I know from my friends who've had children that there comes a point late in the pregnancy when you JUST WANT IT OVER. At which point, you still have to wait a bit longer. That's where we are at the moment with the flock. There are perhaps 10 of the 100 expectant mamas who are patently ready to go. Of the rest, it's hard to tell whether they are just fat, like the wethers and dry ewes, or whether they are not quite as far along in the 6-week lambing window.
Heading into the Back Gully. They made their way surprisingly quickly through the dense grass. They must be getting used to it!
I'm checking them nearly every day, now, and will check them at least once (maybe twice) a day once lambing starts next week. Last Friday they were all at the gate from lambing paddock, the Grass Gully, into the Back Gully, looking bored, so I decided to let them have this week in the Back Gully Reserve, with its beautiful spring-fed waterhole and native diversity.
Today we did a tiny little circuit in the Reserve, through (you guessed it) long grass and back to the spring for mid-day rest. It's finally become summer in Tasmania, just when the rest of the country is starting to think it might be autumn, so the shepherding window in the morning is pretty short--from 8 which is as early as I make it out there, to 10 at the latest--before everybody decides it's time for a drink, a snack and a nap.
The waterhole in the Back Gully Reserve.
A swamp hawk, or brown goshawk, watching for possible prey in the long grass this morning.