What They Eat

For the first time today I've seen some of the cattle eating birch leaves. This is interesting because the previous year they were on the moor I didn't see this once. Mostly when we've been close to them they have been eating grass which we all know is what cattle prefer. So should I eat my words on this? I think not just yet anyway. The point about the birch on Blacka is that it gets deep down among the leggy heather signalling that the stability of the heathland has gone and the site cannot be saved from succession to woodland with just a few cows. Those today were casually chewing leaves at about three feet high which will make no impression on the spread of birch. They had somehow got themselves into an area where there was hardly any grass so birch leaves were all they could find nearby. Sooner or later off they go to one of the many grassy areas where there's plenty of grass. The only way that the cows could be expected to make a significant impact on birch would be to have a small enclosure with an electric fence. Maintaining this would be time consuming. Otherwise such a huge number of the animals would be needed and that would cause serious erosion on many parts of the moor which would lose its appeal for visitors even more than now.

More natural exploiters of Blacka's vegetation were around today. These were the mistle thrushes and some related species who are enjoying their annual excursion season to harvest the bilberries. The mistle is much more inclined to communal action than the other native thrushes or the blackbird who also loves berries. In this they resemble the fieldfare that come in winter. Walking along the paths you should count the numbers rising from the low shrubs. My record is 30 in a period of less than half a minute.