The gooseander is nesting again in a chimney pot (unused) on the farmhouse roof. (We've seen the male and the female on the pond or flying about. So they've definitely turned up for the third year.)
There's a duck laying eggs in the middle of a thick shrub in the garden.
She appears, with her two drake pals who live round the pond, at sheep feeding time to share the sheep proven.
Next thing, we'll be seeing the swallows arriving in early April.


Cobden Farm B and B website

Hat trick

The gooseanders have arrived for the third year running. The female was swimming on the pond this morning. Just four days later than in 2011. Amazing. They've a better idea of time than I have.

Cobden Farm B and B website

Birds aren't going nuts...over nuts

The little birds visiting our garden aren't eating the nuts we put out as fast as in previous years. A friend in Lancaster - a much warmer part of the county - has noticed the same pattern.
Anyone any idea why?

Cobden Farm B and B website

A sunny week in late June means HAYTIME

Tractors were buzzing round the fields at the end of June / first three days of July as farmers made hay (and silage) while the sun shone for longer than usual.

Both ends of Sabden Valley look like patchwork quilts.

Cobden Farm B and B website

Nuts about nuts

The tree acrobats - grey squirrels - are out in force. They're bringing their young on training sessions: How to eat the nuts from bird feeders. Then, as soon as they dash off, the little birds fly in for their turn.






Cobden Farm B and B website

Cuckoo returns at last

The cuckoo is back in our bit of Sabden Valley for the first time in around five years. It was cuckoo-ing like mad the other evening. A lovely sound that's good to hear again.



Cobden Farm B and B website

Roe deer and fawn

John spotted a roe deer with its fawn among the trees below the farmhouse this morning. It's the first time we've had a mother-and-baby visit.




Cobden Farm B and B website