Saturday 24th October - All 3 seen

At 14:50 this afternoon, the boys were sheltering from the heavy rain in the woodland about 100 metres west of the entrance by the tarmac road, near ///wacky.sofas.swarm. Youngster 283 spotted me approaching and wandered over to the edge of the trees to say hello and enjoy a neck rub. Youngsters 278 and 282 soon followed, patiently waiting for their turns to say hello and enjoy some fuss. The boys were all soaking wet, having been grazing near the ammo compound before I arrived. The trees were providing some shelter, but the rain was still getting through, leaving them even wetter.

After our initial hellos, the boys soon gathered around me to rest and chew their cud. They took turns to step forward, initially to have the water brushed off their backs and sides before settling into lengthy neck, shoulder and back scratches. Despite having a wet head, youngster 282 insisted on giving me plenty of head rubs in return. The boys were all happy, relaxed and looking well.

Around 15:30, when the rain eased a little, I slipped off to check the water trough. It was covered in a thick layer of pine needles and leaves from the trees above, blown down by yesterday's breezy weather. I gave the trough a good clean, and just as I was finishing, the heavens opened again, with the rain bouncing off the surface of the water.

Afterwards, I returned to spend some more time with the boys. In the short time I was away, they had drifted apart slightly and found more sheltered spots. They were all happy to be approached and thoroughly enjoyed plenty more strokes and rubs as they rested.

I said my goodbyes at 16:20, but the boys clearly weren't ready for me to leave and followed me back to the entrance by the tarmac road. We all sheltered under the trees while each of them enjoyed another back scratch before I finally bid them farewell about ten minutes later. As I was leaving, they crossed the tarmac road and started grazing in the thicket on the far side.

The cattle were all good today.