From the Farm

Notes from Reaside

Wildlife, weather and life on a working farm in the Shropshire Hills, as we see it day to day.

An empty grey sky over Reaside Farm, with no buzzards or red kites in sight
Wildlife

Where Have the Buzzards and Red Kites Gone?

A quiet, birdless morning after the summer's weather finally breaks gets us thinking about the buzzards and red kites who share our skies, how to tell them apart, and what a scattering of feathers can tell you.

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Waymark for the Simon Evans Way footpath beside Reaside Farm
Local History

The Simon Evans Way: A Postman's Round Past Our Door

The footpath that runs alongside our fields is named after a broadcaster and author who documented the landscapes and characters of south Shropshire, and once wrote about Reaside itself.

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Horses on the track system at Reaside Farm
Farm Life

Life on the Track: How We Keep Our Horses and Donkeys

Why our horses and donkeys spend much of the year on a track rather than in a paddock, and what it takes to keep it running.

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A shed fallow deer antler found beside a water trough at Reaside Farm
Wildlife

The Deer of Reaside: Antlers, Barks and Chewed Trees

Muntjac, roe and fallow deer all share the farm with us, mostly unseen. A found antler and a camera trap gave us a much closer look.

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A badger caught on camera trap at night on Reaside Farm
Wildlife

Badgers at Reaside: A Sett, a Camera Trap and a Childhood with Toddy

An active sett on the farm gave us a rare glimpse of a very inquisitive badger after dark, and stirred up childhood memories of Toddy, our family's pet badger in 1960s Wales.

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Tree planting under way in the new woodland at Reaside Farm
Conservation

A New Woodland at Reaside: 2,800 Trees Take Root

Two fields of permanent grassland become seven acres of new native woodland at Reaside, part of a project linking the Wye Valley to the Wyre Forest, and the start of a very long wait to see how it grows.

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A grey heron eating a trout caught from the River Rea
Wildlife

A Grey Heron Catches a Trout

Cataloguing the farm's wildlife with the Shropshire Mammal Group turned up a visitor, and a catch, we weren't expecting, all caught on camera.

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An intense red and orange sunset over the equestrian arena at Reaside Farm
Nature

The Most Incredible Sunset

A quiet red band over the pool built, in a matter of minutes, into an explosion of reds and oranges over the horse arena.

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