Two Visits to Bannon’s Land

I hoped to get some photos of the ewes wintering at Bannon’s Land, so I took myself down with the camera one afternoon before Christmas. This mound of soil has been at the top of this field for many years and has become part of the landscape, but for some reason I have struggled to get decent photos of sheep standing on top of it… until this day! I was super pleased to get this photo, and I hadn’t even driven down the lane or entered the field yet.

Some ewes on the rock.

At the bottom of the hill and in the field at last, I waited by the silage feeders for my subjects to come to me.

 

Despite there being a good handful of pet sheep in this flock, no one was particularly interested in me on this day. Poppy the sheep eventually came partway over.

Rude.

A nice Suffolk ewe.

Margot didn’t bother coming near me either.

I wasn’t having much luck with my photos or enthusiasm from my subjects, so I decided to leave them to their silage.

I got a treat once I’d reversed back to the top of the hill – none other than Bridget, Penny’s daughter, standing on the pile of soil.

A few days after Christmas, I returned to Bannon’s Land with the camera again. I hoped this time that some of my pets would like to see me. At the top of the hill I was in luck again – in fact, the very same sheep was standing on top of the soil again.

She was joined by a few friends.

One of them was Minnie.

Snow was forecast for the following day (which didn’t arrive in the end) so we thought it best to leave a couple of fresh bales for the ewes now, just in case the steep lane became too treacherous.

Lifting the feeders. The old bales were almost done, so that made the job a bit easier.

Unwrapping the fresh bale.

Tasty stuff!

The size of the feeders makes access to the centre of the bales difficult, so once a feeder is lifted, ewes with go straight for the middle.

A yummy new bale always draws a crowd.

Once again, the pets in the flock didn’t bother with me, but at least they’re well-fed!