CATTLE in the Grazing Animals Project have been on the heathlands of the Rifle Range and Devils Spittleful nature reserves for a few weeks now.

This year there is one main herd composed of 16 rare breed Belted Galloways.

This is the largest herd that has been used in this project and was formed by merging smaller herds from other reserves.

It was quite a sight seeing all these animals meet up. For some, it was the first time they had seen each other.

The first to arrive was the herd which had previously been grazing at Blake Marsh.

This group included the scheme's mature bull, three mums and their young, and a young bullock.

Arriving on the Rifle Range Nature Reserve must have been a bit of a shock for these animals.

For most of the year they had spent their lives wading through the soft mud and munching on the succulent vegetation found on marshlands but now they were entering the dry sandy conditions of the heath with its coarse vegetation.

After a few leaps, bounds and shakes of their tail to flex their muscles, this small herd headed off into the dense broom scrub to explore their new home.

There was another shock in store.

As they started to casually explore their new surroundings, a furry head popped out of the dense stands of broom and gave a mighty bellow.

Within 30 seconds there were two lines of animals which had never met before standing in a state of stalemate.

The tension was broken by the big bull who, as bold as brass, walked across to the other line to check if there was any competition or if there were any new additions to add to his harem.

To his delight, he found it was only the latter case.

Now the herd moves as one across the nature reserves.

It is a truly magnificent sight to see these unusual, yet loveable-looking animals, in a herd that is composed of a bull, cows, their calves and immature individuals.

The herd composition, the large size of the fields and the heathy nature of the landscape with its open heather, heath, dense scrub and scattered sparse woodland have created a situation that cannot be far away from the way these animals would have lived in a wild Britain unaffected by the influences of man.