After the really bad start to the year we are seeing the return of a sense of normality. Nature has started to play catch-up - the cycle of life differs every year but it appears to remains intact despite all the obvious signs of global warming.. On 31 May we welcomed the return of the Spotted Flycatchers, which successfully raised a family again. Our bees have done less well. We lost four colonies last winter but thanks to friends and capturing some swarms we are now back to full strength, but it has not been a good year for honey. In fact, …
[Read more...]

Many folk seem to have their pet loves and hates when it comes down to birds. Some people I know disparage House Sparrows, calling them Spugs, many others loathe Wood Pigeons especially in farming areas and some dislike Starlings, despite them looking really beautiful close up. When Bill Oddy recently announced that House Martins are the 10th most disliked bird in the UK I was truly amazed. Ours returned on April 30th only for last year’s nest to come crashing to the ground. Undeterred they soon built another with the help of a third bird – …
[Read more...]

Having lived for most of my life in the home counties and London and watched the decline in so many species it is easy here in Devon to take for granted what is quite rare in other parts of the country. We were involved with breeding bird surveys and although Sussex is very rich in birdlife it simply does not compare with Payhembury, where we are blessed with an abundance of nature in all its glorious forms. Despite the really cold patch in April, many old favourites have returned to breed: male blackcaps and chiffchaffs are vocal in setting up …
[Read more...]

What I really don’t understand is why ewes, who at the present time have at least 12 beautiful hours of daylight, decide that the best time to lamb is between the hours of 10pm and 4am. Totally ridiculous in my book, but then I suppose all is quiet, Classic FM is playing softly in the background …….and just like us humans, it’s the body which makes the ultimate decision. Whilst we don’t keep a vigil all night (because our numbers are relatively low), we check every few hours, as every ewe deserves the same chance as those who lamb during the …
[Read more...]

The warm spell at the end of February came as a blessed relief and certainly boosted my spirits, which had flagged somewhat during all those wet, grey days. Butterflies emerged from hibernation, Great Spotted Woodpeckers started to drum at the bottom of the garden and the gentler sound of Nuthatches tapping was heard with Treecreepers also putting in an appearance on the birch trees. One of the best times for us to watch our garden birds is over breakfast, as some of our bird feeders are just outside the dining room. We delighted in watching …
[Read more...]

A year ago, we couldn’t have hordes of visitors to the farm for lambing and in 2021 we still can’t. It is so disappointing as it’s just a wonderful time of the year. The weather has been a blinking nightmare, but we haven’t had the snow thank goodness and if we didn’t have the weather to talk about, what would we talk about. With some 8 days to go before we start lambing, I am starting to get excited, a tad apprehensive as always, but at the end of the day if you’ve put everything in place and are organised, there isn’t a lot more you can do. …
[Read more...]

I have been watching David Attenborough’s ‘A Perfect Planet’ in which he expresses grave concern about the next mass extinction of global species – make no mistake this process has already started and will only escalate! Like so many people the Covid lockdown has meant that I have had a lot of extra time on my hands, much of which I have spent re-cataloguing my extensive photographic archive of endangered species. This has engendered many amazing memories but also a deal of sadness. My all-time favourite location is Madagascar, where we …
[Read more...]

For those of you who read last month about my new Black Welsh Mountain Ram Colin, you will know how pleased I was with him. Note the use of the word “WAS”. Firstly, I must apologise to him for calling him Colin when, yes, he’s Welsh, so he is actually called “Colwyn”, which I learnt when receiving his pedigree certificate. Perhaps that’s why I had a slight problem last week – I was speaking in English and Colwyn speaks Welsh and wasn’t listening to me or Ralph my sheepdog – but then Ralph is half French so no hope really! An interesting fact …
[Read more...]