25/5/07
It is about 10 days since the hatch of Blue Tits was lost . I am told that they only have one clutch per year , so we are very pleased to see that a pair of Blue Tits have started to build a nest in our second camera birdbox. Though we cannot be sure it is the origonal pair , we can only guess that it is, because it is so late in the season to begin nest building.Lets hope the weather is kinder to them this time around and that they have learned from their experience also.

As I had previously mentioned the wet weather of the past week was not to the liking of all those living at Broad Oak. For whatever reason the female blue tit has gone missing over the weekend and all the chicks have passed away. The male bird remains active around the nestbox area but had never attemted to feed the chicks since his mates disappearance.Tomorrow a visit from Little Bollington School will be a difficult occasion to explain to young children that Nature can be equally as cruel as beautiful.

The season of showing our pedigree animals got underway last weekend . Our first show of the season was at The Newark and Nottinghamshire Show. Inclement weather did not produce large volumes of public support around the show rings for the two days of showing our pigs. It is always good to use this show to remind experienced pigs of how to show themselves off, and teach the new entrants to the showring how to act and behave. Much the same applies to the showmen themselves !! A couple of show stalwarts begin their farewell tour , with Geoff Parker from Cheshire thinking of becoming a John Travolta devotee WILD HOG 

Recent rain is very welcome ,on the whole. Spring sown barley was showing signs of stress from drying winds and weedkiller application. Within days it looks a different and thriving crop once again. Fertiliser on grassland is being utilised better also.The main crop potatoes, though not yet emerged in the drill will benefit also as they had been planted in very dry conditions and the rain will not only replenish soil moisture levels , but also help flush a weed germination in readiness for spraying.
One "family" not very pleased with reduced temperatures and wetter conditions are the blue tits and 8 newly hatched chicks in the nest box with tv camera linked to the education room . We will have many happy smiling faces on our visitors in the coming weeks im sure.Once you begin to watch the chicks feed it is very difficult to remember there is work to be done on the farm!
The main task this week is preparation of pigs ready for the show season.

Whilst all the arable landwork is completed , and cattle are to be turned out at the end of the week having had Charlie (our vet) do pregnancy tests ,it remains for "paperwork" to begin in earnest. Paperwork for Single Farm Payments have to be completed and returned. Paperwork for potato plantings have to be sent back to the British Potato Council. Pedigree pigs have to be registered in preparation for the "show season" which involves reams of entry forms for each County Show.
We will begin our show season at Newark and Nottingham Show on May 12 /13 th.
I have also entered the Cheshire County Farms competition again this year, in the section for Farming and Wildlife. In an attempt to go one step better than last year we will soon be adding the beehive to our range of "educational" tools for visitors.
On the "bird " situation there is very good news. Tree sparrows are occupying the nestboxes provided for them , for the first time. A RSPB representative is monitoring number's, and this will hopefully be see numbers improve steadily in the coming years.Finally the nest box with links to the educational room television has a blue tit sitting on 8 eggs, and we await developments.
Sadly at this moment BT are unable to provide broadband and we are unable to upload pictures for visitors to this site. We may be able to get men on the Moon , but unfortunately we cannot get broadband to Broad Oak. Oh the wonders of Science !

Good weather this Spring has not only helped in establishing crops, but also encouraged bird activity in the nestboxes around the farm. Of particular interest are the pair of Blue Tits that have started to occupy one of the boxes containing a camera linked to the Education Room.So far their main interest has been in building a large hen feather lined nest, but no eggs as yet.
The Southdown ewes and lambs are due to go out to grass this week , though the cattle will have to wait till the end of the month for that pleasure.
One unusal follower of the plough last week , joining the usual flock of seagulls, was a heron. It seemed to enjoy the copious numbers of worms consumed.