The flock, traditionally dubbed the ‘flying flock’ because animals are moved from one nature reserve to another across the county to help maintain fragile habitats such as wild flower meadows and heathlands, is currently being lambed at the Trust’s Idle Valley Nature Reserve where staff and specially trained volunteers are currently coping with difficult conditions due to the social distancing rules relating to the coronavirus pandemic.
Whilst many aspects of the charity’s work including events and general volunteering on its nature reserves have been put on hold, lambing of the flock and calving the Trust’s cattle has to go ahead. – albeit with different arrangements to keep staff and volunteers safe.
On Tuesday a first time ‘mum’ that was thought to be carrying twins gave birth to four lambs. One of the lambs has now been fostered, with another waiting for a new foster mum so that the ewe can solely look after the two smallest lambs. Speaking about the surprise event Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Head of Communications Erin McDaid said: “With much of our work on hold and all our staff now working from home, keeping in touch with people has been difficult but I was delighted to see news of the quads on our new staff Facebook feed. Our Shepherdess Agnes says that whilst Hebridean ewes are generally very good mothers and often have twins – four lambs is very unusual. We’re delighted that they are all doing well and this positive news has given everyone a boost at a challenging time.”
