Day 1 - August Challenge

Challenge - "Dexter Cattle"

Suggested by - Vic @IrishDexterBeef

When this suggestion arrived in my message box, my heart jumped a little, as I knew that it would be a comparatively straightforward operation to set up this shoot. (Sorry Vic if you thought I might be stumped with this one!) Why so easy? The school our children had attended have a farm club and, you've guessed it, have three Dexters! So off I smugly toddled to arrange a shoot, only to be met with a 'No'

Heart sank.

"No you can't photograph ours as they aren't here, but I know someone up the road that has a small herd"

Heart jumped again.

And so, I was put in touch with a really lovely man, Ted Browne, who was more than happy to allow me to photograph his herd this morning. Whilst shooting, we were chatting non-stop about Dexters, wildlife, nature, foreign travel... So engrossed were we that an hour and a half passed before we knew it.

I learned that Dexters come in three colours, black, red, and the less favoured dun colour. Whilst most calves develop their final coat colour as they mature, it is quite possible that the little fella above, could keep his dun colour when he grows up. I also discovered that Dexters have short-legged and long-legged variants, a mixture being present in Ted's Bran Farm Herd.

So as not to appear selective, I have also included a picture of a black Dexter too, although one image would normally suffice for the challenge.

And yes, there were a lot of flies about in the 28+ deg heat!

As promised, here are the screen grabs to prove the date: (By clicking on the image they will enlarge)

My grateful thanks to everyone involved with this assignment.

-Vic for the suggestion
-SWCHS Farm Club for pointing me to alternative Dexters

-Ted Browne for giving up his valuable time to show me his Dexter herd

Tomorrow, Day 2

"Owl"

Before I Leave West Cork...

...one last ahhh as another new calf arrives. Only twenty more to go.
A farmers work is never done.

New-Born

A week ago last night, I was a little sad that my hope of watching the arrival of a new calf was not going to happen before leaving West Cork. Then, at around 9.30pm that night, my friendly farmer rang me to say that there was a heifer about half an hour away from the moment, if I was interested. Interest didn't come into it. I wasn't going to miss this for the world.

Quickly grabbing my camera kit, pulling on my wellies, coat and warm hat, I awarded myself the luxury of jumping in the car to go swiftly on the few hundred yards down the dark lane. When I arrived, all things were quiet and the expectant mum was comfortably contained in the barn. This first-timer, a Jersey/Friesian cross suddenly became conscious that she now had an audience. On the advice of the farmer, I stayed out of view of her as much as possible, my camera set roughly aimed on a tripod and operated with the remote shutter release. (Yes, I have replaced the batteries)

Half an hour moved on to an hour that moved on to two hours, and the initial thought that the delay was due to 'stage fright' changed into concern that there might be a problem. My friendly farmer began to apologise that he was going to have to help out with this birth as the calf was clearly a big one. I needed no apology, what had to be done, had to be done, so with a quick change into a waterproof suit, he entered the barn with some of the kit I remembered from the 'Herriot Saturday evenings'. I will spare you the next few details, but after a lot of pulling and the use of a ratchet gadget on a pole, out popped this tardy calf. Lying steaming and helpless in the straw, it was clear that she had legs that any supermodel would desire. They were long. It would be an hour or so before she would get to her feet so for a while we retired to the warmth of the farmhouse kitchen.

Returning for one last look in the early hours to check everything was ok, we could see that the mother had done her job of washing the calf but it was going to take this new-born a little bit of courage to raise herself up onto those elegant pins. We were keen to see her standing next to the other new arrivals just to compare how much taller she would stand. Alas, it wasn't going to be yet, however, I was happy enough. I had seen this amazing event.

One week on, and I guess this little one is confidently skipping around with all the other new arrivals. I'd love to see her now.

New Life

What a day! I have been progressing with the planned documentary work, starting with a chat to a young, beef cattle farmer, who despite currently having to run the farm alone and look after a toddler, he has the most refreshing cheery disposition. His wife has just spent the last few days sitting up in hospital with their poorly baby daughter, and yet he still has a smile on his face and declares that farming is the best life. People with this sort of outlook on life deserve to succeed and I wish him and his young family well.

Dropping by the dairy farmer again this morning, he pointed out a young heifer who's first calf would be born within the next few hours and I was hoping that I might be fortunate enough to be there for this new arrival. To kill time, I spent lunchtime photographing the wide variety of birds visiting the nearby strand. In half an hour I spotted two types of gull and the hooded crows that are always present as well as a rock pipit, oyster catcher, pied wagtail, sandpiper, redshank and a shag with its prominent breeding season crest. In the same half hour there were three other bizarre visitors. Firstly a power-walking lady who sent all the birds up into the air in a flurry as she marched from one end of the strand to the other - six times. Then a man who drove up as close to the strand as possible, off-loaded a wheelbarrow and shovel, then proceeded to fill the barrow with sand before re-loading it into the back of his van. Finally, an elderly man who also drove up as close to the strand as possible before selecting a carrier-bag full of stones with these also ending up in the back of his car. Too many interruptions for my liking, so time for me to move on.

Returning later to check the progress of the heifer I, and more so, the farmer had been surprised to find the arrival had happened sooner than expected for this first-time mum. We had both missed it. For me, it is sad as I am running out of time to catch one of these special moments. For the farmer, it is only the beginning of this annual rural cycle, with just one more new life.