Counting Sheep

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.

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This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. gdare

    24 Jan 2010

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

  2. RobinL

    24 Jan 2010

    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

    24 Jan 2010

    Bluetooth :doh: 😆

  4. SittingFox

    24 Jan 2010

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

  5. cakkleberrylane

    24 Jan 2010

    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

    24 Jan 2010

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

  7. Words

    24 Jan 2010

    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

    24 Jan 2010

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

  9. Words

    24 Jan 2010

    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

    24 Jan 2010

    Originally posted by Words:

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

    Me too 😆

  11. derspecht

    24 Jan 2010

    😆 😆 :yes:

    Wonderful pictures! :up:

  12. cakkleberrylane

    24 Jan 2010

    Excellent method!

  13. Flying Red Fox Blog

    26 Jan 2010

    Lots of Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep 😀

  14. Words

    27 Jan 2010

    Mark, lots and lots!

  15. Words

    27 Jan 2010

    Thanks Swen!

  16. Words

    2 Feb 2010

    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.

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