Racing Exmoor ponies (c) Duncan Hutt

Livestock checking continues through the holiday period.  Today’s visit to Prestwick Carr was certainly a fruitful one from a wildlife perspective and a successful one in ascertaining all the livestock was OK.  There are 4 new Exmoor Ponies although it was the resident 6 that had a good race around a new field as they were let out to wander further afield.

Roe deer (c) Duncan Hutt

Short-eared owl (c) Duncan Hutt

The wildlife sightings are certainly worth a mention.  There was a herd of 9 roe deer gently grazing and about 12 snipe flew up from the rushy sward.  Redwings and starlings put in fly-pasts and a buzzard circled overhead.  It was, however, a short-eared owl that put in the most impressive show, flying up from close by then circling before settling in a hawthorn along one of the field boundaries.