We've had a few reject one of a pair of twins. In the extreme, mothers one, batters the other. First time this year we've had one reject both.
I'm hoping to fish tomorrow afternoon. Mrs Remote will be on feed duty then. Another 24 -36 hours and it'll go from 4 to 6 hourly. 2-3 days after that, 8 hourly.
On the road again today. Three quarters of the way up a mountain at Staylittle, Llanbrynmair. 3 hours here and 3 hours home. Technical question for Remote. Black lambs out numbering white ones, at least 3 to 1, on a farm between Builth Wells and Rhayader. Have the mother sheep been visited by a wooly Samuel L Jackson or is it a genetic thing for some reason?
Staylittle, nice. I know the mountain roads around there quite well. I've spent a lot of time fishing the lakes and rivers of the Cambrian mountains. Clywedog is a nice setting and full of trout. As for black sheep. It'll be genetic. Quite a few breeds are black. You see quire a few black sheep on the hills. Ours are mamby-pamby low land sheep. They wouldn't survive up there. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Welsh_Mountain_sheep
Sister on the left, brother on the right. Still at home and not great. Sister better than brother, but a long way to go for both. Food going straight through them.
Weather still a bit rough up here in Cheshireland. 40mph winds on Monday, hail and thunder on Tuesday, then more rain and strong winds. But, but, at the end of last week, I spotted swallows over our club trout fishery. Yesterday, and 600 yds away at our small holding, swallows in and out of one of our stables. They've nested there for a few years and raised 2 broods last year. Nice to see them back. Summer just around the corner? I think I may have mentioned the swallows last year. In high summer the young were jumping out of the nest as it was so hot up in the ridge. Hoping we don't get the extremes of weather this year, though with the last 6 months of rain, we've already had one extreme.
It's a fantastic time of year for birds. My friends up in Caithness currently have Curlews and Lapwings in the field outside their window. At the other end of the country, my friends in Hampshire have reported the return of the House Martins, Sand Martins along with Swallows and Swifts. I expect the the non zoo part of Slimbridge will have a fair bit going on too.
We get lapwings in our fields from time to time. Our club trout lake has oystercatcher nesting on one of the islands. They sometimes fly the few hundred yards to us. Collar doves nesting in the apex of the shed, hedgerows alive with all sorts. The lane from us to the trout lake has lots of jay in the woods, we get kingfisher on the lake as well as coot, moorhen, mallards, geese and swans. Grebe and dab chick also. An osprey went over a couple weeks ago. I've repeatedly said that my main hobby spawns side interests. Piscator non solum piscatur.
Latest from Slimbridge is that they now have at least 4 Avocet nests. I have to say that Avocet chicks are probably the cutest things I've ever seen. I miss getting down there to spend time in the hides and watch a huge range of wild birds that visit. Hopefully I'll manage it soon. Additional. I've just been told that an Osprey has been sighted from one of the hides fishing over the Severn.
