th September 9am Early morning to check on our herd!Lovely sunny morning. Found 10 cattle resting in area 3. All calves together (like a nursery group) Young dark bull looking very handsome with his little horns and very glossy coat! No sign of Big Bull or ponies.We are sure they were there somewhere!
ReplyDeleteWed 19th Sept 11:00am
ReplyDeleteFound the ponies quietly grazing in area 7.
Eventually found the cattle grazing in the undergrowth in area 4/5. They seemed OK but in some cases we could not get very close as they were up to their horns in bushes.
Tuesday 18 th
ReplyDeleteSaw all cattle not far from the coopers hill entrance, all look happy and healthy as per usual. I walked through to the stream where I saw the ponies, as I walked up the board walk the smaller one seemed to run at me followed by the larger one. I didn't think anything of it and then I came to the runway entrance where three smallish children claimed that they were charged at whilst leaving (the little boy was in tears). Then when I went to leave the smaller one turned quickly and charged at me and came very close if it wasn't for a tree. I don't like telling you this but it's not the first if heard of it. Thanks, James.
Thanks for your communication regarding this, we have today been to Castle Bottom to check on the livestock and with your comments in mind put special attention to the ponies. We have in the past had ponies which have not been well behaved but have found this pair to be very friendly. I think here this is the problem. They can have a tendency to follow you and will probably break into a trot to follow if you run away. They will even give you a cheeky nudge occasionally. However their behaviour is not aggressive and they just want some attention. After me and my son saw them and I petted them they followed us off and my son got a little scared. Turning to face them I gave a stern command of "go on" a small clap and then they realised id had enough and left us alone. Today they came over to me I gave them a pat then stood there with them while they grazed with no intimidating behaviour from them and then walked away ignored by the ponies.
DeleteAll cattle were seen and look very healthy, their winter coats starting to show. We stood there for a few minutes filming their grazing behaviour, suddenly an interesting encounter occurred, a Doberman Pincer with no owner in tow came bounding straight through cows and calves nearly bounding into us. The dog suddenly realised he was surrounded by cows and his route blocked by us, turning tail he ran back from whence he came. The cattle didn’t even flinch.
Well, we had a good look for the cattle, but although they're all there somewhere we only physically saw the black bull and three cows but as for the rest, all we could see was the occasional thrashing bush and waving branches as they nudged and chomped their way along in the valley. They were heading away from the stream where they had been drinking.
ReplyDeleteAs a bonus, the ponies were by the stream and seemed particularly docile.We stroked both and they made no attempt to follow us. Maybe the stern chat from the rangers has subdued them a bit!
Wed 26th Sept 11:00am
ReplyDeleteWe just beat the rain but we only found 8 cattle, plus the 2 ponies. The ponies and 6 cattle were grazing and lazing in area 12/13. The bull and one of the larger black calves were on the edge of the mire in 12/14, but we could not find the other 3. The animals that we saw looked fine.