The guinea fowl have been particularly noisy over the past hour or so, and so I suspect that there is a fox about some where past the field borders.
The weather is turning more blustery and somewhat violent, and tomorrow we are expecting the last vestiges of hurricane Katia to arrive. It is not going to be a day for gardening.
The animals are not used to me being sat up against the church wall with my laptop and they crowd around to see if I have any treats hidden away in my pockets. After a few minutes of waiting most of the hens melt away, leaving Boris and the geese watching me carefully.
Boris, is not after any food, all he is wanting is protection Bingley the other stag turkey on the field is more dominant and aggressive but will tend to keep away from me when I am around, next to me Boris has a chance to relax and settle......and settle he does, sitting on the grass beside me like a dog.
Winnie and Jo chatter quietly away to themselves and crowd even closer to me as I tap the ground with my fingers .It was a habit I did when they were goslings which I am sure they remember, and they bow their heads low to see what I am doing, their deep blue eyes placid,calm and always curious
Camilla is a little way behind them, still courting favour and still not quite being accepted by the group. She looks slender and breakable compared to larger geese, who all have keels like the Queen Mary, and remains rather a beautiful and sweet natured bird. All four geese , settle like Boris has done, and make themselves comfortable a couple of feet from where I sit.
The hens, in their ones and twos amble away to sit comfortably in the shelter of the Church wall out of the wind and the guinea fowl glide noisily into the riding stable fields to peck through the small mountains of dung lying temptingly in the grass.
This afternoon all eight ducks are sleeping in the long grass next door to the pig enclosure, each one with their head tucked tightly against their wings. I suspect they feel safe a stones throw distance from the pigs, who since their arrival have provided a strong arm deterrent to predators whether they be foxes or badgers.
From where I sit I can only see no 12. Even at 200 yards, he is a fine figure of a pig and somewhat charmingly, he always seems to sit on his haunches like a very large pink and brown dog.
Even at this distance he looks rather benign even though he is now over six feet long and has more fat on him than the average sumo wrestler .
As the wind increases even more, the field clears itself of birds completely. I leave the Church wall for a while and pick the last of the raspberries in the allotment with only Boris again for company. I hand feed him the spare overripe fruit which he gobbles down with some gusto,making the most of this moment of male bonding
I am back now at the computer and its quarter past three.....
I think it's about to rain
