Quacker of a duck at Bundanoon

LITTLE duck, Lucky, from Bundanoon made good his name by taking out a champion harlequin ribbon in the big smoke at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

He did have a little help from his owner, Julie Peacock; after all, she has created the bloodline from which he came, from ducks that she bought five years ago.

Lucky is a Welsh harlequin, a breed of domestic duck originating in Wales. It is known for its vibrant plumage.

Julie, who owns Morvern Valley Farm Cottages, said she saw the Welsh harlequin at a poultry auction about seven years ago.

Alecia’s Cottage had a Special Guest this week

A Tawny Frogmouth stayed for days on the fence outside Alecia Cottage’s front door!

Tawny Frogmouths are large nocturnal birds measuring about 48 cms! The beak is very wide but doesn’t protude a lot and is covered with feathers.

A truly prehistoric looking bird!

During the day, they perch on tree branches, often low down, camouflaged as part of the tree. During his stay he stayed perfectly still – he thought he was blending in with the fencepost – but we were able to get up nice and close for a good look at such an unusual bird.

The bulk of the Tawny Frogmouth’s diet is made up of nocturnal insects, worms, slugs and snails. Small mammals, reptiles, frogs and birds are also eaten. Most food is obtained by pouncing to the ground from a tree or other elevated perch. Some prey items, such as moths, are caught in flight, which has led to many unfortunate instances of birds being hit by cars while chasing insects illuminated in the beam of the headlights.

We saw him suddenly fly and catch an insect – he was not scared of us at all.

During the day, the Tawny Frogmouth perches on a tree branch, often low down, camouflaged as part of the tree.

Our First Baby for Spring 2010

 Here is our lovely new lamb born on 7th August 2010 to ‘Barbie’ the sheep. She is a gentle tiny lamb, ‘Cloudy’ is robust and healthy and being looked after very well by her Mum. We are expecting another little lamb shortly too! We are hoping it is a female as then she can live at Morvern Valley even when full grown. When a lamb is successfully suckling her mum, its tail is held high and it wags and wags with pleasure – really cute!

EXCITING NEWS !!! Our other Suffolk mother gave birth to TWINS !!! Two healthy lambs born August 16th 2010 to ‘Baa- Baa’ the sheep. Returning guests may remember Baa Baa who was in our original trio of Suffolk Sheep. The sheep are high quality Suffolk sheep from a good blood line from the Moss Vale Agricultural High School. Yet to be named they are both doing really well.