Counting Sheep

By Words | Published January 24, 2010

I was back at Sheepcote Valley today. It was cold, and the light was poor. Not a good day for photographing birds, but the sheep are still there and in poor light it's much better to have a larger subject and one you can get near.
Double tagged

The magpies were still hovering in and out among the sheep, but I wasn't granted as good a spectacle as last week. So I stayed with the sheep.

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sheepClick to zoom

As I headed back towards the car, a small flock of linnets caught my eye. They were circling around a tree, and every so often would settle in its branches.

And finally, a kestrel flew by…

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Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

This entry was posted in Birds, Sheep and tagged , .

16 Comments

  1. gdare January 24, 2010 at 6:01 am #

    How do they put that pieces of plastic inside their ears? It looks painful :insane:

  2. RobinL January 24, 2010 at 6:01 am #

    In today's world of mass communication and being in touch every second of the day, your first sheep looks like it has some form of hands free communicators in it's ears. Guess it's for keeping in touch with the flock!

  3. gdare January 24, 2010 at 7:01 am #

    Bluetooth :doh: 😆

  4. SittingFox January 24, 2010 at 10:01 am #

    Nice to see the linnets :up: The weather yesterday was quite appalling from a photography perspective!

  5. cakkleberrylane January 24, 2010 at 11:01 am #

    I see coloured markings on the sheep, red and blue. Do you know what that signifies? Lovely linnets and the kestrel is as always, beautiful.

  6. Words January 24, 2010 at 1:01 pm #

    Robin, LOL! It does look like some strange coms device. 😆

  7. Words January 24, 2010 at 1:01 pm #

    Adele, we do quite well for linnets around here. It was much too dark yesterday for any serious bird photos. Today's been a little bit better.

  8. Words January 24, 2010 at 1:01 pm #

    Darko, with a piercing 'gun', much like they pierce human ears, noses etc… I'm sure it doesn't hurt the farmer 😉

  9. Words January 24, 2010 at 1:01 pm #

    Lois, the markings are how they manage the breeding cycle. The rams are colour marked for mating, and leave some of the colour on the ewe. The colour indicates the approximate date of mating, so the farmer knows when each ewe will produce lambs.

  10. gdare January 24, 2010 at 2:01 pm #

    Originally posted by Words:

    I'm sure it doesn't hurt the farmer :wink:

    Me too 😆

  11. derspecht January 24, 2010 at 5:01 pm #

    😆 😆 :yes:

    Wonderful pictures! :up:

  12. cakkleberrylane January 24, 2010 at 7:01 pm #

    Excellent method!

  13. Flying Red Fox Blog January 26, 2010 at 7:01 am #

    Lots of Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep 😀

  14. Words January 27, 2010 at 1:01 am #

    Mark, lots and lots!

  15. Words January 27, 2010 at 1:01 am #

    Thanks Swen!

  16. Words February 2, 2010 at 7:02 am #

    samantha, they're identification tags. All livestock in the UK has to be tagged so that animal movement can be controlled in case of the outbreak of disease and so on.