With just over a week until my move, it will soon be time to say goodbye to my regular visits to Bickerton.
Today, I found Taff leading his herd through a thick wall of bracken; I followed them using a track nearby until they broke cover and crossed my path. The rest of the herd followed the track into a wooded area while Taff stood and waited; I approached him slowly, keen to see where Ellie had gone as she had an obvious limp that needed checking. I gave him a wide berth as I turned towards the rest of the herd but he didn't seem bothered. In the end I walked past him and he followed me back towards the other ponies. I'm not sure if he sees me as part of the herd or not, but I felt quite privileged after that...mainly due to the fact that I haven't been kicked yet!
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| Taff Waiting |
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| Mist |
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| Fflach |
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| Shy |
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| Mist |
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| Fflach and Sam |
After I checked Ellie over for any wounds, I guessed it was a kick injury (probably from Shy as Ellie likes to steal Sam's food) which didn't look like it was slowing her down too much but I noted it down to be safe.
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| Ellie taking the weight off her rear left leg. |
When I turned around Taff was right behind me; let's just say I'm glad cameras come with neck straps.
He didn't seem spooked by my reaction; instead he started trying to eat my camera strap and when he worked out it wasn't edible (with a little persuasion from me) he decided to attempt eating my walking boots instead. I got a little worried at one point as I was backed up against a tree and he opened his mouth wide, as if about to take a large chunk out of my leg (the knowledge that ponies are herbivorous isn't really a comfort when you see how big there mouth is and know what damage they can do to trees with there teeth!) I was very pleased when I found out it was a yawn!
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| Taff and Sam |
The two outcast males Jack and Col were also found; but it was only a brief meeting, they were very skittish today so I doubled the distance and only stayed long enough to see that they were healthy before I moved on.
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| Jack |
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| Col |
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| Col with bilberry juice markings. |
I also found a lot of other interesting things to take photos of. At the moment Bickerton is so alive with dragonflies, bees and butterflies it's very hard not to get carried away with the camera!
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| Small Copper Butterfly |
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| Small Copper Butterfly |
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| Tortoiseshell Butterfly |
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| Peacock Butterfly |
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| Speckled Wood Butterfly |
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| Speckled Wood Butterfly |
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| A very small cave I found today: it doesn't go back very far, but a cave nonetheless! |
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| The moon was out too; I thought it was a nice enough picture to include in the blog. |
I don't know yet for definite how many more times I'll be able to visit Bickerton before I leave Chester. But I do hope I get some more good shots in the few days I have left here!
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