Saturday 24th January - All 24 seen - a number of the cattle have lots of ticks and several have bald patches suggesting mites.

At 08:30 this morning, a group of eleven cattle were spread out, happily grazing in the thicket near the Bourley Road car park. Cow 234 and yearling 271 were enjoying plenty of grass around the large pools of water formed from all the recent rain. They were all very friendly, coming over to greet me and enjoy some strokes. Youngster 228 was especially friendly, thoroughly enjoying a long neck and back scratch before thanking me with some head rubs. The cattle were slowly making their way west, following the road. All eleven were happy, relaxed, and looking well.

At 09:45, the six Sussex cattle, along with youngsters 222 and 230, were grazing near their favourite Sandy Hill corner. Most were in the gorse bushes but quickly emerged to say hello and enjoy plenty of strokes and rubs.

By 10:30, cow 72, along with steers 219 and 227, wandered along the hill from the west to join them. A short time later, older steer 33 also wandered along. They were all friendly, coming straight over to greet me and enjoy some strokes.

By 11:10, most of the group had moved east to the end of the hill, where they started to rest and chew their cud. A couple moved through the gorse bushes to stand in the area cleared by the contractor. While chatting with one of the gents from Landmarc, we heard some mooing from the bottom of the hill and saw older steer 35 wandering along the path towards Horse Pond. After calling for him, he stopped and looked up before moving into the pasture at the foot of the hill. After a while, I wandered down to check him, and he was fine. He wisely stayed at the bottom of the hill, preempting the fact that the others would soon start making their way down, enjoying plenty of heather on the way.

I said my goodbyes at 12:10, leaving nine of the group grazing contentedly on the hillside, with Sussex cows 211 and 1396, along with steers 197 and 210, browsing gorse at the top of the hill.

I noted that a number of the cattle have a large number of ticks around their dewlaps and “armpits”, and several have bald patches on their back ends, sides, and necks suggesting mites. The recent wet, mild weather will certainly be contributing to this.

I also noted that steers 33 and 227 have slipped their collars.

I'll tidy this up and add some photos later.