ALPACA BABIES

On Tuesday, OB and I went to see friends after day two of his drumming summer school, which he's really enjoying. These friends have ten Alpacas now having had three babies this year. The youngster above is Betty and the newest arrival is the unnamed beauty below with her mum Willow:

This next one is the very sweet Jackson Pollock:

Betty again:

Mum, Barbara Hepworth posing for the camera. That ear hair looking like prayer flags:

Willow with her baby again:

Willow with the three young ones. Jackson Pollock and Betty are her grandchildren. Aren't they stunning?:

Someone wanted their dinner:

Last Sunday, we went to Ness Cove near Shaldon with the dogs. The weather was perfect and we all swam.

OB and I....a rare sighting of this blog's author!

Simple pleasures:

We had a lovely spot until about three o'clock when this appeared ten feet in front of us, despite space a bit further on. Oh well.....time to go anyway:

We got an ice cream in the pretty town of Shaldon. We were being watched:

This one looks a bit seasick on a buoy: 

Looking across the mouth of the Teign to Teignmouth. The Teign is the river whose source is near us up on the moor where we swim:

Back home, the evening light has been beautiful:

Other images from the last few days..........

Nib and Diamond playing:

A Snippet in the grass:

Our swimming pool in the river Teign:

Lovely Daisy:

And Smudge:

One of a group of particularly pretty mares that always seem to herd together:

Big ears:

I've included this despite the blurriness; the bee and the butterfly were both posing beautifully when I pressed the shutter button but only the Marsh Thistle remains in focus. I quite like it anyway:

Gorse.............flowering as ever:

Meadow Brown on its last legs poor thing. It's the only way I can capture them these days!

Obligatory Pipit:

Large Red Damselflies mating: 

Last night, I had a phone call from a friend whose old Highland pony recently died. Very sad; he was the first pony I rode after a twenty five year absence nine years ago. He was on permanent loan to a local couple as a companion for their horse and they are now looking for a replacement. My friend thought of Trigger and tonight, I spoke to them about the possibility of their coming and meeting him and my going to see their place and filling them in on his chequered past. You may remember I made the decision a couple of years ago to look for a home for him where he would be understood and well looked after with permanent company but I had honestly given up hope. I'm a bit disconcerted at the sudden possible change of circumstances but it may come to nothing. If it did happen, he would only be a mile and a half down the road, and they have 12 acres of paddock and sound like lovely, lovely people. So, I'll keep you posted and, until next time (this has taken me three days to get organised!), here are those dogs, Jack with some manky old cow bone he found. Nice. have a lovely weekend all and welcome to Lily and Flossy who I'll talk about at a later date....

PIPIT POST

Before we moved here twelve years ago, we worked at the Hulton Picture Library, swallowed by what has now become a huge company: Getty Images. We held the entire collection of Picture Post, including the work of their most famous staff photographer, Bert Hardy. The mere mention of something close to that fabulous publication of the 1930's to 1950's, makes me nostalgic for the best job I ever had. Anyway....I have so many pictures of these fabulous little Meadow Pipits that I thought I'd put them all together for once. They are so important for the cuckoo population here; I saw our juvenile fluttering about today with its Meadow Pipit 'parents' trying, and failing, to keep up with it. They must be exhausted. These unbelievably numerous birds are apparently on the amber list in the UK which amazes me. Interestingly, Pat at The Weaver of Grass (http://weaverofgrass.blogspot.co.uk/ ) says they never see them up in Yorkshire. 

They are ground nesters, usually in a clump or here, often inside a gorse bush. the nest is built of moss, grasses and usually lined with animal hairs - lots of that here, especially as those ponies start to slip their coats, just in time for nest building in April, May or June. The female incubates a clutch of four or five eggs alone for up to 14 days. 

Both parents feed the chicks for up to 13 days when they will fledge. Now, is it just me, or is this one carrying the corpse of a chick, perhaps of another species, to feed to its young? The second picture is clearer......

To the left of the green caterpillar, you can see a tiny leg and claw:

Generally, their diet consists of flies, beetles, moths, caterpillars, worms and spiders, with seeds later in the year, obviously with a side order of cannibalism. Have any of you ever seen anything like this before?

There is certainly a lot of feeding going on at the moment with at least two broods a year. It's difficult to get a picture of them without something hanging out of their beaks.

This youngster was clinging to a rock and let me get quite close:

Still - Pipits have nothing on the Stonechats with up to four broods of course. Here are some juveniles at various stages of development but all taken within a couple of days of each other:

Almost full grown......

The Wheatear is a close relative of the Stonechat but will only have one or possibly two broods. They winter in Africa whilst the Stonechat is resident, so I suppose they have less time to fit in the breeding. 

In the garden, the juvenile Tits are gaining in confidence. This Great Tit is almost looking adult, just lacking its wide stripe. 

And this one a bit further along the way to adulthood. 

This fluff monster of a Blue Tit is a regular visitor and has no fear........

...............seeing off this Chaffinch:

At least some of its adult feathers are coming through now:

The Chaffinch waiting its turn:

A m}magpie in waiting too. There are SO many Magpies around here at the moment. If the rhyme were to be believed there would be many, many secrets never to be told. 

My Dragonfly pond is still almost exclusively full of Keeled Skimmers, here sitting on a cow pat nearby:

But there are now some Large Red Damselflies:

I've been writing this post for days now, never actually finishing before something comes up and I have to run off. This weekend just gone, Chagford played host to Chagstock, one of the festivals of the season. We can see it in the distance from here: 

I'm happier here, away from the crowds thank you:

So are the dogs:

One of the main reasons for being so behind with blogging is Chagford Pool which, with the stiflingly hot weather, is a magnet for OB and his friends. Here's a little picture I found on the internet. We can see Kestor Rocks in the distance from the benches but not in this photo:

The problem is, all the time we're there, I'm idle. Not unpleasantly so because I sit and chat to friends in a way that I rarely do otherwise, but I'm getting nothing done. Not a strong enough mobile signal to support the internet, so no joy there. I feel out of touch with the blogging world so am doubly grateful for your comments. Thank you. Tomorrow is supposed to be very hot indeed and OB is desperate to go and swim after school. Another wasted afternoon.............oh well. In a few years he'll be able to go without me so I should appreciate this while I can I guess. So until next time, here are those dogs fighting over a stick. Have a lovely week in the sun if you're in this country. The summer holidays start on Friday here so I think we can guarantee rain.