One Darter and Two Hedgehogs

Yesterday was the hottest day so far this month. In fact it was still 21C outside when I went to bed. A few years ago when temperatures reached 30C I bought a portable air conditioning unit which has rarely been used since - until this year when I have really had my moneys worth of use out of it.

At last I had an outdoor visit from a Dragonfly. It made a change from having to rescue one from the kitchen. For quite a while a Common Darter Dragonfly kept finding places to rest. It didn't stay still for very long as there was quite a gusty wind at the time which kept blowing it off its perch but more often than not it would land again in almost the same place several times before taking a tour round the pond and finding a more sheltered spot to land.

I was intrigued watching the way it moved its head as it looked around for danger, or maybe for a mate. It is such a quick movement it looks as though it has a nervous twitch. The bright Sun reflecting in those compound eyes showed as brilliant white spots. When I think about it, with those eyes seeing in so many directions at the same time, the Sun should be blinding it most of the time. There must be something about the way their brain uses those multiple eyes. Can it shut off the signals from sections which are catching the brightest light? Or is the section catching direct Sunlight such a small part of their view that it doesn't matter?

A few photos and a video clip.









It made quite a change last night to see Henry and Honey, the adult Hedgehogs, visit the feeding area at the same time. Well - almost the same time as the video shows.

There are four clips in this video:
1. Honey arrives first and towards the end of this section sniffs and follows what appears to be a beetle - the mainstay of a hog's natural food.
2.Henry is feeding. Honey comes in from the shadows on the right, sees him, and backs away.
3. Henry still feeding. Honey comes in from the shadows on the left to have a drink of water.
4. Henry scoffing dried mealworms and crushed unsalted peanuts.



Last night I scattered a few of their favourite dried mealworms near the entrance to the Hedgehog House to entice them to that area. Eventually I will start putting some in the entrance so they get used to it. Finally I will put food just inside to get them used to entering it or maybe to entice any other Hedgehog visitor which visits the garden. One thing is for certain- a hog cannot resist dried mealworms.