This is our ‘late afternoon/early evening view every day now when all the stock (you can pretty much see all the sheep, goats and alpacas in this shot), make their way up to the top of the paddock in anticipation of food. This is quite a peaceful scene but as soon all any human movement or sound is detected, the ‘animal’ noise and the movement begins and pretty much does not let up till feed troughs are filled and everyone has a space to eat. It is nonetheless a delightful part of the day and a chance to check all is well. From the outside it all seems very chaotic until every last mouth is chewing away and certainly there is manic bleating from all the youngsters who lose their mums, find their mums, lose them again and then get distracted by playmates and wander off. Then when the mums have finished eating, it is their turn to shriek as they anxiously wonder where on earth their babies have got to!
Some of the sheep are VERY good at keeping their lambs with them all the time - Noss, Skerry and Ness are three examples. Lamorna is utterly hopeless – her food is just way too important to her. Mrs Brown, whose lambs wander off on their own and then really really cry when they cannot find her, is wonderfully laid back and seems equally chilled whether the lambs are with her or somewhere else. Muckle is the most extreme, her little ewe lamb is often found with the other lambs whilst the ram-lamb, the lovely white one, is usually glued to her side!!
It’s all fascinating stuff!!!
And STILL no lambs from Bressay, now 4 days overdue!!