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Baylham News - February 2010

The snow seems to have gone but whether this is just a temporary clearance we will have to wait and see.  In either case, it is still very cold and the lake remains partally frozen.

We reopen in nine days time and, in keeping with well established tradition, we are not ready. 

Full of potholes
...drive still full of pot holes...

The drive is still full of pot holes waiting to be repaired and the yard has all been dug up in order to put in some drainage pipes and repair old and cracked concrete.

concrete

Justin proving to be a good concrete mixer.

On the bright side, some snowdrops and aconites are out and the daffodils are now showing three to four inches of green.  Song thrushes are beginning to sing from the tops of their favourite trees and some pairs of Canada Geese are searching for suitable nest sites on the islands and in the lakeside reeds and vegetation.

Snowdrops & Aconites

..Snowdrops and Aconites...

We now seem to have reached a stable situation with the duck population on the lake.  Tufted Duck are by far the most numerous and Mallard run them a close second with Widgeon not far behind.  For the past week or so there have been about six male Pochard floating around in a group but, every time that I have seen them each morning, they have always been asleep with their heads tucked firmly under their wings. Heaven knows what they have been up to at night as all the other ducks are very active in the mornings. We have also had five pairs of Shovelers present each day and Teal and Gadwall have been present on a daily basis for several weeks. 

I have just finished reading - for the umteenth time -  A Marshland Adventure, by J Wentworth Day ( I note that Amazon have a couple of second hand copies for sale ).  It is all about the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, the old broadsmen, the wildfowlers and the wildlife.  Written just after the war it also tells tales of the previous generations of broadsmen.  The reason I mention it here is that,much to my surprise, he records Gadwall as being a rare duck.  Ever since I learned to identify Gadwall a few years ago I have not regarded them as being in any way rare as they seem to be here throughout the winter.

I have seen masses of Woodcock this winter.  Always single examples but coming across them, usually on the river banks, on a regular basis.  In December, on three or four occasions we were  visited by both male and female Goosanders.

I seem to have rambled on a bit and those of you who find birds a bit boring will have given up by now.  The real reason for updating the news page is that this morning at 3am our first lamb of 2010 arrived.  A little Llanwenog ram lamb who so far, like his doting mother, is doing well and enjoying long sleeps under his heat lamp.  Kate, our shepherd, now has a baby to look after.

First lamb of 2010

Kate looking after mother and new baby



Richard Storer


3 February 2010


 

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