The new duck run

And we have realised that duck eggs sell quite well. And our current ducks - there were 8 but one has wandered off somewhere - arent laying anything at the moment. And they are very sweet , but also stupid , as explained here 
So we are going to get some Indian Runners  ( Jemima Puddleduck -like ducks )

But obviously ours wont have the hat or coat.

And we, and the rest of Orkney,  still have a problem with stoats. So the new duck run, just like the existing one  , will have to be stoat-proof.
And we dont want to be lugging watre around for them , so it has to be near a pond/stream.

So i dammed a bit of the stream

aand whacked in a few fence posts we have . Ishould have concreted them in - the ground there is a bit soft and getting the posts  to stay vertical has been tricky and not entirely successful.

And then covered the whole thing in wire mesh

The ducks were getting a  bit big for their old chick run.

so they have been moved to the new run.

 The hen will go back to the rest of the flock in a few days and the ducks will get used to their new home,

And another

And I spotted signs of a bit of 'activity'  uner the trees.

And in the nearby tunnel trap :

And it has been reported to Stoats in Orkney  Facebook group.

Am I the only one actually trapping stoats ?

At the Ness

So it was the Open Day at the Ness.

Hurdles yesterday, sheep today.

And sheep and hurdles together at the site and all setup by 930 am.

And in addition to the usual archeological activities  there were exhibits and other attractions,
including us and our -clsest-you-will-get-to-neolithic-sheep-in-2019 sheep

So some of the 800 visitors who visited the site came and looked at the sheep and heard a bit about the history of Boreray sheep

And hopefully some will want to come back and see and hear more

Going to the Ness

The Ness of Brodgar is a big archeological site in Orkney. Experts from around the world ome to he site. When they are archeologying during the summer, they put on tours and talks - really fascinating to go . 

And they arrange ' Open Days' during the summer , with added attractions. 

from their website 

This weekend sees our first “Special Sunday” of the season.

The excavation site will be open to the public from 11am until 4pm, with diggers working on site all day.

In addition to tours running continuously throughout the day, there will be a number of other things to do and see on site, including: 

• The decorated stones found this week on display up at the site.
• Kevin Critchlow building a scaled down reconstruction of Structure Eight. 
• Highland Park Ness of Brodgar Legacy tasting and Ness 2019 Big Draw. 
• Neolithic pot – how do you make it and fire it? 
• Artists in Residence – Karen Wallis, Jeanne Rose and photographer Annie Wright.
• Sheep and the Neolithic — what was the difference between then and now? 
• Neil Leask – no plastic, just plants and what you can do with them.

And we are the neolithic sheep. 

The sheep go tomorrow, but today its a bit of setting up 

car and trailer 

 

Loaded with sheep hurdles 

Pens constructed 

And we take some particualrly friendly sheep along tomorrow !

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Ducklings

So we hatched the ducklings in the incubator .
And the broody hen adopted the 4 that came out of the incuated eggs.   One didnt survive, so we are left with the hens' one and the 3 from the incubator.

And they are venturing out , watched over by the hen

Rooing

Primitive sheep shed their fleece every year.  If you time it right, its possible to collect the shedding fleece and then get  it processed into a high quality yarn.

And here is some Rooing 

Got another

Stoat , that is

 a young male , I tihnk
Well , its now an ex-male

Oops

Narrow road, large vehicle and soft verge.

It caused a bit of a problem.

 But help was at hand

the ducks are coming

When one of the broody hens got fed up , we put the remaining eggs into the incubator .

They have started to hatch.

Add caption

But one of the hatchees is a bit weak and struggling.
It may not survive.