Sunday 31st August

 All 40 sheep were accounted for & looking fit & very happy .

The water troughs were full & in working order.

No bonfires present or signs of fly tipping. 

All gates into the central compartment are secure. But we noticed the lever on the gate to the woods from the Eastern compartment is sticking, therefore doesn't return easily to close!!

We didn't meet any dog walkers. Also, not much cutting back was needed this time on the footpaths.

So, all good. 😊

Pippa    pp. Mike & Lindsey Moore

Friday 29 August

All the sheep were spread out this afternoon, 8 WF and 1 Shetland on hill towards east compartment, 10 WF and 1 Shetland in bushes by food bucket and remaining WF and Shetlands all in bushes by Northern fence.

No problems noted , plenty of food in bucket and water in trough, no walkers or dogs.

Monday 25th August

 Found all 40 sheep and all looked healthy, found in the following locations :-

- 12 WFW and 1 Shetland in area around sheep nuts and troughs

- 8 WFW and 1 Shetland in bushes along Northern boundary (on Western side)

- 18 Shetlands in the undergrowth along the Western Edge of the compartment. I had to get right into the undergrowth to find them all.

Sheep Nuts about 45% full, water troughs near full.

No dog walkers seen in compartment just outside compartment.

Sunday 24th August

 

Sheep present and correct, all spread out so need for nuts.

Pippa    pp. Liz Boulton & Di Crawshaw

Friday 22 August

20 WF and 1 Shetland found by the trough and feed bucket, the remaining 19 Shetland in the bushes over by the west end , all sheep appear to be in good condition.

Plenty of food and water, no walkers or dogs.

New Reserves Officer Introduction

Hi all,

Just wanted to introduce myself - my name is Andy and I am the new Reserves Officer and Bea's replacement for the Central Rivers and Downs Reserves. I've come to the HIWWT from the Ranger Team at the South Downs National Park Authority, and before this I was a member of the Central Team within the Wildlife Trust - so I may well have met a few of you before!

Please if you have any issues or need to get in touch - my e-mail address is andy.reeves@hiwwt.org.uk. I am yet to get a work phone but will communicate my number with you as soon as I do.

Thanks in advance for all of your continued help at Broughton Down and looking forward to meeting lots of you over the coming weeks.

All the best,

Andy

Tuesday 19 August

All 40 sheep found. 20 Shetlands and half the white faced at the west end of the compartment, the rest of the white face around the trough. Water fine, food low but hopefully Tom will have a top up today, all looked healthy. Gates ok, no walkers or dogs seen. Post script: yes Tom has bought sheep nuts so I shall take them to the red bin later

Monday 18th August

 Found all 40 sheep and all looked healthy. 12 WFW and 1 shetland were on the western side of the compartment out on the Down, the other 8 WFW and 19 Shetlands were in the bushes in the vicinity of the NW gate.

Sheep Nuts are almost empty now (enough for 1 or 2 days), water troughs are full.

All fences sound and all gates good except for the faulty latch on the gate neat plum pudding.

No dogs or walkers seen.

Saturday 16th August

 We counted 39 healthy-looking sheep, mainly clustered down by the water troughs, which are both filling up properly.

Pippa pp. David & Vicki Reynolds

Friday 15 August

 Eventually found all 40, seemed fine. Couldn't spot the chest cut. Some WFWs very bold, climbing up me to get to the food. Found one foraging for blackberries, front hooves on the back fence. which surprised me! Nuts getting low. No walkers or other issues. Beautiful early morning start - thanks sheep!

Tuesday 12 August

All 40 present and correct. All the Shetland and 8 WFW were near the North West gate, 12 wfw near the trough. All but one came to call, the loner being the brown one so easy to distinguish. 

The WFW with blood on neck is number 195, and still has blood on him but looks otherwise fine, I couldn't see sign of infection. 

Troughs, food ok. Gates ok. One dog walker in reserve but not in compartment.

Sunday 10th August

We only found 38 - two missing Shetlands.

We met the Monday looker by chance (who was counting butterflies) and he said he had just seen fresh sheep droppings in the western compartment. We also saw them (just the other side of the lower gate) but no sheep.  So 2 Shetlands missing from the count. It was very hot so they also may have been keeping cool in the deep cover.

Coughing sheep: one WFW had quite a persistent dry cough. I have attached photos but couldn’t quite get a clear shot of her number tag.

Gates: The catch on gate 6 is loose allowing the gate to actually be pushed open. The upper screw on gate 7 is loose - just needs tightening I think.

Trough was fine

Pippa     pp. Mary & Jim Whelton & Gwen McConnachie

Friday 8 August

The sheep were all hiding in the bushes lower down the slope , all 40 sheep appeared to be ok.

No issues with fences or gates , food bucket running low but plenty of water in troughs.

No walkers or dogs

Monday 4th August

 Found all 40 sheep and all looked healthy. 20 WFW and 1 shetland were in the area near the food and water , the other 19 Shetlands were in the bushes in the vicinity of the NW gate.

Sheep Nuts are about 50% full, water troughs are full.

All fences sound and all gates good except for the faulty latch on the gate neat plum pudding.

 All sheep found and counted, one WFW had gone to check out the grazing in the western compartment, but not sure how it had got there, they may want to check the fences  - we persuaded a return to the flock! All appeared well.

Pippa   pp. David & Gaynor Simpson

Friday 1st August

Eventually found all 40 healthy sheep. Most came running full speed for the nuts, while 8 WFW were hanging out separately at the top of the Down. Couldn't spot the chest scar on the WFW. Bungees on the food barrel are pretty threadbare & need replacing. Gate 6 (at Plum Pud) - latch is loose so doesn't always line up to catch the peg to secure the gate shut.  Sam Perrett