Far Lands

The chap from the local raptor monitoring group came this week, and installed a new owl box. (The old barrel has not been occupied because it is near our sheds and I am too noisy.) Bright blue, as you can see, and hopefully the owls will too. He filled it with rotten wood material (similar to what would be found in a hole in a tree) as the owls do not bring anything into the box (or take anything out). We were keen to be able to view it from the house but he was unsure. 'Too much noise,' he said. 'We'll be quiet,' I replied. ' Them,  not you,' he said. Can't imagine what they'll be up to. He was full of info about the flora and fauna of the peak. For example a bird of prey high in the sky that does flap, flap, glide and is a T shape is a sparrowhawk. If it's more of a cross shape then it's a goshawk.

Snow came to Hayfield this week and stopped normal activity on the smallholding. It coincided almost exactly with a visit from my brother who lives in Brisbane. He left an Aussie Summer of 25C, the beaches and his flip flops to come here. He dug out his only jumper and bought a hat at the airport. This is what we did to him . . . . . . at the end of which he said he felt "well and truly Hayfielded ." I took it as a compliment.

I found it in one of our compost heaps back in August. Dead. (see blog No 435) The local raptor monitoring group sent it off for a post-mortem and have just sent me the results. It simply starved to death. It was a young bird and ' it must have be struggling to learn to hunt for itself ' according to my contact. The PM recorded that it weighed 120g, its body condition was EMACIATED, that it had no maggots, that the probable cause of death was COLLISION, that its brain weighed 2.85g, its liver 3.4g and that its gonads were too small to measure. It's hard up North!  

Well, not exactly Christmas cake. Just the marzipan or to be precise, baker's fondant which is very similar. Baker's fondant is made from sugar, water and a little glucose to keep it supple. It is a white sticky block very similar in feel to marzipan. The bees can take it up very easily, more easily than sugar solution and it is fed to to the bees in times of emergency - when the bees need energy very quickly. Like now. The bees, like the daffodils down South, are confused at the moment with the warm weather (aren't we all) and they keep leaving the hive to see if spring has arrived. But spring has not arrived, and they return to the hive knackered and without any pollen or nectar to sustain them. Hence, I am feeding them fondant. The pictures show a slab I put in a week ago. They have eaten their way up through it and are wondering where the icing and the decorations are. They are, however, still alive!