How is it June already?!

I am sure that I am not the only person asking themselves that, as we find ourselves hurtling towards the longest day of the year.  Time flies when you’re having fun, they say, well it certainly flies when you are busy!

So, what have we been up to?

Firstly, calving season on the farm has now been and gone.  This year things went well thankfully.  Our amazing children have successfully bonded with and reared to weaning, another batch of calves.  It is an incredible joy to see that every year they grow in experience and confidence. 

Moments like these are what makes you forget the hard work

As I am sure you remember well, we had a serious wet weather event in February which unfortunately caused a lot of flooding.  Our new ponds got well tested.  Our big pond was put in as a water quality measure and to create habitats. We also hoped that it would slow the flow of rainwater to get to the river.  We were amazed also at how much water it was able to hold. 

The big pond loking pretty full

We have several research projects happening on the ponds now which we are delighted about.  There is a PhD student studying ponds in terms of biodiversity, there is another PhD looking at the geomorphology of the area, and the pond as a flood relief measure.  There are measurements of water quality being taken to assess it’s efficacy as a water quality measure, and the TRAP (https://www.atu.ie/news/atu-researchers-involved-in-e2-8m-interreg-atlantic-area-project-to-stop-plastic-before-it-reaches-the-sea) project is looking at the sediment in the sediment tanks, investigating exactly what pollutants end up there.  Everything from micro and macro plastics, to tar, rubber and diesel particulate from the road.

Photo taken from a birds eye view camera which we have installed.

Our small pond is a turning into a different habitat altogether.  It is shallower and has fresh water coming into it from a local spring, as well as road run off in wet weather.  There is an outlet from this pond going into a drain, which follows the field ditch to the river.

Photo of the small pond, the first day that the cows were grazing alongside it.

We have also welcomed home from south of the Sahara, lots of our annual visitors. 

We have lots of swallow nests.  We have taken measures over the years to protect swallow nests from predation of such animals as cats, and magpies.  Our swallow population seems to be thriving as a result.  

We have seen the return of our sand martin colony. The sand martin wall is buzzing with activity. 

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/59a33b_a9a76098ac904cf680a6c1f998b125e7/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Video of sand martins entering and leaving their nests

We have also had our swifts return.  The two nesting pairs from last year have been joined by another pair who linked up last year, but to the best of our knowledge did not have time to breed.  Another pair has also formed this year, who may still have time to breed this season.  Finally, another single swift has claimed a nest box. So we now have 9 residents! 

One of our breeding pairs in their nest box incubating their eggs. Taken under licence using a previously installed nest box camera.

We also have barn owls back in the barn owl box and starting to hear lots of chatter that we believe is from the chick(s).

Watch this space for updates when we have a visit from our friend who is a fully qualified bird ringer. We'll get a good idea of our sand martin numbers then! There is also plenty more news to follow, things we have been doing, and events coming up.

Chat soon, and remember every little step you take to make a positive change, matters.