20th June 2024

A Week on the Estate: Summer Solstice, Harvest Prep & Owl Census

The year is whizzing by and Thursday 20^th June brought the summer solstice. The sun rose at 0431 and set at 2131, by which time we’d enjoyed a little over 17 hours of daylight at our latitude. As the nights gradually start to draw in again, it feels like summer has yet to begin in earnest. Still, June looks like going out more cheerily than it came in, with the next five days set fair with little or no rain and a temperature range of 23C-11C.

The agricultural year is rolling along briskly and the next major milestone will be the late-summer harvest. Thanks to the hard-working folks from Lamyman Grange Contractors who hoovered and cleaned the grain stores ready for this milestone in our calendar.

Thanks also to our arable contractors for drilling both the winter-forage mix for our cattle and our winter bird-food areas ahead of a 28mm downpour. As if that weren’t enough, we found time to drill the organic vining pea crop. It’s been busy out there.

Staying with our great outdoors, thanks to Jim Lennon and Adrian Blackburn for giving some of our nesting boxes the once-over. They were helped by one of our new graduates trainees, Chloe Haxby, who was quite moved by the experience. Look out for a long chat with Chloe very soon.

In the meantime, here’s what our bird-loving census-takers found:

– Harden’s Gap: barn owl pair in box, no eggs – will check again in 8-10 weeks

– Rectory: 2x barn owl chicks ringed and we made Chloe cry

– Manor Farm: 3x jackdaw chicks ringed

– Hall parkland edge: female barn owl roosting – not known if she had chicks elsewhere or had failed

– Driby: 2x barn owl chicks ringed and we made Chloe cry again

– Betwixt Driby & Brinkhill: 2x jackdaw chicks ringed

– Bluestone Heath Road: 3x cold, abandoned kestrel eggs

– Ketsby: barn owl on 2x eggs, probably still laying – will check again in 8-10 weeks

– near Brinkhill village barn owl pair in box, no eggs – will check again in 8-10 weeks

Here’s Jim’s summary: “This reflects elsewhere. There’s a good level of occupancy. The breeding time is all over the place with small clutches and very little prey cached. Either way, 6-8 boxes being used by barn owls is encouraging.”

In case you missed our long chat with Jim about bird-ringing and the secret lives of owls, you can catch up HERE. You can also catch Garry Steele HERE talking about what barn owl diets can tell us about biodiversity.

Finally, if you’re in our neck of the woods and you’re in the mood for hearty, home-cooked food with a generous helping of Lincolnshire hospitality, the Massingberd Arms on Brinkhill Road, South Ormsby, is now serving food. It’s proving popular and booking is recommended. Click HERE to find out how.

If you’d like to join the conversation, we’d love to hear from you. Just head to our Facebook page HERE and comment beneath the latest blog post. As ever, thanks for your support.

A Week on the Estate: Summer Solstice, Harvest Prep & Owl Census

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