Young Kestrel on Hilltop Wall

Around teatime Janet noticed an unusual bird on the garden wall - our best guess is a young Kestrel preening itself before heading off hunting - lovely sight.  Photos will be a bit blurry since it was long way away & by the time I have cropped & enlarged the photos they are a bit disappointing - anyway there you go.

Any/all feedback from keen & knowledgeable birdwatchers would be welcome.  Seems to be an excessively fluffy Kestrel - that's for sure. 

Sheep Talk

I was chipping loose paint off the render this morning when Laurence, Gladys & Michael drove a flock of sheep past me to gather in the yard ready for sorting out which sheep would go to Leyburn market this week and it reminded me of the last time I saw my late Mother in Law Joan Graham back in mid 2002.  It reminds me of her, in that I think it was June when we were all sitting on the terrace outside having afternoon coffee in the sun when Laurence asked us to just clear a space for him to drive a flock of sheep by in front of the house - which is his direct way to take gathered sheep along to his yard and we sat back and watched as they streamed & jostled by.  We laughed about putting on a special show for Joan - who by that time was very weak and unknown to any of us was terminally ill with bowel cancer.  

She was not feeling at all well and so left us early to be back home with Peter & Margaret and having left us she was immediately admitted to hospital and very sadly died within two weeks - I still miss Joan and her wonderful robust, outspoken but incredibly loving & warm character.  After her death I wrote the following short poem about our afternoon in the sun & the sheep passing by: 

For Joan - Counting Sheep
 

We sat apart that afternoon basking in the Dale’s sun.

You with a rug across your lap gazing at the hills beyond the beck,

I propped against the dry stone wall reading.

The sheep used our terrace as a path to the meadow.

I moved you back to watch as they streamed and jostled by,

flowing, erratic with that vacant absent-minded look about them.

You said how big they looked close too

and laughed when I said we couldn’t always fix a cabaret like this.

And then you left for the last time,

frail and huddled in the car,

needing to get home.

And I forgot to kiss you goodbye.

Anyway - Janet was at the hairdresser's in Reeth this  morning and was talking to her hairdresser about sheep and the pros & cons of different breeds.  When she got home she commented that where else in the country would one get a good conversation about sheep farming as one had a haircut?

Finally a shot of sheep gathered by the gate to the West of Hill Top Farm - taken a few months ago.

 

Wildlife ( & not so Wild) News

Introduced Laurence Atkinson's handsome new tup "Chris" to our granddaughters Mimi & Tilly George.  Chris is a Swarble breed of sheep aparantly coming from the Netherlands where they are accusotmed to the harsh weather coming in off the North Sea - hence thay will feel right at home here in Argengathdale.  As well as being very hardy their fleece carries a significant price premium because of the exceptional quality of the wool so hopefully Laurence & Michael will get something from the fleece from Chris & his offspring rather than the negligible price they get for ordinary fleeces?

The white blaze on Chris's  muzzle and the white socks & tail are a characteristic marking for these sheep - how come Mimi is so worried about a big tup?  By the way Chris has recently been clipped - hence he is lacking his usual bulk and lovely dark brown fleece - odd that when clipped his remaining fleece is black underneath!

We had a Kestrel perch on the garden wlll just  outside the kitchen window yesterday - seems that it is an ideal resting place where they can scan the whole of the upper Arklebeck valley whilst sitting comfortably.  We have seen this happen before but of course by the time I have run upstairs for the camera they have moved off!

However we also had a group of six young Pheasant wander by on the terrace seemingly grazing and again by the time I got my camera only one remained.

Must keep the camera in the kitchen to get these instant wildlife shots (excluding Chris from the wildlife category of course as he is incredibly friendly - in fact so friendly that it is sometimes difficult to get him to move away from the gate so that one can get the car through).

Still waiting for the house painter (now about 4 weeks overdue) - if he cannot do the job then I guess I'll have to do it as we really need it doing before we can put Hill Top on the market since our purchase of Highfields in Reeth can oly be a few weeks away now.