Resident Badger

A few nights ago a Badger visited the garden and decided to stay. It has made its home under a large shed and potters about the garden each night.



The Badger is eating some unsalted peanuts I put in a dish. Not the clearest of videos but the best I have so far.

Hedgehog Visitor

I placed some solar powered lamps near the feeding station hoping they would be bright enough to get some video clips in colour.



They don't last all night but did last long enough for this Hedgehog visit to the feeding station. One of about four visits it made overnight - assuming it was always the same animal.

Squabbling Starlings

I can guarantee a noisy session when a group of Starlings descend on the seed feeders.



I always think of them as a brat pack, like little children who only what what someone else has.

A Brief Look

This morning saw the first bit of interest being shown in the new camera nestbox.



I took a still shot from the video as the Blue Tit stayed only for a few seconds.

Hungry Hedgehog

After spotting a Hedgehog a few nights ago I placed some food in the Hedgehog house hoping it would return. It needs a few really good meals to put back the weight lost during the long Winter hibernation period.. Delighted to see it came again this morning:



There was dried Hedgehog bites and dried mealworms to choose from. As in the past the mealworms were favourite.

No recent sightings of the female Blackcap. She visited the bird feeder for three mornings and then disappeared. I understand that some are resident in the UK and some migrate here at this time of year. Maybe she was an early visitor replenishing her energy before moving further inland. I live about 4 miles inland from the coast.

Hungry Blackcap

The female Blackcap returned this morning. Obviously very hungry and more confident using the Birdfy feeder.



I wonder whether a male will also turn up one day.

Hedgehog Awakes

I was more than a tad surprised when I made my usual daily check for any activity in the Hedgehog house. On one of the coldest nights recently there was one investigating the house.



Yesterday I finally made my mind up to move the Birdfy Bamboo feeder to the back garden.



In its original position there were only three visitors - Male and female Blackbirds and a Robin. That confirmed my decision to move it to a position where a greater variety of birds are used to feeding.



The first to make use of the feeder in its new location was - the Blackbird.

The First Visitor

The camera feeder is in rather an out of the way position but it took less than two hours for the first brave visitor to inspect it. What was it? Just think which common garden bird is always close by when there is anything happening when you are gardening. The Robin.



It was very cautious at first but as the only visitor so far it now has its own private source of food. I am seriously thinking about moving the feeder to near the bottom of the garden. There is plenty of bird activity there plus lots of trees and bushes as safe places for them.

P.S.



A Blackbird has finally found the feeder. Things are looking up.

Fox Visitor

Wow - best part of a month since I last wrote anything. Not that there has been much of real interest to inspire me until now. I was idly checking through last night's video captures when I spotted this fleeting visit:



Not sure whether its coat shows signs of mange or whether it is wet for some reason. On checking my other cameras I see it explored most of the garden. The Hedgehog had been in the Hedgehog House but had left about five minutes before the Fox arrived.

Three is a Crowd ...

... when it comes to Hedgehogs. Checking this morning's video recordings I was surprised to see three Hedgehogs visited the feeding station. First there were two which were wary of each other. The third visitor was very forceful in making sure it would be the next to enter for a free breakfast.



Unfortunately this video camera stopped recording sound some months ago. It looks as though all were safe and healthy in spite of the battle. It is a good job they have a thick coat of spines.

I have been keeping a watch on the camera nest box but the Blue Tits seem to have chosen somewhere else to nest this year.

Rook Raids Seed Feeder

Several times I found the lid on the seed feeder had been opened. It shouldn't have been gusty winds as it has a magnetic catch. I thought it may have been a squirrel though I haven't seen one in the garden for over a year. This morning I decided to check the camera recordings .....



I should have known that a corvid would have the intelligence to work out how to open the lid - as you can see with this Rook.

Hedgehog in a Hurry

A quick movement on the monitor caught my intention. The animal was moving so fast I thought it may have been a rat. On checking the video recordings I could see it was my Hedgehog visitor rushing to check whether there was any bird food worth eating and then rushing off to the back of the garden.



The times shown by the clocks are set differently. The first in on GMT and the second on BST.

Thirsty Hedgehog

Last night my regular visitor arrived just before it got dark (no sound on this video):



That was the first of several visits to the hedgehog house to feed during the night.

Then There Were Two

The Pied Wagtail seems to be a resident these days. I have seen it in the garden every day until ...





... now two have visited the past couple of days. The lighting was poor and the photos are screen shots from a short piece of video I managed to take of them.

Unwelcome Visitor

Just happened to spot this furry visitor to the bird feeders:



Time to put out some 'special' food in a safe place!

Magpies v Suet Cake

As well as spreading seed on the grass for the ground feeding birds I added an Insect and Peanut suet cake to see who would be interested. Most of it was gobbled up by a group of five Magpies.



The suet cake was put there at 9 a.m. and all completely gone by midday. The Pied Wagtail continues to visit every day.

Magpies Bathing

There was a thin layer of water over a thick layer of ice in the bird bath but that didn't deter



the three regular Magpie visitors from having their daily shower. The Pied Wagtail spent several hours in the garden today.

Pied Wagtail Returns

Today I set up the camcorder ready for any interesting visitors to the bird feeders. After a night where the temperature dipped down to -3C there seemed to be far fewer than yesterday. One which did return for another quick visit was



the Pied Wagtail. I was ready for it this time. It was quite bossy and kept chasing the local House Sparrows away from where it wanted to feed.

A Second Inspection

Earlier in the week there appeared to be a very brief visit to the nest box by a Dunnock. Too brief to be absolutely sure on the identification. Yesterday's visitor was much easier to identify:



Another visit from a Great Tit.

A few Feathered Visitors

I was fortunate to spot a couple of Long Tailed Tits visit the bird feeders. It is quite a while since I last saw any visit my feeders. Unfortunately they didn't stay long as there were scared away by the noisy arrival of a Wood Pigeon. When I checked the automatic camera recordings I saw that Great and Blue Tits are also visiting. Not recorded by the camera was a brief visit by a Coal Tit.



You may have noticed some late Sunflower plants growing near the feeders. In the late Spring I tried twice to get some seeds started in pots for planting in the front garden. They all failed to germinate! These plants are the result of randomly scattered seeds dropped when the birds drop them whilst feeding.