Sunday 27th October - All 25 seen

Cow 212 was happily grazing in the sunshine near ///bends.repay.done at 09:00 this morning, while cow 1396 and steers 220, 1626, and 1640 were eating in the nearby gorse bushes. Youngster 228 was out in the open, grazing near ///simply.apron.blacken. After checking on him, I heard mooing from the higher ground and went to investigate.

Steers 21, 33, 197, 210, 219, along with cow 211, had gathered near ///worry.grub.swift at 09:20. The Shetlands went off to graze in the thicket, while the Sussexes relaxed, chewing their cud. Around 09:30, yearling 270 wandered over from the northeast to join them. Cow 211 was very friendly today, giving me lots of licks after a back rub.

Cows 72, 214 and 940, along with steers 222 and 271, were grazing in the sunshine just along from the Lookout at 10:00, enjoying plenty of grass. Steers 20 and 217 were grazing in the bracken to the south. They all looked happy and well, though I noticed that youngster 217's collar chain seemed to be rubbing, causing slight hair thinning on his neck.

With five cows still unaccounted for, I set off on a loop around the site. Passing the second group again around 10:50, I found the three Sussexes now resting under the trees in the same area as earlier. To my surprise, I spotted yearling 270 alone near ///pegs.drip.spout around 11:10. He was mooing occasionally and seemed to be looking for others, though heading in the wrong direction. I persuaded him to follow me, and we found steer 35 grazing near ///spite.backs.exotic at 11:25. Across the path, steers 220 and 228 were grazing in the gorse, where yearling 270 happily joined them. The four Sussexes were close by.

On my way back to the Lookout around noon, I passed steers 21 and 33 on the hill near ///crafts.saunas.slams, likely heading to join the nearby group.

The four missing cows were found just after 12:10. Steer 30 and cow 234 were resting in the bracken near ///mere.pink.skies with the others who had been grazing near the Lookout earlier. Steer 230 was standing chewing his cud, while steer 227 was relaxing in the shade near ///issue.bliss.rigs. I have no idea where those four had been earlier.

To cap off a rather eventful visit, as I was leaving at 12:30, steers 21 and 33 came wandering towards me at the far west end of Sandy Hill. They stopped briefly before setting off eastward along the hill.

The cows were all good today.