Sunday 7th September - All 25 seen - Steer 35 has broken both outer claws on his rear hooves

Unfortunately, my visit to Caesar’s today was interrupted several times by work issues that needed my attention, which meant I was out longer than planned.

At 10:40 this morning, Sussex steers 197 and 1640, along with cows 211, 212, and 1396, were grazing near ///supple.spines.quote on the Gelvert reserve. They were all very friendly, pausing their grazing to come over for strokes. I was really surprised to see cow 211 had wandered all the way down to the bottom of Gelvert on her own since yesterday. She was particularly affectionate, leaning in for long head and neck rubs and rewarding me with cuddles and licks. By the time I left at 11:15, the group had climbed the bank and started making their way up the path towards the covered reservoir. All five looked happy, relaxed, and in good condition.

At 11:40, I found youngster 230 alone in the woodland near ///stall.leans.inflict, southeast of James Bond Pond. He was enjoying a back scratch when we heard mooing to the east, so we set off together to investigate. A little further on, we found youngster 227 wandering near ///wins.gift.strapping. He stopped and waited for us before continuing east towards Horse Pond. By 11:55, we had reached the trees west of the pond, where more distant mooing caught our attention. Soon after, youngsters 210 and 219 appeared from the northwest.

After a short rest and some foraging for acorns, Sussex steer 210 set off west along the path towards ///bound.pill.reset, pausing to moo loudly every so often as if searching for someone. Steers 219 and 230 followed, while 227 headed off east on his own. After another brief stop, they headed uphill towards James Bond Pond, then continued west, pausing to drink from puddles near ///strikers.guises.lake. Again, steer 210 was very vocal as they looped around into the pasture northwest of the pond. With no other cows showing on the tracker, I decided to leave them at 12:50, hoping he would soon settle.

At 13:10, I found steers 30 and 270 with cow 940 grazing in the pasture near ///unless.tribe.verbs at the eastern end of the site. Nearby, steer 20 was lying in the bracken, relaxing and chewing his cud. All four were content, relaxed, and in good condition.

By 13:20, a mixed group of twelve cattle, including Sussex steer 1626, was resting on one of the grassy islands at the Sandy Bowl. Youngster 227 had joined them, while cow 214 was grazing in the gorse bushes just outside the boundary to the northeast. They were all very friendly, with many getting up to greet me. Youngster 222 and yearling 271 were especially affectionate, leaning in for endless neck and back rubs. All twelve were relaxed, content, and looking well.

As I prepared to head towards the Lookout searching for cow 234, a loud moo rang out at 13:55, and she appeared from the woodland to the west. Shortly afterwards, steer 270 and cow 940 also joined the group. After spending some time with her herd mates, and after saying hello to me, cow 234 wandered off to graze on the grass to the east, outside the boundary. I said my goodbyes at 14:20.

I also noted that older steer 35 has now broken the ends of both outer claws on his rear hooves—the first photo shows the left hoof, and the second the right.

The cows were all good today. I’m really hoping steer 210 has since settled and reunited with his fellow Sussexes.