Another blank day

Wednesday 10.30, I came onto Caesars camp off bourly road at C27, and rode my bike over to the lake then onto the main track to the top, with no sign of the cattle I rode over to the whale tail and around the woods. Although it was disappointing not to find the cattle it was a nice frosty ride with the trees and bushes glistening with frost.

No sighting today

Tuesday 16.00, I made my way up the North side of Caesars camp and then West across to the whale tail with no luck. With the light fading fast I had no more time to look today.

All seen together!

Caught up with all 36 this morning (about 10am) right next to the Jubilee Clump on Caesar's Camp plateau. They seemed contented.
Also bumped into Rob, the farmer who owns the cattle, and his family. He is very happy with their condition. We will try to encourage the cattle to moved eastwards by strategic placement of the licks, so you may find the buckets dotted about in unexpected places.Look forward to seeing you all in the new year. Have a good one.

Keeping us guessing

They still seem to be in smaller groups - this afternoon a group was moving very quickly away from all the gathering of motor bikes and vans at about E28 and a little later 18 were grazing very peacefully at G23 - eight browns and 14 blacks/black-white.

Mixed bag

Saturday 14.00, I found 5 cows walking South off the main track at roughly G26, and a further 19 right against the fence at R3. They were just standing watching me and seemed a little nervous, they all seem o/k if a little thin on the rump.

Eleven cows counted

The Truffle Hound raised his nose knowingly as we rounded "Horse Pond" and there they were: a group of eleven cows, three brown and eight black or black and white. The black and white wth horns was leading the way, and they were happily grazing in the bracken. No sight of the others. A brilliantly bright if bitterly cold afternoon, according to Truffle Hound, and we agreed,

Christmas hide and seek

Spent some time on the Whale's tail but the cattle weren't to be found up there this morning. Hope someone else finds them today.

Glad Bob got a full count, I got between 30 and 34 in the same place, they were really closely bunched up and some of the little ones were hiding in the middle.

I fixed the fence by the BMX track that had been cut and replaced some of the 'cattle grazing' signs that were damaged.

Happy christmas

Glad Bob got a full count, I got between 30 and 34 earlier in the same place. They were so closely packed together that I think some little ones were hidding in the middle.

I also fixed the fence by the BMX track, as some one had cut it!

full count today

Wednesday 10.00, I found all the cattle in exactly the same spot as yesterday either grazing or burying their heads in the buckets they all looked in good condition.
Merry Christmas to all.

Dear Lookers

Many thanks for all your hard work and help over the last year.
It has been an interesting one, especially at Caesar's Camp. Hopefully this problem is now behind us, but it does highlight the important role that you play in looking after the cattle on these valuable sites. We really couldn't protect these special areas without you.

The Wildlife Trust's Grazing Project is constantly looking to expand, and we have been successful in securing funding for the next 10 years for land around Fleet and Aldershot. This will allow us to not just manage the cattle, but also undertake much-needed habitat management work as well. This will involve keeping on top of the birch and pine regrowth as well as looking to mow some areas of the rough grasses and managing the historic interest. This will create the ideal conditions for the rare species found on the heath.
In addition we are expanding southwards (and not just because of over-indulgence at Christmas!), taking on an area of heathland at Longmoor near Bordon. We have a grazier lined up, so if you have any friends down that way - tell them we are on the look-out for lookers!

Everything seems quiet at the moment, and I hope that it will stay that way over the holiday period. Mike will be checking all the sites tomorrow (Wednesday the 24th) and then I will be out on the 30th. If you notice any problems in the mean time, please do not hesitate to phone me on my mobile.

I look forward to seeing you in the New Year, and hope that you have a wonderful Christmas.

Best Wishes from all the Grazing Project Team (and the cattle!)

Alex

Tuesday 11.45,I found them all around U7 this morning grazing or licking the buckets, they looked o/k and in good condition.

28 seen

I counted 28 today at about 13:00, in T6/7.

'Collar' was with them, but 'horns' and 4 others weren't.

13.15 Grazing in the open

Saw the full group grazing in T6. All looked fine.

Full house

Saturday 10.15, I found them all in virtually the same place as I had seen them on Wednesday, in the woods at R,S 4 slowly walking through the wood they all looked o/k.

All of them seen at 12R

All looked fine, just passing through.

Alex

Wednesday 10.30. I started my search from the beacon hill side and looked all over the whale tail with no luck then across to Caesars camp no luck so i dropped down to long valley and up to the whale tail on my way back home, one last look in the woods and there they were, quietly walking in the woods at S4 and very easy to miss, maybe they are learning the art of hiding from the army guys. As they were scattered through the wood counting was impossible but those i saw looked in good condition.

Petrol heads

Driving home today I was surprised to see about 20 cattle (maybe more - couldn't count them!) tucked between the fence and the trees, watching the cars on the Beacon Hill roundabout -T3. Maybe this is a new hobby. Also saw (again from the car) what I think are mineral lick buckets at U9, four or six of them. Am I right on this? This was about 3.15pm.

Fog stops play

Tuesday 10.30, the fog today reduced visibility down to 100ft at times. I did a search of the whale tail and found nothing this morning. It is one of those days where you would have to bump into the cattle to find them.I did notice that all the lick buckets were empty.

No cows today

Saturday 13.00,I sometimes wonder who the stupid one's are, us or the cattle. In the pouring rain and howling wind,I searched the whale tail and woods across to sandy hills ( the fence is o/k ) across longbottom, up to Caesars camp and along the track to beacon hill with no sight nor sound of them. They obviously have more sense than I credit them with, and I presume they are sheltering under some cover out of the rain.

Damp round the edges

All 36 at S5 late this morning - distinctly bedraggled but heading for the shelter of the trees!

Full house I think

Wednesday 16.00, I found them in the whale tail happily grazing at roughly T6 but they started walking off as I got closer to count them. I counted over 30 before they made counting impossible by walking away and in front of each other, they all looked o/k.

11 seen

I bumped into 11 of the cows (including 'colar' and 'horns') whilst checking the fences for damage. They were by the large pond in the valley (near Long Bottom) at about 14:00.

No damage to fences to report, however someone has been chopping down holly trees in the N29 area! Maybe someone is collecting it for christmas?

Saw 7 or 8?

Truffle Hound and I were standing on the ridge looking across Long Bottom towards Caesar's Camp and saw maybe 7 or 8 cattle, mainly black with 1 or 2 white faces at about M or N21 in front of the trees. They maybe Richard's group - it was hard to count them from that distance and they kept moving in front of one another. This was about 4pm.

Tuesday 16.00, I only managed to find half of them today and to make matters worse they have split up. The first group of 13 were grazing at roughly O19 and a group of 10 were grazing near to R19 those that I saw looked o/k

12 in the Whale Tail

Saw just 12 early PM in S6. Pine trees seemed to be on the menu today. No sign of the other 24.

What is supplementary feeding and why do we do it?

Hello everyone,

As Christmas rapidly approaches and we are all busy either buying or wrapping presents or arguing who we should and should not send a Christmas card to spare a short moment to think of the cattle that are still out on site, contentedly grazing away through the ever shortening days and ever more increasingly frosty mornings.

We still have cattle on the majority of our project sites as their eating habits change dramatically during the winter months to when they would normally be on site during the rest of the year. Instead of eating all of the fresh luscious green grass that grows every second of the day, or picking off the leaves that have caused the trees lowest branches to bend to within reach of the cows long tongues, the cattle switch to eating brittle and spiky old gorse bushes, next years tree buds, holly leaves and berries, any bramble leaves which continue to avoid the frosts or basically anything which has some kind of vitamins or minerals in it.

This alteration of cattle eating habits has massive beneficial impacts on the site for the following year by keeping all of the scrub in check and preventing it from spreading out into the more important heather dominated heathland.

Some of you may wonder whether the cattle can get enough vitamins and minerals from just eating these morsels around the site and the answer would have to be no they cannot. Historically the sites would have been so big that they would have been able to support more animals throughout the winter but nowadays with the heaths all being fragmented up by roads, railways and housing they are too small to support the cattle on their own throughout winter.

So how comes we still have cattle on site if the sites cannot support them on their own? I hear you say...the answer is by reducing the number of cattle on site in the winter months and by supplementary feeding them what are known as mineral blocks or licks. these take many forms but a re generally a plastic bucket full with what looks like a big oxo cube. They are made up of a variety of things including ash, and seaweed (for a full list of ingrediants check the side of the bucket) and act in the same way as any vitamin or mineral tablets that you or I may take throughout the year. We would not necessarily die if we did not take them but it certainly cannot hurt us to take them and hopefully keeps away and colds or infections and makes sure we are all fit and strong come springtime and raring to go.

Well now that I seem to have endorsed all vitamin and mineral supplements I should counter that by saying we should all eat an healthy balanced diet of meat and two veg, 5 glasses of water a day, 5 bits of fruit and veg a day and so on blah blah blah.

So hopefully that has explained a little bit more about how we manage to keep animals on the heaths over the winter months.

Elliott

Late blog from Friday 5th

Sorry for late blog but you know how these things happen, you blink and suddenly four days have passed!

Anyway I checked all of the hot spots from the bottom of the A325 all the way around to the BMX track and there was not a single cut or piece of vandalism so hurray for that.

On my way round I replaced a livestock grazing sign which had 'disappeared' so if any of you see these also missing in the future do feel free to let us know.

I found all 36 grazing the Long Bottom area and it was truly and absolutely amazing site and made me feel proud to see them all spread out like a true herd grazing away. The site was exactly what I imagine all of those heathens and commoners would have come across on that exact spot many moons ago and it gave me a definite feeling that everything we are all trying to achieve will be one success after another and that is down to each and every one of you.

Any way enough of the back slapping.

take care all

Elliott

Lovely sunny morning

Found all 36 peacefully grazing in the sunshine at S7. The light was fantastic on the frost and helped us also see a goldcrest and a dartford warbler this morning. The truffle hound also enjoyed the walk and is 'well muddy'. Should we humiliate him and buy him a coat?

Saturday 15.00, I managed to find all 36 at R9 slowly walking west grazing as they walked, they were still a little nervous but i think they are getting better with people about, they all seemed o/k.

Sunny grazing

Found all 36 easily this morning at P19 grazing but alert and keeping on the move. They seem to find something worth eating even on the scubbiest areas.

All seen

14.15 Friday. Counted all 36 in the Long Bottom area - roughly Q20. Seemed calm . Grazing whilst moving slowly west.

Wednesday 15.00, I made a positive count of 27 today, they were grazing at roughly Q17. Today they seemed less nervous than previously and I was able to walk amongst them without them running off, those that i saw seemed to be in good condition.

Tuesday 11.00, i managed to find them in the whale tail at S5, with some of them at the lick buckets at the edge of the woods, i was able to slowly walk through most of the herd with no problems but the cattle near the woods were a bit nervous and trotted off as i got closer.they all seemed to be in good condition grazing and slowly walking about.