Flowers, Bathing, New Hoggy Cam

Regulars may recall that near the beginning of the month I had a wild flower growing in the edge of the lawn. Greenfingers and ShySongbird identified it for me as Cardamine pratense - Lady's Smock.



Greenfingers told me how to propagate it as I wanted to grow it in a more suitable place. Detach a leaf or two and lay them on damp potting compost and cover with a plastic bag. This I did and now, 20 days later, there are new shoots which I hope will give me some plants to plant out when they are big enough.




One of my favourite flowers in the garden is a succulent, unknown, which is very drought tolerant. You have only to look at the fleshy leaves to see why. In wet weather they swell and then gradually shrink as the plants uses up the moisture. They can go months without watering. It is at its best in a container where, given time, it will tumble over the sides and grow longer and longer. Just now it is coming in to flower with a mass of bright yellow blooms each about three quarters of an inch across.

Addendum: I finally found out this plant is Delosperma nubigenum (Ice Plant)



While I was photographing this plant I could hear a lot of splashing behind me. I turned round to see a Blackbird having a good bath in the pond waterfall. First it looked at me and then decided to carry on only stopping for a brief moment each time the mirror clattered in the camera.

Splash it all over:


Have a good wash all over and then a decent scratch:


Make sure the ears are nice and clean - Bottoms Up!


Yesterday I received and installed a brand new video camera for Hoggy.
Over the past few days I have been thinking I need to name the Hedgehogs as I can't keep calling them smaller and larger. After some thought, assuming the larger one is the male, I came up with:
Henry for the bigger one - means ruler of home and estate, because he seems a bossy boots.
Honey for the smaller one - means sweet one.

Night time viewing - one Hedgehog:


Day time vewing - a Magpie: what a long tail they have.


Sorry - this turned out longer than I intended when I started.

Hoggy Cam Revisited and Others

As usual I keep trying different things with Hoggy Cam. A couple of days ago I changed the camera to one which is colour in daylight and black and white at night. The camera is quite old and, like me, sometimes temperamental. I wanted colour in daylight as many birds go on the paved area under the bird feeders and I can watch them from indoors this way. Night lighting consists of three solar powered LED spotlights which have just three LEDs in each but at close quarters give quite a reasonable light. Also I put an infra red light above the paved area to give more light which the camera could see but would not affect the Hedgehogs.



Last night just one Hedgehog showed up while I was watching.



This morning there was a Magpie gathering any spilled seed from under the feeders.



Disappointing that the colour view from the camera is not as sharp as the b/w view. This afternoon it was replaced with a new camera which looks better in daylight - just got to wait and see what the night vision is like.

This is the first time I have seen the Robin use a seed feeder. It normally flies in and out of the bird table all day.



Yesterday was the first time I had seen the Coal Tits for about a month. As they are back visiting the feeders I assume they have raised a family and the young have now flown the nest. Also the Blue Tits are back as regular visitors. They do look quite scruffy now. The hazard of bringing up a family? Here a Blue Tit is eating a Sunflower heart.



Finally - the juvenile Blackbird seems to be thriving and continues to spend part of each day in the garden feeding on the seeds the other birds drop.

Saving Energy

Well, the morning started off beautiful and sunny and I thought we were going to have another lovely day like yesterday but as I sit here I am being deafened by the sound of hail pounding on the plastic roof of the conservatory.

Just a couple of videos today. First a compilation of three clips showing a male Blackbird gathering as much seed as he can get in his beak at one time. Certainly saves energy on the number of flights back to nest to feed the kids. In the last clip there is even a worm in with the seeds.



Second, a little video of Bobby doing what he does best - saving energy. He is desperately trying not to nod off while his ears are searching for the slightest sound which means there might be an opportunity to deafen someone.

Update

This is more a test as yesterday's TWO HEDGEHOGS and a JACKDAW entry didn't show in the updates from Blogger for some reason.

Only the large Hedgehog showed up on camera last night. I had put a little chopped tinned cat food on a saucer to see if it would be eaten. Hoggy had a good sniff at it a couple of times but by the time I went to bed it had not eaten any. This morning the saucer was empty so something had a good meal.

Also I have gradually been increasing the amount of visible light where the Hedgehogs feed. I have used some solar charged spotlights which are not too bright and should allow the hogs to get used to the idea.

Two Hedgehogs and a Jackdaw

Yesterday I spent quite a lot longer than I had anticipated altering the cables between the shed and the living room. The video signals now travel a shorter route which means some improvement in the quality of the pictures. Today involved all the excitement that goes with an hour or twos shopping. I did remember to get a tin of cat food to see if the Hedgehogs would eat it.

Last night both Hedgehogs made an appearance on video. They met up several times. This time I was able to see the way they interacted more clearly. In the past it looked as though the large one was pushing the small one away from the food. Now it can be seen that the large one almost prostrates itself as it nears the smaller one. You can see how it lowers its head and tilts it to one side. A few times it then lowers its head and neck right down to ground level and seems to rub its neck on the ground.

Assuming the large one is the male it looks like he is saying, "Is it time to make baby hedgehogs yet?" and she is saying, "Not tonight dear. I've got a headache."



For an all too brief few seconds I did see the Turtle Dove was in the garden again yesterday about teatime. I hope it will become a regular. It certainly makes a change from Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons.

Never to give in to a challenge one, or possible more, of the Jackdaws has been making concerted efforts to feed from the fat balls. The wooden beam above the feeders makes it awkward for it to reach down but with a lot of flapping it is able to grab a few beaks full before it has to let go of the slippery metal.

From MIDMARSH JOTTINGS

I keep trying to get some video of its antics but it so skittish it vanishes at the slightest view of me through the kitchen window.

Look out for Garden Creatures + New Visitor

When I am gardening I always try to keep an eye open for wildlife. This is especially important when I let the grass get longer than usual before cutting it. I always keep an eye out for frogs hiding in the longer clumps of grass but they always end up taking me by surprise when they leap out in front of the mower. This morning was no exception when this magnificent creature suddenly leapt into view and thoughtfully rested on a short wooden peg while I fetched the camera and took its portrait.

From MIDMARSH JOTTINGS

Of course the other one to watch out for here is the Hedgehog or I should say Hedgehogs. I haven't found out where they are nesting but I will be taking care when I get round to using the compost from the compost bins at the back of the garden.

As usual Hoggy showed up on Hoggy-Cam last night. For the first time I had to tell Bobby off for trying to play with it but he did find out that licking a Hedgehog was not a good idea!

A short video of the larger Hedgehog having a drink and a meal last night.



The juvenile Blackbird continues to visit and joins in with the others finding the seed I scatter on the lawn.



They need to keep a good lookout as I saw a Sparrowhawk fly over earlier this morning.

This afternoon I spotted what at first I thought was a strangely coloured collared dove but on closer investigation proved to be a Turtle Dove. Not seen one ever before and delighted it visited my garden.



A rough piece of video as the darned dove would not stay still.

The Usual Garden Visitors

Nothing exciting today, just the usual garden visitors and me playing with the computer and some bits of video. I think I've got everything about as good as it will go at the moment.

Just a bit more experimental video of some of the regulars in the garden: Chaffinch, Magpie with Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Starling and Sparrows.



The juvenile Blackbird is getting about a bit more and has been practicing flying between some bare branches in a dead tree. I haven't seen the juvenile Greenfinch but did briefly spot a juvenile Sparrow so many of the locals have been busy bringing up their broods. Today the adult Greenfinches visited more often so I think they are recovering now the brood has fledged.

Last night the large Hedgehog was about and Bobby went and gave it a quick inspection, twice, at bedtime.