Sunday 0800

Found the cattle in squares J23 and K23. I was able to get a full count of 25 cows and 24 calves. All looked fine, mainly lying down. Also heard two Cuckoos.

(09:30) Found the herd grazing at the base of the hill where Bob left them around K/L 21/22. Watched them for a while, all seemed well - didn't notice one with a limp, although there was one black adult with white face sitting the whole time in the middle of the herd while the others were all quite active. Very difficult to count - they were all wandering about, and the calves easily disappear when they sit down! My counts came up around 36-43.

A rather boisterous dog ran into the herd barking at them, but they didn't seem unduly bothered - they closed ranks and faced him down. He soon got the message to leave alone.

Passed by again at around 11:00, the entire herd was on the move, on/by the track M22-ish heading towards Long Bottom.

Saturday 08.30, today i found the cattle stretched out along grids K22,23, and L22,23, i could not get a positive count as some were lying down some walking about and others just grazing,which made counting them nigh on impossible. i could not see any cow limping maybe she was lying down.

I found the cattle this morning 7.45 they were mostly lying down so I did not disturb them ,they were in grid no,s o p 17 18 unfortunatly after I left they were disturbed by two dogs running among them ,they settled down but they were disturbed again by dogs running among them ,I came across them again later on they were all walking quite fast grid squares m n 18 19 they headed down a path way down towards the old troop shelter ,as they passed by me I counted all the mums but not the calves one of the black mums appeared to have a slight limp on her left front leg I was unable to get close enough to her to get her ear tag number ,I later saw them again walking quite fast heading towards the royal pavillion end this was around 9.00
norman

All well

Found all (I think - they were rather in and out of the undergrowth) at O17 heading slowly west. They seemed fine. I was also treated to two badgers and a black rabbit.

Wednesday 16.30, found all of the cattle at roughly Q19, some were lying down chewing the cud and some were walking about grazing, all looked o/k.

Site visit

Hello everyone.

Upon arriving to check the cows and fix a gate I was welcomed by 6 police cars and an ambulance all with lights flashing which made my heart flutter a bit. It turned out that a lady had broken her leg somewhere on site and they could not get into the site as they did not have a key. Anyway, after letting them in I quickly found the cows all down in squares L22, M22 and N22. Some of them were grazing teh new flush of grass which has greened up the large burn from a few months back. All 49 were counted and some of the calves are absolute cuties (especially the grey one!). Loely to see them all grazing and moving as a herd.

I then when and fixed a gate in S15 which was being left open by motorbikers/quadbikers. Hopefully what I have done will resolve the problem but where there is a will there is a way.

Tuesday 15.00, today i only managed a count of 36, they were in the area of the blue barrel at roughly R8-9, some were lying down and others were walking about grazing, they all looked o/k.

Cattle number update

Hello all,

As some of you have already notivced the number of cattle on site has increased over the weekend with the farmer bringin up some more on both Saturday and Sunday.

This now brings the herd up to 25 cows and 24 calves (so 49 in total)

Any questions or queries please do call on 01256 381190

Elliott

Earlier in the day, about 1200, there were 30 cows/calves at western end of the large water filled gravel pit on Bricksbury Hill and 3 cows & 2 calves (one very well hidden in grass/heather so there might well have been a third) on western side of Caesar's Camp.  All appeared well.

Am I seeing things?

Found three cows and a calf at about N16 mid afternoon and then about 20 cows and the same number of calves near the blue barrel. Perhaps I just counted wrongly as some were hidden by trees and undergrowth. They seemed content though several of the cows looked as if they had been lying in a mud bath.

Saturday 12.00. found all of them at roughly R15, they were not that easy to count as the cows kept moving around shielding the calves, all looked o/k

Saturday 12.30

Found the cows and calves in square R15. Full count of 18 cows. Couldn't get an accurate count of the calves. All looked well.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

We heard cattle lowing (is that the right word?) this afternoon at about six p.m. and walked up to find some of them (13 adults; 13 calves) near Caesar's camp. Quite a few of the adults were mooing and three cows - one with heavy udders trotted away from the crowd lowing away. It is now 23.15 and we can still hear a cow mooing. Wondering if this is OK. Not sure if we should be worried about this or whether this is typical cow-like communication.

Wednesday 17.00, i found them all at roughly O19, most were under the trees keeping watch on the little ones, all looked o/k

Tricky to count!

Found all 36 in square T6 at about 16.15. Cows were easy to count, the calves took about 20 minutes to get an accurate figure! All looked OK.

Tuesday 14.00, i found all of them at Q4 in the whale tail, some were lying down chewing the cud and some were up grazing, they all looked o/k.

Counted 32 in total up by picture 4 (lower right) but probably all there and apparently in good condition.

Apart from cattle saw some 100 starlings foraging for oak blossom (food or nesting material ?) down in Long Bottom and a warbler (Willow perhaps) near horse pond.

There is a large white plastic cattle food drum floating in the gravel pit up by Bricksbury Hill.  Perhaps farmer/HWT would care to remove it.

And another sighting

Was passing late afternoon so thought I would have a look too. All seemed well - the calves were keeping out of the wind and showers. The mothers were as unimpressed as I was with the trail bikes racing around.

Just seen the new group

Very pleased to have seen the new group late this afternoon. They were most lying down in R11 proabably because of the weather. All seem quite peaceful even with the Truffle Hound there.

caesars camp cattle

Icame across the cattle this morning they were in grid squares o p 16 17 they all appeared to be in the group most of the calves were laying down all appeared to be ok I have been told by other dog walkers that there is a bull with them if there is I have not yet seen him
norman

Just dropped by to see the new herd. All were still happily grazing at T7 (17:30ish). Some of the youngsters were having a sit down beneath a tree. The calves are very cute :-) I especially like the couple that have the big white patches over their rear 2/3rds.

All well

Found all 36 at about T7 early this afternoon. They were content, if a little bedraggled from the wind and showers. The mothers gently corralled the young between them and carried on grazing – seemingly quite at home in their new world and not worried about my being there.
Jill
P.S. The calves are adorable and I was very tempted to take one home!

Saturday 09.15, i think i found all of them this morning, they were near the blue barrels at R9.I managed to count 31 but some of the cows seemed a bit anxious the closer i got so i didn,t push my luck and left the count at that. Most were lying down with a few mothers on guard, they all looked o/k.

Hello
The farmer has now replaced the cattle with a different herd of 18 cows with calves. These will be added to when the other calves are ready to be moved from the farm into the big wide world. So in total, 36 cattle on Ceasar's Camp.
Thanks. Alex

Update

Hello
The farmer called me to confirm that all cattle have now been removed from the site.
Alex

All change

Hello
The farmer who owns the cattle at Caesar's Camp wants to trial a new, hopefully sustainable, grazing regime. He is going to remove the current herd of cattle and replace them with a breeding herd of cows with calves.
The calves will be removed (weaned) each year before the winter, leaving just the cows on site. It is likely that they will run with the bull so that they are in calf again for the spring, allowing the cycle to continue.
Therefore, the farmer will attempt to remove all of the cattle today and then replace them with the cows and calves over the weekend.
I will keep you informed of the number changes, and let you know of any change in plans.
Sorry for the late notice, and thanks for all your efforts. They are greatly appreciated by ourselves, the MOD and the farmer.
Alex

Full count

Found all 35 in Long Bottom at about 16.15. Spread out over a large area from N22 to Q20. All looked ok, mostly lying down and chewing the cud.

Tuesday 16.30, today i found 19 at the blue barrel chewing the cud and a further 11 grazing on Caesars camp at L18, all looked o/k

4 th May 1200.  Six cattle near Horse Pond at P22, remainder at west end at T6.  Nothing specific to observe.

And a few more

At about the same time as Bob, I found 14 at D26 - all looked content and were grazing well. I hope one of us missed the missing cow!

Saturday 15.00, today i managed a count of 30, they were spread out at roughly F26-E27, they were all grazing and looked o/k.