Jess and I had quite a busy afternoon yesterday splitting some of this seasons intake of sheep into groups and moving them into different paddocks to graze.

Meanwhile the Highland cows are continuing to make inroads into the birch scrub on one of the other sites. Their continuing browsing and bashing of the scrub helps to maintain these areas as grassland and stops the scrub taking over.

Luing cattle grazing on Druridge pools. They are reducing the grass cover and plunging up the mud around the edges of the splashes which creates feeding areas for the wading birds that visit the coast line at this time of year. Every things always looks so much better on bright clear mornings such as when this was taken.

The cattle grazing is also going on apace and there is even a new recruit helping out on one site in Durham. Follow or cut and paste the link http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/video/regional/105150/

Cattle are currently grazing on 4 different reserves across the region combing them with the different grazing habits of the sheep and ponies helps to maintain and create ideal habtitat for the local wildlife.

It's that time of year again when the annual migration of stock from the hills to the lowland starts. We took delivery of the first 50 sheep from the Cheviot hills on Wednesday, these will be with us for the best part of a year grazing conservation sites and replace some of those that went away to the abbattoir this week. There are still some of last years sheep available for anyone who has an interest in naturally reared meat and would like to buy some lamb that has been reared grazing on conservation grasslands and sites of special scientific interest.

Rushing around all over the place today sorting out a few lame sheep. Then into the office to catch up on a bit of paper work before taking Jess off to her training course.

She is progressing well and today I took her out in the the bigger field and worked on her outrun.......that's the bit where you send them right out around the field to gather the sheep to start with. We started with some short 50 yard or so runs and built up slowly and finished up at about 150 yards. I just need to keep her practising at it now until it is second nature to her.

Volunteers checking feet, and trimming the wool from the tails of some of the older swales last week. I'm not sure who had the biggest laugh (or the last!) the volunteers or the sheep. I don't think we'll be opening a beauty salon anytime soon!

This season's Hebridean and Manx Loaghtan lambs have been purchased and trained to respect an electric fence and are now on Holy Island grazing away. Time is always a bit of an issue with this site as we need to get them there and set up the fence and get off again before becoming cut off by the tide! There are another 5, which I collected this morning, to go and join them next time we move the fence. I will get some pictures of them uploaded soon.