Sunday 5th July - All 4 seen

Shortly before 16:30 this afternoon, the cattle were resting in the shade of the bushes about 45 metres east of the main path, near ///able.workers.scrub. They must have heard me approaching, as they all got to their feet and looked out through the thicket. When they realised it was me, they came to the edge of the thicket near the open area to the north. Steers 200 and 208 were quick to wander out to greet me, both enjoying a few head scratches. They were content to stand beside me and chew their cud, while I helped keep the flies away from their faces. Steer 207 was initially happy to remain in the shade, but after a while wandered out to join the boys, only to move back into the bushes about ten minutes later. Cow 201 was also a little shy to begin with, but soon joined the boys. She seems to be beginning to trust me a bit more and was happy to stand close, even enjoying a few strokes.

The cattle were happy to stand beside me, relaxing and chewing their cud in the sunshine. They were all happy, relaxed, and looking well. Steer 200 would occasionally lean in for neck scratches before turning for a back scratch, which I was happy to provide. I said my goodbyes shortly after 17:00, leaving them resting peacefully. They watched as I walked away, and when I looked back, they were already making their way back into the shade.

I wandered along to check the water levels in the ditch and found it completely dry again. I'm beginning to think I may not be checking the correct section of the ditch, as it was completely dry when I visited last Sunday, yet when Chris checked the following day, there was some water present. I checked the stretch from the pile of stones near ///boot.wove.triathlon along the bank to the southeast. Afterwards, I went to check the pasture pumps and found they were both empty. I gave them a good clean and refilled them. A small amount of water was left around the bases and on the ground after cleaning and refilling the pumps.

Afterwards, I had a wander around the silt reservoir to see if I could locate any additional water sources or identify the spot where others check. I found the point where the water exits the reservoir at ///pickup.yarn.dust and where it leaves the reserve at ///bends.nibbled.etchings. There were areas I couldn't check because of the dense thicket, but I wasn't able to find any stretches containing water.

The cows were all good today.