Friday 29th Sept

Beautiful morning, what a pain to access! The man at Hazeley/Morestead Road let me in but from the Winchester end it looked impassable. 

He said it will be like this for 6 weeks!!!

Cows all by bowser and looking well. Fewer flies now but still a lot but they are bothered less by them. Thank goodness.

Water was filling container when I arrived and it was full so I shut it off. Hope I secured the corails ok, did my best. Cows look content, couldn’t see bad marks around neck, just a bit of fur rubbed away. 🙂

The barbed wire has been moved and a coke can inside so I was wondering if someone got in, or just the cows? 

Elena

Dolly

Lavender

Thursday 28th September

 Cattle were all lying down cudding, about 150 m short of the far gate, and close to the fence.  They looked fine and well.  Water level in trough OK, but water getting a bit green.  Fence round bowser looked OK.

Ponies were grazing close to the path, a short distance from the motorway gate.  They were interested in my arrival, and came to say hello, but then went off towards the trough and the blackthorn thicket.  Trough here looking a bit green too, but level OK.

I met the Trust dormouse team who were going to check the apparently quite healthy population on Deacon Hill.

Wednesday 27th Sept.

 Spotted the cows about 200 yards from the top gate, as we were cycling up the road. On closer inspection they all looked fine, black one stayed lying down, others standing. Trough was full and the fence round the bowser is still secure. Didn't see the ponies. As it's not our week for them we didn't search.

Monday 25th September- Grazing Team Visit

Hi All,

We've just popped in to secure the heardles around the blue boswer so the cows collars won't get caught. We've secured it now so fingers crossed it keeps them from getting caught whilst rubbing. 

Ponies were looking in fantastic condition further down the hill towards the corralle. 

Thanks so much for continuing to keep an eye on them! 

Grazing Team

Monday 25 September

 A beautiful sunny fresh Monday morning. The 3 cows were all reclined near the water bowser and appeared chilled. Three road works trucks were parked near the top gate which did not phase the cows. Maybe they are interested what’s going on. The ponies were not seen but fresh hoof prints were evident on the path. You can clearly see the positive effect the ponies are making with clear paths through the undergrowth. There was no fresh poo near the coral so they have found somewhere else. Nick

Saturday 23rd Sept

Lovely first day of autumn on the hill. All three cows on the upper slope towards the edge of their boundary. They are looking absolutely gorgeous and munching away for Britain. And showing interest when they saw me coming. They looked well and no obvious issues. One of the whites, with more black markings on it's front end, has a bit of bare patch where her chain is rubbing against her neck. Not raw at the moment, but might need to keep an eye on it in case the chaffing worsens. 

The ponies were in their usual place by the corral. Again looking calm and well, albeit a little unhappy potentially due to all the flies. It does seem to be bothering them, but Flam and Kat had the perfect solution, with Kat's tail flicking Flam's face! Genius. 

 

Loads of Red Admirals still and the Morestead Road was still open. 

Friday 22nd Sept

All 3 close to Bowser. It is difficult to tell Elena and Lavender apart when they are not together.

Lavender was a bit separate from Elena and Dolly but all munching happily except for those pesky flies. 

Couldn’t see Elena’s eye properly but looked ok. 

Didn’t spot anything untoward and trough and container full 🐮🐮🐮🐮🙂🙂

Thursday 21 September

 Thank goodness for a bit of sunshine after yesterday's downpour.  The cattle were lying down close to the bowser by the far gate, apparently just dozing but looking contented and clearly not going to get up and do anything.  All well, and the trough was full (not surprisingly after the rain).

Not a day for me to check the ponies, but they were close to the corral, also doing very little.  All 3 looked fine and their trough was full.

Lots of red admirals around.

Wednesday 20th

 Ponies were all by the corral, there's still some lick left on the fence. They looked well, startled when I started moving towards the trough, could have been the wind. Cycled on up to the top gate where the cows were cudding. While I was checking the trough, it's full, Hiromi noticed the mainly black one was very stiff getting up. The metal fence round the bowser has come apart. Noticed one of the whiter cows having a good rub on another part of it.

Tuesday 19/09/23

 

Cows looking quite happy this morning despite the weather. Troughs full and found the ponies after looping round the reserve, hanging out near the cows! 

Monday 18 September

 3 ponies seen fit and well munching their way through the undergrowth. The cows are well and we’re feeding on the strip near the road. It’s clearly visible how much they are eating. Water troughs all good. No problem getting on site, parked near waterworks. Nick 

Sunday 17th Sep

 Cows very relaxed this morning. Ponies up by the beehive but taking rather a lot of interest in the bowser and chewing on the hose! Had to reset the barrier around the bowser nose wheel but they like to scratch on it!

Friday 15th September

What lovely girls! Suffering a bit with flies but seem ok to walk and graze. 

Saw Fiona so now understand how the water system works and learnt the name of the larger white cow, Elena. 

Lavender looked to have a slightly pink left eye but couldn’t be sure. Perhaps keep an eye on it! 🤣

Tuesday 12th September

 All three cows looking relaxed up by the gate this morning! Misty and chilly, troughs full. No sign of the ponies - they must've been hiding!

Cattle now on site!

3 cattle now on site at the eastern end, all ladies! They are Dolly 00097 (black and white - British white X Aberdeen Angus)), Lavendar (the smallest, I'm yet to get her ear tag no.) and the third has a name but I'm yet to find out, but she is 200183. All went really smoothly.

Sunday 10th

  A wet morning on the hill, but fortunately ‘found’ Colin halfway up the path that saved me a pony hunt!

He told me that the ponies had been showing a lot of ‘interest’ in the new posts marking the expected cows area.

Saturday 9th September

The ponies were walking down the path to meet me as I arrived and they were pretty friendly today. They seemed to be more bothered by flies on their faces today, but other than that they seemed really well. 

Cattle now due to arrive Monday 11th

Cattle arriving this Friday

HI all, just a quick message to let you know that 3 cattle will be put on the south-eastern corner of Deacon Hill on Friday 8th september.

Wednesday 6th Sept.

Went early to avoid the heat. All 3 ponies were by the corral, Looking well. Trough full. Litter; picked a broken orange rubber dog toy inside the corral.

Sunday 3rd Sep

 Ponies looking in great condition….apart from collecting rather a lot of burrs in their manes.