November was greeted by a sparrow hawk flying out of our woodland garden and we spotted a male bullfinch and there was a further flyby by a red kite. Grey wagtails were appearing to catch flies on the roof of the large shed. Cherry spotted a bullfinch in our lane, a male in striking navy blue and pink.
The grey wagtails continued to frequent Tredivett Mill for the next week and the jays continued chattering while hunting acorns for the winter.
The large peanut feeder holds a complete bucket of nuts and is being replenished every four days.
On the 9th, wild ravens visited our pair and “crowed” wildly as we approached.
We transferred a male serval to a fellow collector in Cornwall and arranged for him to have a pair of short-clawed otters from the local otter sanctuary.
We, today, 11th have received all the creatures we are rescuing from the otter sanctuary and in January 2021 we will receive the fallow deer and six Bennett’s wallabies.
On the 13th, very early in the morning while four of our wild flying peafowl were still roosting in nearby trees, a crescent moon on its back had risen behind the trees and the peafowl against an early morning red sky. It was a magnificent scene. I really would like to be a decent photographer for that kind of sight.
On the 14th we were visited by the usual tits, greater spotted woodpecker, house sparrows, nuthatches and many other large birds.
During the week a sparrow hawk visited. It was an enjoyable week up until Friday 20th when Pixie our keeper, was definitely under the weather. By Saturday, we had a phone call to say Pixie had been tested and had Covid 19. We therefore had to lockdown without any students or volunteers. That meant only Rab and I were there to look after the animals. Rab is fortunately based at the Shepherds flat at Tredivett Mill. So we started to feed the animals. Very quickly it was obvious that both Rab and I were suffering from Covid as well. We were under controls until 4th December because of Pixie, but neither of us could do anything before that in any case. It is a really nasty virus and we both had identical symptoms, extreme tiredness, feeling of being cold, a harsh cough and a total lack of appetite. In short, we agreed it felt as though we had been knelt on by an elephant. However, we were through it by Monday 7th December. There was not a lot to report about the animals except that we were unable to collect a pair of caracals from Exmoor Zoo. That has obviously been put off until next month.
Please all our readers take care. Covid is horrible. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.
Sightings up to November 2020
Below are our sightings so far this year.