Summer memories

 The lack of blogs since May is evidence itself to the fact that we are not very good bloggers (excluding Ben, who regularly contributes to http://www.bbfo.blogspot.com ). While the winds are raging outside and the temperatures dip close to zero, it seems a good time to catch up a bit and especially to dwell on warm summer holidays.........
Our expedition to Kenya was a special treat, one that we had been looking forward to for years (well, most of us had - Steve took a little persuading as his last sub-Saharan visit was a bit of a bad experience health-wise! Thankfully this Kenyan visit was a positive one).
 Here's a few snapshots....

We started our Kenyan tour with a few days of luxury on Samatian Island in the middle of Lake Boringo.

View of Samatian island from Ol Kakwe

Our lovely accommodation on Samatian island..with an all-round open view.

Ben was rarely without his camera; it seemed permanently attached to his shoulder!

Jo and Ben in one of the canoes on our way over to visit the island of Ol Kakwe. There were crocodiles in the water but they weren't too big .

The biggest termite mound we saw!

                          And we thought that getting sheep off Ynys Enlli was a challenge !

Rachel sketching the resident Verreux eagle owl, 'Wu' (top right-hand corner in the tree)

'Wu'..a dignified and aloof bird who spent most of his time sitting in the tree above the path, looking down on everyone.

                                                    A tortoise crossing ..!

You need big machines when your fields are 900 acres each ! Laurie Sessions shows Steve around the machine sheds at their farm near Mt Kenya.

Steve had an opportunity to check Laurie's hives of African bees...they were a lot more aggressive than our mild Welsh bees...so much so that they are only checked during late evening darkness so that they don't follow you back to the house !

         We spent one morning being shown around a wildlife reserve next door to Sarah and Laurie's farm.

A blind White Rhino callled Baraka....it would gently eat grass out of your hand !

A rare sight; an elusive leopard right next to the road.

We had a quick walk up the lower slopes of Mt Kenya....drove up to 2500m then walked up to 3500m.

                       Internal flight from Nairobi out to the coast at Malindi.

         Watamu beach. We were staying at the A Rocha base just 100m back from the beach.

      The raised board walk at Meda Creek where A Rocha have been pioneering conservation work.

       Steve found a kite-surfing school just along the beach...you're never too old to learn new things !

We spent a couple of hours early one morning watching this turtle cover it's nest of eggs with sand before heading back to sea.

Spring Update

The last couple of months have flown by, probably because they have been so busy.....

Thankfully this year we were blessed with good weather during lambing.  Most of the lambs are well grown by now, and experiencing some of the hazards of being raised on an island:

 This lamb ventured too close to an oystercatcher nest!

This ewe managed to get her head stuck in a bucket!

We have also had a couple of sheep "rescues" recently, just to add a bit more challenge to our usual pastoral duties..........

The first involved rescuing Susi (Jo's blind sheep!) who managed to escape onto the mountain and then fell down onto rocks below Pen Cristin.

The second involved rescuing a lamb who decided she didn't want to be rounded up with her friends but thought she would explore the Irish Sea instead. She ran out onto the rocks in Henllwyn, but with the tide coming in was soon stuck on her own little island and would probably have drowned......... Here are two short video clips capturing the rescue:

The cows have been much better behaved, although theyre taking their time with calving....still 7 to go!

During April, Steve also ploughed 8 fields which have been sown with either oats, barley or a grass/clover ley, and one has been sown with Borage, specifically to provide the bees with extra flowers to forage from.

 Rachel has been particularly busy preparing for her AS level exams.  This "dew art" was part of her project.

Despite the busy period, we have been able to enjoy some of the beauty of spring and appreciate the amazing colour and intricacy of creation.  Here are just a selection of some of the spring flowers on Enlli:

 Early Marsh Orchid

Bluebells with Cristin in the backround

Spring Squill

Thrift

March adventures...

With less than a week to go, we are all preparing for the start of lambing...which will be full-on untill the end of April, as well as calving, and then Ben and I start our exams. We had an unexpected calf two days ago, who is a little wobbly on his feet, but after some encouragement is now feeding well and growing stronger....despite a very bad-tempered mother.

Other signs of spring are also emerging on the island; pussy willows and catkins are thriving in the withies, the daffodils have sprung up near the abbey at the north end, and new arrivals such as sand martins have been flitting over the fields.

We have been quite adventurous in our free time; here are a few photos of what we have been up to...

 The view from the top of the lighthouse...

 Ben in 'Y Morlo Bach' with his first mate, Celyn...

 Dad and I in the kayaks in Ogof Hir..

 Celyn trying out a different type of sea vessel...

Trying out some climbs on small sea-cliffs...

January on Enlli

We started the year with some gorse burning on the mountain and the south end - this is part of a 6/7 year rotational gorse control programme.

 Last week the high pressure brought with it banks of thick fog which provided spectacular views from the mountain.

 For the first time in 4 years, the settled weather meant that the sheep scanner and team could come over to scan the lambing flock.  Knowing whether the sheep are carrying single lambs, twins or occasionaly triplets helps us to feed them appropriately prior to lambing.

 The low tides over the last few days have revealed lots of starfish!  Ben spotted one being carried away by a Herring Gull- captured on camera (see http://bbfo.blogspot.com/ for the 20th)