MAKING HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES

While we were in Scotland, the farmer who owns the Dartmoor Madams moved them to a field that Natural England had specified as being only suitable for grazing ponies. I took Trigger down to the old field twice before I realised they weren't there. Poor Trigger was pretty desperate for company by the time I eventually confirmed I could take him to their new abode. It's logistically more difficult, as the whole moving procedure takes over an hour and therefore can't be done before I take OB to school any more. So, Trigger is only going once a week but for a couple of nights at a time. The weather has been absolutely amazing for a while now, and farmers are doing the first cut for hay and haylage. Today, the dogs and I took Trigger down to what is known as 'the boggy field' which involves following the lane over the moor and then down to the farm. I took these as we went, some with the camera, some with my phone. Trigger is very easy to catch:

This is the track to 'the boggy field'. The gate in is extremely difficult to open and, with two dogs on their lead and an excitable pony in need of company, taking pictures was too much of a challenge.

On the way back, we went up what is loosely called a bridleway but there's no way a horse could get up it at the moment with huge sections of fallen ivy, formerly coiled around massive trees, blocking the extremely narrow and steep track. This is one of the better sections:

Look at these steps!

And eventually to the gate out onto the moor:

More hay drying in the baking sun; views from the moor back over the surrounding farmland:

The moon has been really clear in the daytime recently:

The deciduous grasses on the moor are fully green and seeding now:

These were taken of Kestor yesterday as we walked back home from our rather long walk:

I think this might be a young Buzzard's feather trapped in the grass. There were a lot of pigeon feathers a bit further on from a recent kill.

Every post must have its Meadow Pipit:

These two were taken from about ten feet away from the subject. The auto-focus wouldn't work so I tried putting it on macro just to see what happened.....zoomed in and hoped for the best. Pretty good I think and, after David Turner's invaluable commenting ( http://beverleybirding.wordpress.com/ I don't know what I'd do without him and a few others!), am sure it is a Keeled Skimmer:

Stonechat female:

Stonechat Male:

I hope Trigger doesn't get stuck in any bogginess tonight. Thank goodness it's been so dry of late. After school tonight, I took OB down to Chagford's fabulous river-fed outdoor pool, which comes somewhere in the Guardian's top 100 outdoor pools in the WORLD! The setting is amazing and it was so hot, even I got in. A fish and chip van visits the village every Friday and Wednesday evening and we indulged tonight. Takeaways are a rarity given where we live, so it was a real treat. What a lovely way to end the week. Until next time, here are Snippet and Jack feeling the heat. Snippet needs another haircut. Have a great weekend.