We’re always delighted to see evidence of the increasing Owl population at Mornacott and spotting two Tawny Owl chicks was certainly one of the highlights of the week. We have a number of owl “boxes” which provide an ideal nesting habitat for these wonderful birds and sightings of Barn Owls as well as their Tawny cousins are not uncommon. We were particularly privileged to spot a rare Short Eared Owl on a night safari last week.

With the lambing season well under way, guests staying in our cottages over Easter were not only able to enjoy the super weather we've been having but also fed our orphan lambs. With several hungry lambs which require feeding four times a day, the help was gratefully received by our stockman Charlie and his wife Megan.

With the arrival of our first calf at Mornacott, we know that Spring is finally here. To aid the first calving of our Red Ruby heifers, we put them to a smaller Aberdeen Angus bull. Born at 5.00am, this Devon cross Aberdeen Angus was the first of what will be many more early mornings and through the night deliveries for our stockman Charlie.  

Owen the red deer pricket that has been such a regular attender on shoot days at Mornacott chose last Tuesday as his day off. It's often difficult to find beaters at the end of a long season and Owen's absence was particularly irritating as the team from Fieldsports TV had turned up especially with the intention of filming his antics. They did however manage to get some good footage of the shooting which can be seen here.

See it on YouTube here

With Christmas upon us many of our regular beating and picking up team donned their usual festive garb (hats and Christmas sweaters!) for the final shoot before Christmas. They now have a well-earned break over Christmas and the New Year before we kick off again for the final month of the season. And what a season it's been with many records broken in terms of bag and shot count but perhaps the most pleasing record to be broken is that our charity contributions to the "ABF The Soldiers' Charity" through guns' fines have already exceeded last year which was in itself another record. With nearly every team now rebooked for next year and numbers of early new enquiries we hope to do even better next season.

Owen, our resident red deer frequently featured in these pieces, has found a new job! He now frequently joins the beating line on shoot days much to the amusement of teams of guns. This shoot season shows all the signs of being one of our best to date and whilst this can’t all be attributed to Owen’s beating skills he often provides some welcome company to guns at the end of the drive. Thankfully with the rut nearing its end and testosterone levels falling he’s becoming a little less frisky as one or two female guns have found him rather too forward in his advances.