What a busy time our nesting birds have had over the last month or so. Goldfinches, pied wagtails, martins as well as the magpies and pigeons and we believe a little owl. We have both spotted one flying out of a stable and in the copse behind the garden. This is much better than in the wood burner which is where we found our first one (it wasn’t on at the time!

They do make me smile dancing about the farm in and out of the trees and shrubs. It is quite incongruous seeing beautiful goldfinches sitting on the tractor and JCB pulling at any bits of rope to get lining for their nests. Some of the loudest chirps come from the smallest birds! The pied wagtails are very comical playing chase and walking across the huge yard on their incredibly skinny legs looking like they’re having a nice stroll and a good chat.

Our resident moorhen still has three babies out of the four that hatched. We believe the marsh harrier got one. She is keeping them mainly in the reeds in the pond again. The second pond is staying nicely full using the run off from Barn Owl and Little Owl roofs so the duck are back too now that they have a decent landing space.

Check in again when it will be all about grass and sheep!

 The latest at Oxley Dairy, Shingle Street

Oxley Dairy welcomed three ewes and five lambs to us from Seven Hills farm  to graze some of our smaller areas.   Seriously cute lambs still young enough to be staying close to mum and falling asleep in the sun regularly.
 

 
The kite surfers have been busy off the Shingle Street beach over the last few weeks – a sight I love to watch. Although the Oxley Dairy fields have had a few kites blowing above them recently over the school holidays.

The tern fencing will be erected on the Shingle Street beach next week to protect the nesting birds.  This is such a diverse area in terms of flora and fauna and the Shingle Street Survey is being conducted this year to let us know to what extent. See www.shinglestreetsurvey.org.uk for further information.

We provide binoculars for holiday makers at the Owls at Oxley – just as important as your walking boots!

More bookings for the Owls at Oxley

We have had busy Easter holidays at Shingle Street with both Little Owl and Barn Owl booked.

The weather has been pretty good following on from the fierce winds of the week before. The mist is coming off the sea at the moment but the sun is getting through.

The horses, Holly, the Shetland and Smokey, the grey, have finally had their winter coats removed and are loving the freedom – Smokey does love a roll on the ground and Holly runs around her paddock full of the joys of spring.

The fields have been harrowed this week much to the delight of the rooks which were following the tractor around to see what was thrown up for them.

Our daffodils and violets have been superb this year and herald the onset of spring and summer and we look forward to watching our new hedging and grass around Barn Owl and Little Owl sprout fresh leaves.

We have been lucky enough to welcome several lovely families to our new holiday lets who have all given us wonderful feedback and very constructive suggestions – many of which we have been able to action already.

We are enjoying sharing our special place with new people.  The weather over the winter has been fairly kind which has allowed our guests (suitably attired) to enjoy much of what Shingle Street and the surrounding areas have to offer.

Welcome to The Owls at Oxley – after 18 months of planning and hard work, Little Owl is finished and ready to receive guests.  Our first guests in Barn Owl have given us wonderful positive feedback along with some very useful suggestions. Continue reading “We’re up and running!” →