January Newsletter 2010

Firstly we would like to thank all our customers and friends for their support throughout 2009 and wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2010… a little belatedly!

Family news first… another new addition to the Jones family! This time, and for the first time in many, a grandson. Rhys George was born just before Christmas to Rhian and Hayden, a whopping 9lb 14oz! Already making his mark, we look forward to the months ahead!

Normally the first half of January is a time to catch up and take a bit of a rest before the Farmers’ Markets start again. This year however we found ourselves buried under a foot of snow before we had time to draw breath. Now snow is beautiful and fun and we have loads of photos to prove I am not an old moaner but with nearly 30 outside water tanks to fill every day, the joys did become rather clouded!

The extra work and cold are the downside of snow but the increase in visual wildlife is a huge bonus. Besides our resident sparrows – we have nearly 20 community nest boxes in the farmyard; we had Linnets Chaffinches, all the usual members of the Tit family, Woodpeckers, Nut Hatches, Wagtails and Robins, not to mention enough Thrushes and Blackbirds to fill several nursery rhyme pies!!

Most excitingly we have had a Barn Owl visiting our lambing shed. We captive bred Barn Owls a few years ago, but when we released them they all disappeared to other locations. Maybe this one is a relation of our previous birds. It is so lovely to see “it” whilst we are tending to the ewes and lambs late at night. It has also encouraged me to replace the old nest box, which has been used by ferrell pigeons, with a brand new one. I just hope that she or he stays on and brings a mate. I do think that our type of farming has improved the habitat for these lovely birds – we keep our fingers and toes crossed!!

We have also been privileged to have a Kite soaring over our fields along with the Buzzards. Even more unusual, we have a pair of Ravens constantly criss crossing over the farm. Whether they will breed in our wood or further away we shall see. Their display is however a pleasure to watch and although Welsh farmers say that they are a danger to newborn lambs I for one am pleased to see them.

All this makes us realise how lucky we are to have all this amongst our farming activities. Sometimes we are guilty of forgetting!

Richard