A Snowy Owl for christmas
Late October rain brought the traumatic memories of winter 2023, where it didn’t stop raining for almost six months. Rain and mud and grey skies had emboldened depression to grip. Desperately damp animals sought refuge in the barn, forcing me, their keeper, to invest more money than ever to keep them fed and dry. The latter proved impossible when water levels were so high the barn began to flood. It seems, however, our 2024 autumnal season has other ideas and after a brief reminder of how damning Mother Nature can be, a sunnier season returned. Now, though it’s damp with glistening cobwebs and the tendrils of evening mist float in as dark comes, there remains crispness in the fallen leaves and a comforting crunch underfoot as I potter around the land.
Out in the paddocks, Richard and the three gilts (Violet, Rose and Daisy) have spent a few happy months snaffling acorns beneath a great oak tree. It’s been a heavy season for forest fruit, and the pigs have been well fed from the nut heavens. But like any animals kept in a relatively small area, the four pigs stripped the area of greenery quite quickly. Their preoccupation with turning over their water barrel to create swathes of mud didn’t help the area either and so it was on to greener pastures for the quartet. Large Blacks (a local and rare breed to Suffolk) are grazers by nature. Leave them in an area long enough and they will remove the vegetation and turn their attention to seeking roots and insects in the soil. But mostly they are happy tearing at grass, chomping weeds and foraging in a good, old hedgerow. With the piglets having free-ranged for several months, the paddocks within the vicinity of the caravan have remained lush and green - no doubt from the years of pig poop that has helped fertilise the soil. And so having moved the electric fencing to surround a large grassy and weedy area, the pigs are now happily snuffling. As an aside; I was expecting piglets just two days before Christmas. However, with the pigs now within viewing distance of home, I can see that Richard is being rather ‘busy’ so the pitter patter of piglet feet is definitely still over three months away.
Elsewhere in the owlery, new snowy Ilyaas is settling in and gradually becoming more comfortable with the surroundings. It’s a lot to be an owl and be bombarded by the orchestra of noise, smell and movement that stems from living on a busy farm. Being parent-reared, he is understandably wary of humans yet, like most owls, extremely food driven. To stand and watch, you’ll spy a nervous owl with wings ajar and vision spinning - always ready to escape. The mere presence of dinner (for him, five day-old frozen chicks) in your hands is enough to laser-focus his pupils. I would not tussle with Horatio for he is a beast not to be messed with. However, I do believe that with a little time and work, Ilyass could become tame enough to sit on a glove and eat from your hand. The lovely Os (a female snowy owl) became extremely broody this year, even laying an egg. With such dedication given to her little egg, laid and nestled amongst are rather bare piece of soil and stone, it seemed only right to provide her with the potential to breed. And so, in 2025, there may be the cheepings of baby owls. In addition and rather excitingly, new to Brimwood Farm is the option to Sponsor or Adopt an owl! Many visitors to the land, and also those unable to travel so far but wanting to offer some support, have previously reached out about the popular ‘adopt an animal’ option. So now you can sponsor Horatio, Os or Ilyaas for a year; with new animals to be added over coming months.
The season marches onwards and in just six weeks, the winter solstice will be upon us, signalling the coming of winter but the changing of light once again. And during this quiet time, when plants are dormant, when trees sit and await the whistle of a warm breeze, and when female animals gently graze knowing that within them next year’s offspring grows, I shall be up to my eyeballs in infrastructure projects!