Another fence down

Was out briefly this afternoon and found a section of fence down between the hand gate at the Odiham end of Sandy Hills and the main entrance opposite the Shell Garage.  It was in the stretch where the trail bikes etc used to break in.  I haven't often seen cattle up there but it's very close to the main road. 

Really good day with a big help from Jo. Only found another 7 though. Plus 2 in GCA.

Will need  to come back. Could  be 23 on CC and zero on Gelvert by then?!

Found: 067, 068 (no metaltag), untagged black, 093, 072, 33, 30. 

The reason why we have more on CC now..

Two at least are left on the Gelvert side, for now anyway. 

31st July

Was on site helping Guy round up some of the herd for his guided walks today for Heath Week.

Saw 9 and checked them as Guy was moving the rest for the walk. I saw:

021, 096, 020, 063, 023, 035, 075, 1940, 098.

Early Saturday evening

Just found six on the Gelvert bunch, the two brownies, 39 and the three black and white ones. Grazing near the horse pond. All well. Couldn't find the rest or the main Caesar's herd and then ran out of time.

Thursday 26th

I was on site yesterday early eve and this morning.

Eventually finding not just the whole CC heard but most of the GCA heard as well. A section of fence is down between the two areas.

Due to the fact that only two were left in GCA we have left the fence down for the moment so that they can perhaps re-join the heard.  We will have to then separate them later.

Ill put the extra numbers on the right.

Tuesday morning

12 found seeking shelter in the cow shed by Bourley Road car Park. Couldn’t get all the tag numbers to see who was missing but did see:
30 / 21 / 20 / 96 / 23 / 33 / no tag / 40 / 98 / 72 and all looked okay.

Monday early eve

I found all the heard but 1, no 35 Buzz.  This is a little worrying as they don't normally wander off on their lonesome.  Hopefully it was just hidden oin the undergrowth though.

Ill check back later in the week.

All fine otherwise

Friday am

8+ in the long bracken at the Horse Pond end of Long Bottom. The entire herd could be there, but the bracken is now taller than the cows. The few I could get a view of looked healthy.

Tuesday 17th July

All seen today. The same 6 that No found yesterday were all down in the Long Bottom valley. 75 & 93 we're both fine - no signs of messy noses or coughs. The others were all good too.

The other seven were all near the covered reservoir and all looking good.

Monday 16th July

Six found sheltering in the cow shed by Bourley Road. Got most of the tag numbers, but one was hiding at the back: 98 / 40 / 93 / 75 / 72. 93 had a snotty nose and 75 seemed to have a bit of a cough / snore. Phoned this in and Guy advised to keep a check on these two. Otherwise, all looked good.

6 seen

Despite 2 visits this week only 6 seen: 020, 021, 035, 1940, 072, 033. These were all fine. At least this is one site where water isn't a problem at the moment.

They're clearly keeping in the woods which was where I found the six, as none have been visible from the viewpoint. None were at their usual haunts like the Nissan hut.

Friday am

8 spotted in the shade and amongst the bushes around H29. I suspect the rest were amongst the bushes. All the ones I could see looked OK.

Thursday morning - all 13 seen

Wasn't looking for the animals but came across them in the woods down to the west of the water tower. I'm sure if I had been looking for them I would never have found them as that seems to be the way it usually goes!

Anyway, they all seemed absolutely fine. The only things of note were a little bit of scouring evident for number 93 and, to a lesser extent, 96 - but having sent Guy a photo of the relevant bottoms (you're welcome Guy!) he assures me that this is nothing to worry about.

Interestingly, we have observed that the cattle are grazing differently than they usually would in the summer - stripping dead gorse in wooded areas (as they often do in winter) and browsing a lot. Presumably this is because the grass is rather parched now and offering little in the way of nutrition, so this could be a possible cause of the scouring that has been noted.

Also noted two lines of bare skin/hair loss on the hindquarters of 93 and 96, possibly from bulling and no signs of broken skin so doesn't seem anything to worry about!

Susanne

Wednesday am

The herd around the same spot that Jo spotted them yesterday. Grazing amongst the bracken and not easy to reach.

Tuesday 3rdJuly

13 seen from a distance in the valley near Skirmishing Hill. All grazing well but unable to check their eyes (98 / 40 / 32 / 30 /20 were close to the path and looked okay) .