Birds, Hedgehogs and a Newt

What a miserable morning yesterday. Just started to rain as we got back from the morning walk and it continued until just after midday. Not heavy rain, just enough to gently water the garden. It needed it as large cracks were appearing in some areas. Once the rain had stopped I set about changing the camera I had used to observe the Hedgehogs. After a bit of experimenting I ended up using a black an white one with built in infra red lighting. The cover says colour but the camera is b/w. Also I took the opportunity to mount it closer to the place where the Hedgehogs have been appearing.



If you want to see the results then read on or scroll down.

In the garden the birds have been grabbing food as though it is going out of fashion. Several times I have seen blackbirds with beaks filled with grubs. Often they will put the whole lot down while they get another tasty morsel and then pick all the originals up again.

How many grubs can you get in one beak - there are still a couple to pick up.



It is not often I see both Blue Tits at the same feeder. Here the one at the back is holding a Sunflower heart with both feet and pecking pieces off.



As usual the Starlings cause mayhem continually barging in. Here a couple are changing over.



Another has decided it is bath time. Yes - that is my nursery pond but who am I to argue with a determined Starling. BTW I was right about the Frog Spawn. It was not viable and not one started to develop. Oh well, better luck next year.



Nobody can convince me that House Sparrow numbers are decreasing but why, with a large area of lawn to choose from, so many feed in such a small space I'll never know. There were more out of shot.



In the pond the Common Newts continue to make an appearance from time to time. The best time seems to be around midday.



Finally back to the Hedgehogs. For a while I thought there would be no appearance last night but suddenly two appeared together. At first they seemed to be feeding quite happily together but before too long a Hedgehog jousting match started. It was all one sided as the larger hog kept pushing the smaller one away from the food. The small one was not to be put off though and kept returning. This went on for well over fifteen minutes. In fact it only stopped when I went out to take a couple of still photos.

From MIDMARSH JOTTINGS

This time I managed to get a face. After a couple of shots the little hog ran off and the large one disappeared soon after that. Hopefully here is a piece of video. This is the first time I have used YouTube as Flickr have a limit of 90 seconds for video files. I can't work out whether the smaller hog is younger or appears so much thinner because the larger one stops it from eating. In that case why do they appear together? A bit of a puzzle at the moment.



This morning I have moved the camera even closer so it is now about 3 to 4 ft away. I want to see what these two are really up to.