Wednesday 12th August - All 25 seen

At 16:55 this afternoon, a mixed group of seventeen cattle were resting around 350 metres southwest of James Bond Pond, near ///slurred.topics.vast. Cows 214, 212, and 940, along with steers 197, 219, 227, 228, and 1626, were resting in the shade of a row of tall bushes, which did a fantastic job of shielding them from the sun. Cows 72, 234, and 1396, along with steers 21, 217, 222, 210, and 1640, were under the bushes to the east. Despite the intense heat, they were all happy to be approached for their checks, with most enjoying plenty of strokes and rubs. After a while, some of those in the bushes wandered out and settled down beside the cattle resting in the open. At various points, several stood up and came over for back rubs. It never ceases to amaze me that, even in this heat, certain members of the group still can't resist a good back scratch!

I realised I hadn't seen cow 211 and thought it odd that she hadn't come over to say hello. So, I went through the bushes to look for her and found her happily grazing on her own to the northeast. She immediately came over to greet me, enjoying a long head and neck rub and returning the affection with lovely head rubs and licks.

I also noticed that steer 1640's wound appeared to have opened up slightly again and was attracting many flies. He was happy for me to check it and give it a gentle clean, before I placed a large piece of bracken over the area to provide some protection from the flies.

Steers 220, 230, 270, and 271 had been grazing in the woodland further southwest, but all came over to join the main group at 17:25. They quickly settled down to relax and chew their cud. I said my goodbyes at 18:00, leaving them all peacefully resting.

At 18:15, older steer 35 was grazing deep among the bracken beneath the Lookout, near ///club.raven.speech. He looked happy enough from the higher ground, but I decided to go and say hello and give him a check. He seemed pleased to see a familiar face and came over to stand beside me for a while. Although he appeared perfectly content, I was slightly concerned that he had been on his own since I first arrived, so I decided to walk him down to Horse Pond, where the remaining three cattle were located.

He moved far more easily through the dense bracken and gorse than I did, but soon emerged onto the path, and we wandered down the hillside together. He stopped at the pond for a long, refreshing drink before we continued on to join the others.

By 18:40, steers 20, 30, and 33 had moved out of the woodland west of Horse Pond and were happily grazing at the bottom of the slope near ///audit.flask.asset. Steer 35 followed me along and joined them, and all four continued grazing in the cooling conditions. I stayed with them until just after 19:00, when I said my goodbyes, leaving them all peacefully grazing together.

Caesar's Camp was incredibly busy this evening, with people streaming in from all directions to watch the solar eclipse from various vantage points. The Lookout and the surrounding area, all the way along to ///inhaler.bother.cries, were especially popular. Steer 35 attracted quite a bit of attention as we walked down to Horse Pond, but he remained completely calm and seemed happy just to follow me.

The cattle were all good today.