Sunday 31st December

 Unseasonably warm & pretty slippery. Took an hour even with the family’s assistance. 38 came to the rattled nuts, 6 remained at the top of the crater & another 17 WFW remained oblivious near gate 3, which has lost its fastening clip. Tricky for a sheep to get through the gate, more likely to get stuck in the middle. Tall tree (see photo, left side before Gate 2 along the fenced path- suspect a comedians added the 1?!) in danger of falling. All sheep well & happily munching.

Spoke to  2 lots of dog walkers. One had 2 black labs off the lead by Plum. She was from Nether Wallop, comes up frequently &, having passed the flock by Gate 3, presumed she’d passed them all. After standing corrected (I gently explained consequences) & chatting, we concluded Wallops’ village email, Parish Pump, might be worth informing of the location & quantity of sheep as many Wallopers use the Down apparently. Also mooted adding sheep numbers to the gates- although if one’s ignoring signage then why take notice of numbers?! Second couple walking outside the enclosure had one dog off the lead, & assured me both would be on when informed of the sheep location. They’re from Broughton but not on the village email.

Pippa Evans    pp Sammy Perrett

Friday 29th December

 Pretty sure I counted 61!  Didn't notice any limping although one Whiteface was coughing a bit.

Gates OK (latch by the corral not firm). 4 walkers but no dogs.  Tim

Thursday 28th December

 All 61 sheep found, a lot of the WFWs were high up and sheltering from the wind.

Those sheep down towards the Sheep Nuts/Water were very keen on Sheep Nuts today.

One of the Shetlands has quite a few brambles in its coat but it doesn't seem to be causing it a problem.

I didn't see the WFW limping but lots were sitting.

Water Trough was full and still plenty of sheep nuts.

The gate by the water trough/sheep nuts is closed but the latch does not work, however it was staying closed despite there being high winds (it seemed more sheltered down there).

Checked all fences for fallen trees but none across the fences, most of the fallen branches/trees were on the path from the Clarendon Way outside the reserve compartments.

Wednesday 27th December

38 sheep came when called, 23 WFW stayed put in the wooded area near the Plum Pudding. One Shetland was all on its own near gate 7 but joined the others when called, albeit in no hurry. Didn't notice any health issues. 

Gate 7 seemed reluctant to close. The wire's gone slack again. It will close but the strong wind can hold it open. Gate 1's lock doesn't work properly. The bolt can quite easily slide past it. The wire should keep it closed but again, a strong gust of wind might open it. 

Water trough was full due to the rain. There are plenty of nuts in the tin.

26 Dec

all 61 found, eventually. One white faced hanging about at the top of the beechwood (photo) had a very pronounced limp front left leg. One black faced is very small and lost a lot of fleece (picture). Sorry I couldn't get close enough to either to read their number. All gates checked and ok. I topped up the water, sheep nuts ok. Gates okay no walkers

Friday 22 December

Bea and her colleagues were on the Down treating the limper when I arrived.

43 sheep on the lower section and the remaining 18 found in trees at the top of the compartment, no issues noted to any of them apart from the one being treated (see Bea's blog this morning)

Staff check update

A call came in about an escaped WFW sheep along the whiteshute bridleway.

We went to check the site, gate 2 must of been kept open during yesterday's westerly winds giving the sheep a chance to wonder out as we saw poo along the track. With no latch it must of got itself back in as all sheep present on site.

The grazing team treated the sheep that's had a limp, it presented with scald (bacterial infection) in 2 of its feet. This means the limping should get better in a few days but if not it will need further treatment.

I've locked gate 2 up until we can get our to do a proper repair.

Thanks all, have a lovely Christmas break.

Bea and the team

Wednesday 20th December

All 61 sheep accounted for. 41 were near the trough, the other 20 (all WFW) were in the wooded area not too far from the plum pudding. All seemed in good health, besides the limping WFW. It seemed to be limping in it's front left leg as well as it's back left. Was very slow to get food and looked generally unsteady on its feet.

Gate 3, in the far south corner, doesn't fully close on it's own, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. 

The pipe to the water trough was disconnected. I couldn't put it back in due to whete the trough was positioned and with the water it was too heavy to move. It did have plenty of water in it though. 

No walkers in the compound.

Tuesday 19 Dec

61 sheep accounted for, eventually. I didn't see any limping although I did not get a close look at a bunch deep in the woodland. Fleeces seemed ok, although the one in the photo seemed to have two or three areas each the size of a 50p piece on its flank with shorter hair. Gates ok. Water was ok but not full, surprisingly as it was tipping it down this morning, so I added a little. Nuts ok but could do with topping up to last a fortnight. Gates ok. No walkers were mad enough to go out in this weather. It is very slippery out there.

Correction: no photo, turns out my phone screen is sensitive to rain and took 21 pictures, all rubbish and out of focus.

Happy Christmas all!

Monday 18th December

 All 61 sheep found and looking healthy, the limper must have been sitting as I didn't spot any moving with a limp.

Note that 8 sheep were hard to find as they were in the beech woodland.

Water trough refilled, sheep nuts will last 3-4 days I think.

No dogs or walkers seen on reserve.

Boundary fences checked, a lot of scrub near the fence towards Broughton has been removed making it much easier to check.

Sunday 17th December

 All the sheep were present and very friendly! No problems to report all looked well. We didn't see another soul on the downs so no dog walkers. Apart from the 5 bar entrance gate all the gates were good.

Pippa     pp. Keith & Sue Stevens

Friday 15th December

 Eventually found them all (they were in 3 groups).  One Whiteface limping a bit (front right foot).

All gates OK (and water).  No walkers.  Pippa pp Tim Evans

Wednesday 13th December

All 61 accounted for. The WFWs like to hide in the ditch amongst the trees but they came out when called. All seemed in good health, I didn't notice any limping.

Gates were all in working order. I'm not sure how to check the trough is refilling but it looked quite full.

A couple of people walked through but no dogs.

I did catch my finger on a bramble while I was out, so be wary of them.

(Belated) Wednesday 6th December

Apologies! I seem to have forgotten to post this one

The sheep began to disperse quite quickly after feeding, but I counted 61 so that should be all of them. All seemed in good health. Plenty of nuts. Ice needed breaking on the trough but there was plenty of water.

One of the gates' lock doesn't work properly, but it closes fine so I don't think it's an issue. It's the one by the trough if I recall correctly.

There's a tree at risk of falling on the slope leading up to the Plum Pudding. It's being supported by another tree but it's roots have torn away. I've reported it to Bea.

sheltand fleece update

Grazing team reckon the recent fleece loss on a few shetlands was just from bramble and thorn pulling it off from the way it appears and nothing like mites of mange.

1 WFW has back left limp to monitor 

Monday 12 Dec

I counted at least 61 this morning in half a dozen groups scattered all over the place (as I was approaching last group at the top West gate others were joining them who I had already counted, and then the heavens opened and we all scattered). Trough good, I topped up a bit from the small container. Gates fine no people

Monday 11th November

 All 61 sheep found :-

24 WWF in and around the beech wood at the top (note most were sitting down so I'm not sure if the one that was limping is now okay).

The other 37 on the lower slopes.

59 look in good condition but 2 of the Shetlands fleeces looked in poor condition so I have included photos below (in the first photo it is the sheep on the left):-

Plenty of sheep nuts left and the trough was full (I guessed the stick in the trough is to help

and small creatures get out so I left it.

Note: The boundary fence is very hard to check in some places and so for the western boundary I went out onto the adjacent footpath to check.

Saturday 9th December

Tim & I found the sheep in two groups. The Shetlands were down near the corral and were enjoying the salt lick. The Whitefaced Woodlands were up in the orchid area. All 61 looked healthy and have obviously been exploring the Western compartment as there are muddy hoof prints everywhere. Trough, gates Ok and no dogwalkers  Pippa

Friday 8th December

All 61 sheep found in two separate areas of the western compartment. No problems noted all appear well.

No dogs or walkers, food bin now almost empty but note Bea is due to fill up today. 

Tuesday 5th SHEEP MOVE

All 61 now in Western compartment.

All signs now up on the gates going into this field.

The black trough needs to be manually filled up. I'll be back on Friday to install a pipe onto the IBC water unit so the trough can be easily topped up.

Please check levels on your rounds.

Red nut bucket ontop of iBC with some nuts, I'll also replenish this on Friday.

Thanks All! Very happy sheep on some fresh grazing

Bea

Here's a w3w reminder of the location of this trough

Monday 4th December

 Sheep still in central compartment.

61 sheep counted, 60 healthy but one WWF has a limp, 

(I took a video but wasn't able to attach it to the blog so have sent to Bea)

it has a yellow tag in its ear but I couldn't get close enough to see the number.

Sheep nuts have now run out (there were only a handful plus dust left).

Water trough full and ball cock working.

No walkers or dogs spotted on reserve.

Saturday 2nd December

 All is well on the down, 61 sheep looking healthy. Pippa pp Rebecca & Dom McKay

Friday 1st December

 Try as I could the maximum count was 60 but I walked the whole area and couldn't find anything amiss.

Last year all sheep would come running at call but there are some now who show no interest (obviously not worth the effort for a few nuts!) All gates ok - broke the ice on water trough. Nuts are very low.

Pippa pp.  Tim