The years seem to be coming around very quickly – this will be my ninth spring at this farm. As the days get longer and the grass begins to grow, my mind turns to lambing. We have a short growing season here, so we plan for lambing to start mid-April, hoping the grass will have started growing by then. The tiny Ouessant sheep, which have to lamb indoors due to predation, started lambing on April Fools’ Day.

Last year I put a large group of Ouessants outside to graze on the Roman fort when they were four days old, and they disappeared without a trace – 13 lambs lost. It wasn’t a fox or a badger, as we know what a predated carcass looks like, and it wasn’t the mink that had been killing hens, as that was leaving dead bodies.

Sheep on the fells on Andrea’s farm. Photograph: Andrea Meanwell

I have wondered if it was buzzards, which we have here, although they’re not usually known for taking live lambs. It was a devastating loss, so this year I’ll keep them inside for longer (last year’s later-born lambs were kept inside for two weeks, and weren’t taken when they went out).

Lamb predation is a hot topic among farmers here, as there is a plan to reintroduce white-tailed eagles to Cumbria. Many are unhappy and have been protesting at auctions and shepherds’ meets. The debate over whether white‑tailed eagles (also known as sea eagles) take live lambs is contested; it seems to be not a problem in some areas but a problem in others.

In Scotland, NatureScot has a payment scheme for sheep farmers to mitigate against sea eagle predation, acknowledging it as an issue, and it may occur more in places where there isn’t much wild prey. I think that instead of introducing an apex predator, it would be better to rebuild the wider ecosystem instead, so that there is plenty of habitat and natural food, then eventually they’ll come.

I run a nature-focused farm as much as possible, and the abundance of birds is a joy. I’ve seen so many nuthatches recently, and last week I saw grey wagtails here for the first time, which makes me think we’re doing something right. It is tricky, but a balance can be found between helping nature and sustainable farming.