In the Birch

The coldest night yet and a ground frost has helped bring stags down into sheltered parts where the sun warms first.

They spend a lot of time browsing around the young birch that spreads across the moor. Cows were supposed to do this job for the managers. That was the most touted reason for their presence along with allegedly dealing with bracken. Then we saw they did neither of these.

The managers then told us the cows were improving the structure of the vegetation (as well as producing processed grass in the form of cowpats). We believe all this of course just as we believe everything we are told. The cows meanwhile have been removed with no explanation. They went off the moor into the sheep enclosure at the beginning of August and now they've gone altogether, leaving the place to the deer, who are better looking.