they will have done their worst and moved on somewhere else. Some people blame farmers for the decline in songbirds, when all about me I see birds of prey and other predators wrecking havoc with bird populations.
At this time of year our dry cows, cows that are resting between one spell of giving milk and the arrival of their next calf, are all away on our other land and it is important to check them closely every day. I need to see if they are approaching calving and that their udders are healthy. A modern dairy cow’s life is a busy one and this eight to 10 week period of rest and relaxation is an important time. We check their feet before they go away and trim them if necessary; a few weeks off concrete, recharging their batteries, works wonders. My holidays seem to do the opposite for me but then my dry cows don’t stay up too late and drink too much wine.
Earlier this morning, I saw a hare and a pheasant sitting in the maize. I see hares and pheasants in the maize every day, so what’s different about these two? Well, they were both sitting close together. If the pheasant’s wing had been an arm it could have put it around the hare. I watched them for five minutes beforeI moved on and they were still there. What do you reckon was going on?
IT’S MORE than a month now since I went around the landlord’s 6m margins with the topper. There is supposed to be a 2m strip cut into these margins on the side nearest the field.
It was once explained to me that these were for birds to dry off after heavy rain. If that is true, then the strips will have come into their own this year.
What particularly caught my eye was how much these margins have changed in their nature and composition in the three or four years they have been there.
I was also told that the idea of the margins was to provide wildlife corridors around fields. When we first left them they were obviously also a valuable food source because what was left to grow was the remnants of what was there before, be it grassland or cereals.
These would obviously go to seed and provide a good food source for birds in the winter. But the nature of these margins is changing with time.
Most of the food sources have now disappeared and boar thistles and ragwort catch my eye. This last year, I have noted that the beginnings of trees are appearing, especially blackthorn and saplings, that look a bit like willow but obviously aren’t.
Given a few more years, I don’t think these margins will be doing what they are supposed to. I was always told that they were RSPB-inspired, and you have to ask yourself if these people who seek to take over the countryside actually know what they are doing. In a few years’ time I will probably report that we have had to take a chainsaw to the margins so that wildlife can get through.
TODAY I’m topping a field, cutting off grass that has given way to seed, of which there’s a fair bit, but mostly where dung pats have been deposited thus far in the grazing season.
There are a few thistles and lots and lots of docks. I like to hear docks going through the topper so there are lots of nice noises coming from behind me.
There are quite a few plants that I call burdocks – I’m not really sure if that’s the right name. It’s a plant that grows a sort of burr that clings to your clothes. They have a tough woody stem and go through the topper with a clunk.
I decide that the docks have gone beyond what is acceptable and therefore decide, as I drive along, that I will spray them when they regrow.
There’s quite a lot of white clover in this field and that will disappear with the spray, but I can put some clover back into it – it’s better to lose the docks.
Cock pheasants are at the skulking stage of their annual cycle and when I start the process of topping there’s not one to be seen but as I progress with my work, one by one they come out of the undergrowth and when I go to the gate, job finished, I look back and count 20
At this time of year our dry cows, cows that are resting between one spell of giving milk and the arrival of their next calf, are all away on our other land and it is important to check them closely every day. I need to see if they are approaching calving and that their udders are healthy. A modern dairy cow’s life is a busy one and this eight to 10 week period of rest and relaxation is an important time. We check their feet before they go away and trim them if necessary; a few weeks off concrete, recharging their batteries, works wonders. My holidays seem to do the opposite for me but then my dry cows don’t stay up too late and drink too much wine.
Earlier this morning, I saw a hare and a pheasant sitting in the maize. I see hares and pheasants in the maize every day, so what’s different about these two? Well, they were both sitting close together. If the pheasant’s wing had been an arm it could have put it around the hare. I watched them for five minutes beforeI moved on and they were still there. What do you reckon was going on?
IT’S MORE than a month now since I went around the landlord’s 6m margins with the topper. There is supposed to be a 2m strip cut into these margins on the side nearest the field.
It was once explained to me that these were for birds to dry off after heavy rain. If that is true, then the strips will have come into their own this year.
What particularly caught my eye was how much these margins have changed in their nature and composition in the three or four years they have been there.
I was also told that the idea of the margins was to provide wildlife corridors around fields. When we first left them they were obviously also a valuable food source because what was left to grow was the remnants of what was there before, be it grassland or cereals.
These would obviously go to seed and provide a good food source for birds in the winter. But the nature of these margins is changing with time.
Most of the food sources have now disappeared and boar thistles and ragwort catch my eye. This last year, I have noted that the beginnings of trees are appearing, especially blackthorn and saplings, that look a bit like willow but obviously aren’t.
Given a few more years, I don’t think these margins will be doing what they are supposed to. I was always told that they were RSPB-inspired, and you have to ask yourself if these people who seek to take over the countryside actually know what they are doing. In a few years’ time I will probably report that we have had to take a chainsaw to the margins so that wildlife can get through.
TODAY I’m topping a field, cutting off grass that has given way to seed, of which there’s a fair bit, but mostly where dung pats have been deposited thus far in the grazing season.
There are a few thistles and lots and lots of docks. I like to hear docks going through the topper so there are lots of nice noises coming from behind me.
There are quite a few plants that I call burdocks – I’m not really sure if that’s the right name. It’s a plant that grows a sort of burr that clings to your clothes. They have a tough woody stem and go through the topper with a clunk.
I decide that the docks have gone beyond what is acceptable and therefore decide, as I drive along, that I will spray them when they regrow.
There’s quite a lot of white clover in this field and that will disappear with the spray, but I can put some clover back into it – it’s better to lose the docks.
Cock pheasants are at the skulking stage of their annual cycle and when I start the process of topping there’s not one to be seen but as I progress with my work, one by one they come out of the undergrowth and when I go to the gate, job finished, I look back and count 20
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