Hedgehog Diary

As posted a while ago we now have a hedgehog house in the garden. I've been feeding what I thought was a hedgehog for a few months in the hope it might find the house too. At the same time my husband bought me a trail cam for my birthday so we could watch whatever comes into the garden at night. It turns out I am feeding at least two hedgehogs - one much bigger than the other - and a cat! Whilst I'm not keen on feeding the neighbouring cats this one did look suspiciously like one that had gone missing from a few streets away so I contacted the owners and they took a look at the footage. It turned out it was theirs and after some calling and treat shaking they found it dozing under a nearby hedge. I've stopped putting cat food out for a while to discourage the cat from coming back as it means it is having to cross a main road. So far I've not seen either hog venture into the house but I've just bought a bag of hay which I'll pop in there as the nights start to cool down and hope it attracts one or other. Meanwhile lots of food for the little one to feast on and pile on the pounds!

Time for the bugs

As the birds disappear from the garden the bugs begin to show. We have had a few red admiral butterflies in the garden this year which is great as I don't remember seeing any at all the last few years. We also have lots of bees. I have numerous lavender bushes at the front and back and they just love it!

My favourite little bird

Long-tailed tits have just the sweetest faces and yet they arrive in the garden like a mob! One will settle on the feeders and suddenly the trees are noisy with their calls. They don't stay still for very long either and when they do stop on one particular branch they will be swinging, often upside down. They are extremely photogenic but not exactly model material!
They don't hang around and within a few minutes they'll be gone and we might not see them back for a few weeks or more.

A new first for the garden

July was quiet in the garden, we were away for a bit and the nesting birds slowly disappeared. I thought we had seen the last of this year's fledglings but just happened to glance out of the window the other morning to see a male green woodpecker and a young one feeding off the ants in the grass. I have to admit I looked twice, I've never seen a green woodpecker around the gardens or in the scrubland at the back. The parents split up when the young leave the nest and share the duties. This youngster was having a go at catching the ants but dad was still feeding. They stopped for a few minutes and I was able to grab some shots (laying on the kitchen floor and shooting through the conservatory door!) before they took flight. I haven't seen them since but fantastic to know they must have been nesting nearby.

The friendly robin

The robins nested again somewhere outside of the garden but still came for food. The hand-feeding became such that I only had to open the door to go outside and I would be aware of a fluttering of wings nearby. This lasted until he disappeared for a week or so to moult. He has been back the last few weeks but was reluctant to come to my hand. We have been tempting him with the suet which he loves and once again as soon as we appear in the garden he turns up, often taking bits from right by us, and today he took from my hand. These photos are from earlier, he was looking a little tired and bedraggled at this point although still better than his mate who was nearly bald.

Field vole

We often get mice and voles in the garden, clearing up the spilt seed from under the bird feeders. This vole spent quite a while hoovering up the left overs but I think I was spotted!

Woodpecker Return

I haven't posted for a few months so need to do a little catching up! Firstly, we had two visits from the greater-spotted woodpecker at the beginning of June.