About midday all 60+ (and possibly 71) in a tight group in the large sandy area (old rifle butts) under Jubilee Clump.  Nothing of note observed.

Plastic bags and bottles.

Counted 26 at 0830 this morning around the butts at the foot of Caesar's Camp (~H19) and on the slope up to the camp. They were probably the same ones Jill saw last evening. They all seemed fine but one calf was eating a plastic bag and ran off when I tried to take it away. I then spotted his mum eating a plastic bottle! I managed to grab that away from her and dispose of it. The group were actually in some nice grass with no reason to be eating rubbish.

About 40 were peacefully grazing and lazing around H/I 16/17 early this evening. The group included the bull and the cow with the collar (neither of her eyes looked quite right). The others seemed well.

10.30, i only managed a count of about 33 this morning, they were all on the top of Caesars camp, most were lying down chewing the cud and looked o/k.

Friday morning's wander

Found c. 55 well spread out between T5 and R15and heading west quite quickly with plenty of bellowing on the way. The bull was there, looking very docile, but I couldn't see either 145 or the one with the collar. They looked fine.

I only found 5 cattle this morning 7.30 4 cows 1 calf grids k 25/26 never saw or heard any more although 2 of the four cows has come up from the old firing range area so more could have been around that area . norman.

I was late going out today 10 30 am met some of the cattle, grids o/p 20/21 did not get close to many , counted 58 ,I got fairly close to the one with the collar it looked to me as though the eye has dried up although she still had her eye closed ,I wonder if her eyelids are stuck ,the bull was there lying quite a distance from the cows and calves ,the ones I got close to all looked ok. norman.

Site checks 25/8/09

Hello. I was out yesterday checking the site and despite driving all over the place I only found 51 all together in the trees at J29 (I think?). It was very warm so I guess they were taking refuge in the shade. The group consisted of just cows and calves, many of which were suckling while the mums stood calmly around. No sign of the bull and the other cows.
Laura

08.15, today i managed a count of roughly 30 spread along the long bottom track at Q19-Q20 and a further 7 were at the blue barrel, most were grazing and looked o/k.

08.30, my first day back to lookering after 4 weeks and reading about a bull keeping the herd together i was optimistic that i would find them all, what a mistake, i found the bull all alone at the blue barrel, then further down the track East of the pond spread out at roughly N26 i managed to count 20 and further East in the woods near the open sandy area roughly K28-29, i managed a count of 30, those i saw looked o/k.

this morning 7.15 5 cows and the bull were at the blue barrel ,I carried on up towards the broken troop shelter and met some more coming down towards the blue barrel ,I sat on a tree stump and counted as they came by me I counted a further 57 ,I went on and looked out over the area where the fire was below the seats a further 6 were there ,I carried on with my walk and stood talking to another dog walker not one of the lookers and she told me a few days ago she had seen a group of youngsters throwing large stones at the cattle she said she heard them say she,s coming and ran away, as I went towards my route home I went past where the blue barrel used to be under the trees the cattle, a large group of them were either lying or standing under the trees ,the one with the collar was there she still appears to keep her weepy closed a lot ,I slowly walked among them to get a look at them ,did not see any more problems they dont seem to be bothered by me going among them perhaps because I stand talking to them a lot. norman

About 10 AM all in & around clump of trees to SW of Horse Pond.  Nothing of note to report.

this morning 7.15 some of the cattle were close to my home ,145 and her calf and one other brown one were just inside the gate I come through grid q 22 23 ,some of the rest were down the bottom of the hill grids l m n 19 20 21 ,145 seems to be walking perfectly now ,I went down to see the others I got quite close to a lot of them the one with the collar still has a weepy eye ,looking at her closely through my bino,s she keeps that eye closed a lot of the time ,some more were at the blue barrel I did not go to see those ,some more were spread far and wide around the area not able to count ,except for the one with the collar all of the ones I was close to appeared to be ok ,the bull was with these at the bottom of the hill. I could hear some more bellowing in the distance I would think towards the whale tail end. norman

Further update

Late morning there were about 65 in a largish area around I 28/29. Lots of grazing and lazing around. Couldn't see 145 amongst them but aside from a couple of weepy eyes (including one of the calves), those I saw seemed fine.

10:00. Didn't see any cows this morning. Did my usual wander from whale tail, up to the camp, down as far as Horse Pond, and back round again. I guess they must all still have been at the other end where Norman saw them earlier.

I did see that someone has pulled the Trust's sign off the gate opposite the petrol station again. The sign is still there, but the holes through which it was zip-tied on are ripped through. I found it stuffed through the cattle grid, so picked it out and wedged it precariously in between the ties.

the cattle this morning were down near the bourley road car park 7.30 , they were around 500 mtrs from the gate at the car park ,they were making a lot of noise bellowing constantly I made my way down towards them as I thought there might be a problem ,I watched them come out onto the tarmac road I was on trying to count them as they came out of the trees I managed to count up to 50 then a large group came out together and I lost count they all seemed to be ok I saw the one with the collar but not close enough to see if her eye is still weepy they all gathered near the gate and then started to make their way slowly away up one of tarmac roads away from the gate grazing as they went I stayed watching for 30 mins all seemed ok so made my way home . norman.

I saw the cattle this morning 7.30 they were spread over a wide area just to the eastern side of the covered reservois, not possible to count from where I was on top of the steep bank near the seats ,I would think most were there ,three were on the sandy area at the old firing range 145 was one of them they appeared to be licking the sand as I could not see any vegetation through my bino,s145 and one other started to make their way back towards the others the other one carried on towards the royal pavillion end. norman.

Well spread out

Counted c. 65 this morning spread throughout the area G/H 17-21. About 40 were heading west whilst the others were moving south. The bull was heading off for a drink and those I saw seemed well, though the one with the collar still has a weeping eye.

I found cattle 7.30 this morning after two days not seeing any .they were at the north side of the flooded gravel pit ,eastern end as I stood talking to one of the brown ones that appears to be carrying a calf the bull appeared from the undergrowth on the other side of the track I was on ,I just kept still ,he looked at me and just carried on walking I was about 4 mtrs from him ,the closest I have been yet ,the cattle then started to walk through the trees towards the south side of the gravel pit I followed and tried to get some sort of a count I managed to count over 50 then I lost it did not know what I had counted ,the one with the collar still seems to have a weepy eye did not see any other problems, 145 was there she appears to be ok now .I thought 4 number of the brown ones appear to be carrying calves ,I would think most of them were there. norman

11 AM 50+ spread over large area at western extremity and further 18 in small glade near water tower.  No specific observations to make.

Flies

I must have been walking among them about the same time that Jamie got his full count. Some were suffering from large numbers of flies including 145 and her calf who were under the trees where the lick used to be. I noticed that she too had a weepy left eye that was particularly attracting the flies. One brown cow that was separated from the rest was walking down the track down from Long Bottom towards the lick bellowing. I wondered if it might have been her calf that died.

Beautiful evening, and a full count

18:30 ish. Found 2 groups of 10 (including one heavily pregnant-looking cow) and 17 close together at M21, and the remaining herd of 44, including the bull, spread out around P18/19 and surrounding areas.

Following yesterday's tragic news, I gave them a good looking over with the binocs. All looked ok, except that cow 270 (with the collar) has a closed and weepy left eye. J.

Dead calf

Hello all,

Not good news i am afraid but there was a dead calf found this morning down near the large sandy area (Sunny Hill).

One of the lookers found the calf and reported it to us straight away which we are really grateful for. We immediately found the calf and informed the farmer who will visit the site to remove the carcass.

Whilst the carcass was in the early stages of decomposition (i.e. bloating with gases) it still looked to be in a healthy state and did not have any signs of injury. Obviously this makes us all think about the lead incident a while back but we hope that this is just one of those farming incidents that happens with livestock. However, if everyone could just keep an extra eye on the cows and spend a couple more minutes than normal that would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Elliott

some of the cattle this morning were spread over the area below the seats at ceasars camp ,I counted 38 including the bull and 145 she appeared to be walking ok now, I noticed the blue barrel has been moved ,two cows were at its new location ,I chased off a dog chasing one of the calves walking up to join the others below the seats ,the rest of the cattle appeared to be near the corall at bourley road norman

11 August 09

Hello
I went out yesterday (Tuesday) and had a look at the fence that Norman was concerned about (below). I have made a couple of repairs, and re-tensioned it, so hopefully it should last. Can people keep an eye out for this particular spot.
I saw the cattle in I18, but they were moving southwards.
Also, today, I had a report of 2 calves out near the Total garage on the Odiham Rd. I went up there only to discover that they were someone elses! We traced the owner and managed to get them in their trailer without further incident.
Thanks
Alex

I found cattle this morning 7 cows 1 calf and the bull were at the blue barrel 145 was there as well, the rest were spread over the hillside on the south side of the horse pond not able to get a count of these ,the ones from the blue barrel came out and joined the rest they then all started to walk up the hill towards the back of bricksbury hill houses I followed they then followed the track towards sandy hill and onwards from there, I walked quite a distance beside 145 her leg is still bothering her a bit she kept stopping and lifting it up for a short time then going on .the top barbed wire beside the kissing gate grid p 24.25 is very slack and one of the cows was doing her best to get over to get the better feed on the outside I moved her on as she was pushing very hard against the fence so hard she was moving the fence post norman

About 10 AM Long Bottom down towards Pavilion - the whole herd all quiet and seemingly well.

Sunday morning

Happened to be near Bourley Rd earlier today and found C 67 cattle enjoying a very lazy morning around G19. They were almost all dozing or chewing the cud - the only things missing were the Sunday papers! All seemed ok - bull and 145 included

Lunchtime report

I think I came across the same group as Norman late this morning. 5 were wandering east at about R21, a group of 7 was at R17 and a larger group of 21, including the bull, were around R19. 5 calves were enjoying themselves around the blue barrel. Couldn't see any others around the whale tail area or from the camp and ran out of time to go further.

Some of the cattle this morning 7.45 am were spread over the area around the seats at caesars camp, I counted a total of 11 animals a further 26 were at the bottom of the slope below the seats , was only close to 6 of them all of those appeared to be ok, I did not see 145 or the bull ,on my way back home a further 4 were walking from the blue barrel to join the rest these all looked ok as they passed me norman

Jill Goddard Looker Report

65+ were munching peacefully first thing this morning over a wide area around the main path running east from the gate at the top end of Sandy Hills. The bull seemed only interested in feeding, some of the calves seemed especially friendly and playful and 145 was putting quite a lot of weight on her sore leg but still holding it up occasionally. The nearby troop exercises seemed of little interest to any of them when I was there though there was a fair amount of bellowing (both troops and cows!).

this morning the cattle were fairly widespread unable to get very close ,some were around the broken troop shelter ,145 was with this group seemed to be walking ok the rest were where the fire was on the slope below caesars camp ,the bull was with this group I managed to get a full count norman

Saturday evening

1830. Very difficult to get an accurate count, but there were a large number of cows scattered all over from R14/15 up to P21/22. All looked well.

The bull seemed to have paired off with one of the ladies, but as ever seemed more interested in stuffing his face than paying her any attention!

I saw 145. She seemed rather grumpy and gave me a right bellowing, so I didn't bother her for too long. But long enough to see that although the bad leg looks a little stiff and limpy, she does seem to be using it well. When I saw her she was grazing on a steep incline towards long bottom.

One very lovely sight was a group of 4 calves that had been grazing on the top of a hill, noticed that all the others had moved lower down and left them all alone, so the four of them came thundering down the hill to where the adults were. They looked very funny.

Not so sweet were the 3 youths speeding around the place on a quad bike and a mini-moto - though I think after they'd seen me with my camera and binocs, they might have thought I was official or something because they left the area.