Sobering thought

Cases of dementia are steadily increasing in the UK - one in every 14 people aged over 65 are supposedly affected. The number of people suffering from dementia in the UK is estimated to be around 850,000, with around 225,000 people expected to develop it this year.

If you become one of them, this could influence your decisions later in life. Setting up a lasting power of attorney is just one action you could take.

Dementia is one of several conditions that cause a progressive loss of mental capacity, so it’s important to have a later-life plan in place. Setting up a lasting power of attorney (LPA) is just one of the practical steps you can take to give you peace of mind and ease the potential burden on your loved ones, should you ever be affected.

Sean McCann, of the NFU Mutual, suggests: “As with a will, there is a tendency to leave making an LPA until it is needed, in which case it may be too late. It isn’t possible to set up an LPA for someone who has already lost mental capacity.”

Feathered friends

Regular visitors to West Wales tend to take much more notice of the wildlife (noteably birds) that come and go than do the locals and I often marvel at the tremendous interest the likes of the late Jack Donovan took in migrating species.

Here’s an update on the list of migrant birds spotted on Skomer Island during May...

A grey Heron flew over on the 11th. A female Tufted Duck was present on North Pond between the 15th and 17th. Common Scoter were seen on the 13th (five) and 29th (28).

A single Red Kite flew west over North Haven on the 19th and there were at least two on the 25th. A female type Marsh Harrier was seen hunting in North Valley and then flying east over the Neck on the 11th. Merlins were present until the 20th and a Hobby was seen on the 27th.

Two purple Sandpipers were seen on the 9th. Single Dunlins were seen on four dates and there were two on the 10th and seven on the 27th. The last Snipe were seen on the 3rd, 5th and 7th. A single black-tailed Godwit was on North Pond on the 18th and six flew over North Valley on the 28th. A juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit frequented some of the paths on the south coast on the 5th and at least one summer plumaged bird was present in North Valley between the 6th and the 9th. Whimbrel were seen throughout with a maximum of 15 on the 13th. A Wood Sandpiper spent four days at Moorey Mere and was seen eating lots of tadpoles. Single Common Sandpipers were seen on the 3rd and 12th and there were three on the 5th. Turnstones began to leave our shores mid-month though there were eight on the 16th and a lingering bird on 29th.

A Coot was seen on North Pond on the 30th. On the 29th, an Arctic Skua and a Bonxie flew past Skomer Head. Cuckoos were seen on the 12th, 21st and 23rd. Short-eared Owls were very active with at least three pairs feeding young. Small numbers of Swifts were seen almost throughout and 363 on the 5th was the islands second highest count. Maximum numbers of hirundines include: 30 Sand Martins on the 6th, 200 Swallows on the 8th and 82 House Martins on the 11th. There were single Tree Pipits on the 5th and 7th and Yellow Wagtails on the 5th and 13th. A male Black Redstart was seen in North Haven on the 8th. There were six Common Redstarts on the 5th, three on the 6th and singles thereafter until the 11th. There were two Whinchats on the 5th and 9th and singles on three other dates. The last few Wheatears came through in May with a maximum of 88 on the 5th which included at least 20 Greenland race birds. Single Ring Ouzels were seen on the 5th and 9th.

There were three Reed Warblers on the 10th and singles on three other dates. Blackcaps passed through, mostly at the start of the month, with 13 on the 5th. May 2017 was an exceptional month for Garden Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats with maximum day counts of eight and four (on two dates) respectively. There was a noticeable influx of Common Whitethroats on the 6th when 89 were logged. A male Eastern Subalpine Warbler on the 8th was a second for the island after one in April this year. A Wood Warbler on the 5th and 6th was also an island rarity. Peak counts of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers were ten (5th and 11th) and 69 (5th) respectively. There was a single late Goldcrest on the 1st.

Spotted Flycatcher numbers peaked at twelve on the 5th and 12th. Pied Flycatchers peaked at five on the 5th. A Tree Sparrow was at the Farm between the 3rd and the 5th. Lesser redpolls were seen on three dates with two on the 29th, but the highlight of the month was a Dark-eyed Junco on the 8th.

Rustlers about

Lorna Sidebottom, 23, stands to lose thousands if the 71 breeding ewes and their 130 lambs that have been stolen are not returned but is hoping to use the power of social media and the offer of a £5,000 reward to track down the offenders

Lorna Sidebottom lost half her flock while she was on holiday and has offered a reward for their return

Enjoying a short holiday when half the flock went missing, on his daily check her dad noticed their numbers didn’t add up.

She said: “The odd one goes missing but never as many as this before.”

After speaking to a neighbouring dairy farmer who saw nothing of the flock’s vanishing act, Lorna took to Facebook where her post has been shared nationwide by 14,000 people.

Lorna told me: “My first thoughts when my dad told me were devastation really, farming is so hard without the many knock backs we face. I felt angry and upset that someone has stolen from us and obviously it has been well planned. About half of our flock were taken and it’s very difficult to say really how they did it but they must’ve had either trained sheep dogs or a lot of people - we suspect they walked a number of sheep into a closed off area and very quickly loaded them into vehicles like wagons and horse boxes as well.

Lorna concluded by saying: “Last year was tough due to milk price and lamb price and we thought we were doing okay this year, however, this is a massive set back.”

Police have confirmed they are looking into the theft of livestock worth about £12,000.

Dairy demand

Milk production is expected to accelerate worldwide especially in India where it will grow 49 per cent by 2026, contrasting with the steady decline of milk consumption in developed markets like the US, according to market predictions.

Fresh dairy consumption showed the most notable growth out of all commodities measured, hitting a record high per capita consumption rate in developing countries.

“Projected growth rates for fresh dairy for the coming decade are higher than those experienced over the past 10 years, driven by increasing per capita demand in developing countries, most notably India,” the report stated.

The world’s population will increase from 7.3bn to 8.2bn over the nine-year period, with India accounting for 56 per cent of that growth, overtaking China as the world’s most populous country, according to the report.

This growth is the driving factor behind the increase of milk production in India and accounts for the increased demand for fresh dairy products (54 per cent).

Logic

A Sunday school teacher asked: “Larry, do you think Noah did a lot of fishing when he was on the Ark?”

“No,” replied Larry. “How could he, with just two worms?”

Medical alert?

One out of every four people in this country is mentally unbalanced - think of your three closest friends… if they seem okay then you are the one!

Correspondence

A lady writes: “Last year, I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive, double-pane, energy-efficient kind, but today I got a call from the contractor who installed them.

He complained that the work had been completed a year ago and I still hadn’t paid for them.

Helloooo.... just because I’m blonde doesn’t mean that I am automatically stupid.

So, I told him just what his fast-talking sales guy told me last year... that these windows would pay for themselves in a year.

Hellooooo? It’s been a year, so they’re paid for, I told him - there was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally hung up.

He never called back. I bet he felt like an idiot.”