Saturday

 All found looking fine grazing just off the main path to the west of the hill at 9.30

Tuesday 1st September - One collar not working

I had to visit later than usual today and was concerned to see that, according to the NoFence Collar map, three of the cows were in D4 while one was in E/F5.  The map had shown this for several hours so I was hoping that this was an anomaly and and there wasn't a cow by itself among the silver birches.  As it turned out all four were lying together in the open space to the SE of the hydrant pool.  When they heard me approaching all four stood up attentively.  All of them appeared well but were clearly disappointed that I wasn't Gordon!  They did try to trot after me as I left though.

I checked they all still had their collars attached, which they did, so I'm guessing that one of them stopped working while they were all in the birches at some point.  The following photo shows the locations shown on the map when I left and the serial number of the collar showing the wrong location.

Sunday 30th August - All 4 seen

At 15:20 this afternoon, the cattle were resting in the woodland east of the large pool by the fire hydrant sign, near ///doubt.could.activism. A light shower was passing over, so they had sensibly taken shelter among the trees. I had parked in the Velmead Woods car park at that end of the site and, as I made my way along the path outside the boundary, steer 200 spotted me. He soon got to his feet and came over to the fence line to say hello, with the other three quickly following his lead. As I continued along the path towards the kissing gate to enter the site, the four of them wandered alongside me, before giving me a much warmer welcome once I was inside.

After our initial greetings, the cattle gathered around me, content to stand and chew their cud, occasionally stepping forward for a few head strokes. After a while, steer 200 leaned in for a longer shoulder rub before shuffling forward into position for a long back scratch. While steer 200 was being fussed over, the others stood beside me, continuing to chew their cud and occasionally stopping to snack on the surrounding gorse and leaves. By 15:50, cow 201 had drifted off into the pasture to the southwest to graze, with the boys gradually following her one by one. I said my goodbyes at 16:05, leaving them all peacefully grazing among the bracken as some late afternoon sunshine broke through. All four were happy, relaxed, and looking well.

Before leaving, I returned to the fire hydrant sign to check the water levels. There was still plenty of drinking water available, both in the main pool and in the surrounding run-off areas.

The cattle were all good today.

Saturday

 All found all looking fine on the east side of the hill at 8am. 

3.30pm, Thursday 27 Aug, All 4 sitting down along the tree line aside Tweseldown racecourse near Brock Hill

Looking well although lots of flies still buzzing around their eyes.  2 chewing 2 just sat staring.

Pond still has water but getting low.  The morning rain too brief to make any difference.  Didn’t pass the water hydrant area today.

Tuesday 25 August - On Brock’s Hill

The four were in a huddle on the northern side of Brock’s Hill at 1020 this morning. They all appeared well but are still uncertain of me and remain alert with at least one keeping an eye on me all the time. 

Mondag 24th - Fly Spray for the 4 cattle

Hi All, 

Found the cows not far from the spring area enjoying the cool of the forest. 

Spring still flowing fine, I saw the break in the barb, and have twisted it up for the time being, as i didnt have the right tools in the truck to fix it. 

Passed it on to reserves team.

Thanks for keeping an eye on the cattle.

Grazing Team