Sunday 31st December - All 19 seen - cow 234 good, however, some scratches on steers 33 and 270

A mixed group of fourteen cows were on Sandy Hill around ///piles.survey.crumples at 09:45 this morning.  Initially, some were standing in the sun trying to dry out from the earlier rain, while others were eating grass.  The rain didn't stay off for long though, and by 09:55 the cows were taking shelter under the trees by the fence line, with a few opting for the gorse bushes.

Older steer 20 and cows 72 and 940 were deep in the gorse bushes a bit further east along Sandy Hill around ///gives.pitchers.worthy at 10:10.  They soon came out though and wandered along to join the others.

I stayed with the herd for a while, hoping that steers 227 and 271 would make an appearance, but they didn't, so I went off searching for them.  Not having any success, I arrived back to the cow's original location at 11.05 to find that yearling 271 had joined the group and was happily grazing.  Youngster 227 emerged from the thicket behind the herd, and wandered along to meet them.  He was absolutely soaking, dirty and covered in gorse and was looking rather sorry for himself.  He came and said hello, received an ear rub and allowed me to brush all the gorse off his back.

Youngster 234's leg was absolutely fine, with no trace of the scratch from yesterday.  However, older steer 33 had a scratch on his rear right-hand leg.  And yearling 270 had a scratch just above his front left-hand foot.  Photos below.  I don't remember the cows picking up as many nicks and scratches from gorse at this time last year.

The cows were all good today.

Hoping everyone has a very Happy New Year.

Saturday 30th December - All 19 seen - Cow 234 has scratch on her rear right leg

The cows were well spread out in small groups grazing in the pasture around ///nooks.hush.blur at 11:15 this morning.  They were rather wet, but that didn't stop them from enjoying lots of heather.

Youngster 227 was grazing to the north, in the thicket around ///oldest.nurtures.cuter.  Steers 33 and 220 were close by.  

The cows all slowly moved east, getting to the gorse bushes near James Bond pond around ///swanky.fled.jetliner at 12:10.  There were frequent rain showers around that time, so many of the cows stayed in the bushes and ate or rested and chewed their cud.  After the rain stopped, steers 35, 217, 219 and 228 all emerged and went grazing on the pasture to the east.

Cow 234 has a red scratch on her rear right leg.  It looks like a scrape from some gorse, but because she was wet it had spread.  She was walking fine and had climbed up a hill to some higher ground where she was grazing.  Otherwise, she seemed to be okay.  Youngster 219's foot was fine today, with no sign of the previous scratch.

The cows were all good today.

Friday 29th December - All 19 seen

Steers 33, 220, 227 and 228 were all munching on gorse from the bushes around ///golf.tanks.fights at 12:30 this afternoon.  After a short while, they all came together and stood in the sunshine.  They were all looking well.

Fifteen minutes later, steers 30, 35 and 217, plus cow 234 were all grazing in the area around ///habits.fizzy.cool. They were enjoying lots of heather. It was quite swampy in bits, but it wasn't causing them any issues. They were happy and relaxed.

The other eleven cows were spread out, grazing along the main path down near the Beacon Hill Road entrance around ///info.ideals.hops down shortly before 13:00.  Most were enjoying the grass, but a few went into the gorse bushes on the south side of the path.  The second group of four cows soon turned up, with the three steers joining steer 20 in standing, relaxing and chewing their cud.  Cow 234 joined the other cows in grazing.

By 13:20, youngsters 215 and 219 had reached the area around ///heat.monk.proved where they started to relax and chew their cud.  They were soon joined by some others.  About five minutes later, the initial four steers turned up as well, mooing as they arrived.  They, too, started to rest.   Steer 219 had really muddy feet today, so I couldn't see if his scratch had healed, but I expect he was fine.

The cows were all good today.

Thursday 28th December - All 19 seen - steer 219 has a small scratch just above his front right foot

All nineteen cows were found wandering west along Sandy Hill at 09:30 this morning.  I met steers 21, 30 and 230 just after the pill box, with the others spread out close by.  They were all very chilled out and would walk a bit, stop and graze on some grass, leaves and gorse, before continuing.  Several wandered over to say hello as they progressed.  Cow 215 and steer 227 were particularly friendly, and both got the loose gorse brushed off their backs, followed by an ear rub.

The cows weren't in any particular hurry today, with the lead group making it to the far end of Sandy Hill by 10.25.  Several of the older cows had stopped further back and formed a huddle where they were standing, relaxing while chewing their cud.

Youngster 219 had a small red scratch just above his front right foot (photo below).  It looked like he'd likely caught it on a bit of gorse or bramble, just like youngster 220 did a couple of days ago.  It wasn't causing him any issues, though.

The cows were all good today.

Wednesday 27th December - All 19 seen

Steer 20 was happily munching on gorse in the bushes just off the main path around ///partly.allergy.package at 09:00 today.   It was very windy on Caesar's this morning!

The other eighteen cows were well spread out in small groups, grazing in the area to the north around ///blip.fattening.mailings.  They were mainly eating crunchy gorse and heather.  They were all a bit damp, but seemed happy enough.  

The cows were in and out of the gorse bushes, making it tricky to keep track of them.  The older cows were using their horns to pull down and break the branches, which gave away their whereabouts.  Youngster 220 was happily munching deep in the gorse bushes, but eventually came out, allowing me to confirm his foot was fine today.  Older steer 33 was the last to make an appearance at 09:50.  He took a drink from a large puddle and then went back to grazing.

The cows were all good today.