Christmas came a little bit early to the ranch last month with the December 21st arrival of 100 Dorper Sheep and 2 guardian Great Pyrenees dogs.  Dorper Sheep hail from South Africa, and were originally bred to tolerate arid conditions.  The name Dorper is derived from using the first 3 letters of the parent breeds: Dorset Horn and Blackhead Persian.  Unlike most sheep breeds, the Dorper has an extended breeding season which allows for up to 3 lamb crops in two years.  We expect to have the first babies on the ranch sometime in March. The sheep currently spend their days enjoying the warm Paso Robles sun and eating the grass and weeds growing in the vineyard.  They are kept in 1- to 2-acre, electronically fenced, pens with their companion dogs and moved once they have mowed the grass. No need to worry about damage to the vineyard; the vines are currently dormant and the sheep prefer green grass. We plan to keep the sheep in the vineyard until budbreak (April), and then they will be moved to another part of the ranch to continue mowing.

The Paso Robles Harvest Wine Weekend is coming up, October 21-23. We will be pouring Rangeland Wines, including some new 2009 releases, at Thacher Winery. Wine Club members will be able to pick up their wine club shipments and we will have some special deals available. We make our wine at the Thacher's and they are great hosts who make truly fine wines. It is a relaxed, party atmosphere there and we feel privileged to be included. We hope to see you there.

Many thanks to local bird watcher Maggie Smith who, as part of a census of yellow billed magpies, came out to Adelaida Springs Ranch with her expert eye. Here are the results of her report, which offers a quick glimpse of the rich avian wildlife in our oak woodland habitat:

Location: SLO/Adelaida Springs Ranch
Observation date: 6/3/11
Notes: Laird Foshay graciously allowed me to survey his property for Yellow-billed Magpie. I drove to 2 locations Laird suggested. Cattle were present at both locations as well as many large oaks.
Number of species: 35

Mallard 4
California Quail 30
Wild Turkey 21
Turkey Vulture 3
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 1
Mourning Dove 8
Acorn Woodpecker 30
Nuttall's Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 2
Black Phoebe 3
Ash-throated Flycatcher 3
Western Kingbird 5
Warbling Vireo 1
Western Scrub-Jay 8
Yellow-billed Magpie 16
Violet-green Swallow 10
Barn Swallow 8
Oak Titmouse 8
Bushtit 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Wren 5
Western Bluebird 15
European Starling 50
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
California Towhee 3
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 30
Black-headed Grosbeak 3
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Bullock's Oriole 3
House Finch 25
Lesser Goldfinch 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)