March was a mixed month, weather wise, from the almost balmy to a cold blustery Easter. We were delighted to welcome many hardy souls who took up the challenge of our Easter Egg hunt, in the snow! A few snowmen sprung up around the trail, perhaps we should have had a snowman building competition!
Our Guinea Pigs left their winter quarters in the old hatchery and are now enjoying the freedom of Guinea Pig Village. They are snuggled up in their houses, with lots of straw and hay to keep them warm. It is amusing to see the girls moving from house to house socializing with their neighbours! One little girl is black with a white collar and she lives in the church - she just had to be called Geraldine!
We have three new pigmy goats, Trevor, Eric and Bertie, all neutered males. They have joined our little girl Smudge, and have all settled down well. They like their new goat hose - well it's actually a pig arc but what else would it be on Jimmy's Farm!
An exciting new addition to the nature trail is the willow dome. It was built on one of our "Be a Farmer For a Day" courses. The children came up with a great name for it – a "twigloo"! The willow twigs were planted in well prepared ground, then bent and attached to one another to form the dome. We are looking forward to watching it sprout and grow, come and see it's progress.
April is a lovely time of year on the trail, the trees are budding and showing green, the bluebells are carpeting the woodland floor with their vibrant blue. There have been lots of sightings of wildlife such as muntjac and fallow deer, wood mice, weasels and squirrels. The variety of birds is increasing all the time with tree creepers, woodpeckers, jays and yellow hammers to name but a few. If you see anything exciting on your walk through the trail let us know by jotting it down on the chalk board found on the side of the Nature Trail hut.
We look forward to welcoming you to Jimmy's Nature Trail, come and see us soon. |
