Early Shift and a Baby Hedgehog

I had no sooner put out the food for the Hedgehogs just before 9.30 p.m. when the first visitor arrived. It was an adult by itself.



It spent about five minutes hoovering up unsalted peanuts and dried mealworms, had a drink, disappeared for a minute and then it (or another adult) appeared again for a while.

There was a while with no visitors. About 10.15 p.m. I went to the conservatory to check for signs of hogs before letting Bobby out. To my surprise there was a baby and an older Hedgehog. This baby looked smaller to me than the one I saw the other night. Also the older one looked smaller than the one which had been bulldozing its youngster.

Last night the larger one spent a lot of time rushing backwards and forwards. Every so often it would go to the youngster, sniff it and try pushing it around. This went on for nearly three quarters of an hour. The actions were less aggressive that that seen in the past. It was almost as though the adult was trying to get the baby to get a move on but either it didn't understand or it was just plain stubborn.

It is hard to convey in words just how much effort the adult was making, rushing backwards and forwards, pushing and shoving for three quarters of an hour while I was watching. In the end it managed to shove the baby off the paved area and on to the grass.

By that time it was 11 p.m. and I was ready for bed. I banged on the door to try to get them to move away. Bobby barked at them but they took absolutely no notice until I let Bobby out. The older one ran away and Bobby had a quick sniff at the youngster. It was still on the grass when I went to bed but I assume baby was eventually persuaded to do as it was told.

Some pictures of the baby.





To give an idea of size - the baby is the same height as the wood behind it - three inches.



Adult and baby together.



The adult even took time out to have a drink of water.



Earlier in the evening I managed a few photos of the spiders building their webs over the pond.

Tetragnatha extensa - the Common Stretch Spider. Identified for me by Rambling Rob.


I had to put the ISO right up to 3200 to get any semblance of fastish shutter speed. Why I didn't change to a flash setting I have no idea - another of those too frequent 'senior moments' probably.

Adult and Juvenile Hedgehogs

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Hedgehogs

Looking at the relative sizes of the hedgehogs which have visited recently I think it is reasonable to assume that the small one is a juvenile.

This clip from a much longer video taken last night shows the youngster near the back of the paved area when an adult arrives. Both carry on feeding happily while there is reasonable space between them. Eventually the adult moves closer to the youngster and then the usual push and shove starts. The adult spends quite some time, head down and leaning its spines towards the other, pushing the juvenile around and apparently trying to remove it from the paved area altogether. It doesn't succeed though it makes many attempts. Both manage to get their share of the food.




First I tried for some flash photos through the double glazed window in the kitchen but as I expected there was far too much glare and they were washed out. Then I tried some flash through the single glazed conservatory door with some success despite the heavy rain and the water drops running down the glass.

The one semi-clear photo I managed to get of the juvenile



Here the adult is charging towards the youngster at full speed.
No - it doesn't have a green nose, it's a leaf!



Approaching the juvenile.



Typical head down and body leaning so the spines can be used for offence and defence.





Each time the adult seems satisfied that the youngster was out of the way it went back to feeding as did the young one. In the end the adult left and the juvenile had the paved area to itself.

Greenfinch - Hedgehog - Videos

Firstly many thanks to Rambling Rob who identified my spiders as belonging to the group Tetragnatha extensa, the Common Stretch Spider. A large group with varied markings but Rob's pointer allowed me to Google some pictures which included a couple virtually identical to mine.

Last night the Hedgehogs were being awkward as far a videoing them went. First one of the adults spent a while eating and drinking. I waited a while and then shut down the computer. Soon after that the juvenile appeared but by the time I had got Windoze to fire up it had gone again. I waited until bedtime but nobody showed up. Having shut down the computer again we went out and there was the juvenile again. So the only video I managed last night was part of the adult's visit.



This morning, once the overnight rain had stopped, I could hear a bird up high singing away all the time I was refreshing the feeders. It took me a while to spot it way up on next doors Leylandii. There was a Greenfinch singing away. Fortunately it carried on while I got the camcorder set up and grabbed a bit of video. There are Sparrows constantly chattering away and the odd alarm call from a Blackbird telling me I was too close to the ground feeder. I added an older bit of footage of a Greenfinch at the seed feeder being given a rough ride by the Sparrows as they kept arriving and leaving but it carries on feeding regardless.



I didn't see many of the spiders this morning. I hope they didn't get washed away by last night's heavy rain.

Unknown Flower, Hogs, Web Building and Others

A bit of a mixture today. First off I noticed that the older Juvenile Starlings are now beginning to change to their adult speckled plumage. One look at the beak and you can tell how they get through four fat balls every day!



Writing about fat balls - this Starling had managed to grab a remnant which was small enough to pull out of the feeder. It was being hotly pursued by another juvenile. As it rushed around and dropped its prize a couple of times little bits fell off so the other bird did end up with a share.



Compo the Blackbird still hasn't been to the birdy barbers. Feathers sticking out in all directions but otherwise its behaviour seems completely normal.



For a few days now I have been admiring a small yellow flower. It's about nine inches high and the flower is about an inch across. From its growing position in a tub near the feeders I think it has grown from the bird seed mixture. If I can find out what it is I will grow a tub of them next year as I think it is pretty and the flower seems to last quite a while.





When Bobby and I had a walk round the garden about 9 p.m. I had a look in the pond. Something I don't usually bother with at that time of night. Some movement among the plants poking out of the water caught my eye. There were at least six black and yellow striped spiders of various sizes busily weaving their webs. I was going to get the Canon to take a photo but in the end decided to try for a video clip. The light was reasonable but fading and with all the surrounding vegetation I had, for the first time with the camcorder, to use manual focus. This is a compilation of several of the spiders. I was captivated watching how busily this group of spiders were working to build up their webs and could have watched them for hours. Towards the end a certain white hairy monster decided to have a barking session.

Any identification of the spider would be appreciated.



Today I went searching in case the spiders were in view. I found several resting in the leaves of some pond plants. They don't look quite so yellow in full daylight and the black hardly shows at all.






I had once again put out the Hedgehogs' supper earlier and by half past nine there was one taker. This was the small one I saw the other night. This time by itself. I didn't want to disturb it by going outside so I took a few flash photos through the back door. Again I had to use manual focus but didn't quite get it right this time. The small hog is a little larger than half the size of the adults.



The Hedgehogs seem completely indifferent to the single flash. If I put the camera on auto focus then it sends out a rapid series of flashes while it focusses. Then the hogs notice and disappear rapidly. Bobby and I watched through the conservatory door while this little hog spent a while eating and then rushed off. When Bobby went out about half past ten there was one of the adult Hedgehogs tucking in to the leftovers.

Of Magpies and Hedgehogs

The rapid changes in the weather and lighting conditions really make photography challenging these days. On the same setting on the camera one minute you can get clear crisp photos and shutter speeds are 1/000 or 2/000 sec. A few minutes later the slightest movement of the subject blurs the picture and speeds are down to 1/25 sec. At this rate I am going to wear out the ISO change button!



One solitary juvenile Magpie visits quite a few times each day. I wonder where the other one went. It no longer bounces around on its invisible space hopper but now walks across the ground. Occasionally it will stay long enough for a few decent shots like this one which shows what a large array of colours there are when the light catches them in the right direction.



I had always thought of Magpies as being just black and white and it is only this year I have really noticed the blue on their wings. This young bird also shows quite a bit of green, especially on the tail feathers.



Also noticeable is the different arrangement in the feathers over what I assume is the bird's ear. This shows to a lesser extent on the adults as these feathers are only a slightly different shade of black and the light needs to be in the right direction for the difference to show up.

Hedgehog Update

After the early arrival of Henry a couple of nights ago I have put out the food at an earlier time but they don't play the game and nobody has arrived early since then. The night before last Honey was there by herself when I let Bobby out at bedtime. Last night was a complete surprise. At bedtime I could see two hedgehogs on HoggyCam with one travelling slowly backwards as I have seen many time in the past. When we went out I was taken completely by surprise. Those were both large hogs and on the paved area there was also a smaller Hedgehog. This is the first time I have seen three feeding together here. Of course as it was bedtime I had already packed the cameras away and I knew they would disappear before I could get one out - which they did!

The Early Early Shift

When I let Bobby out about 9 p.m. I was more than a bit surprised to see a hedgehog already on the paved area under the bird feeders. Normal early shift is just after 10 p.m. and the late shift around 1 a.m.. I hadn't even started to get the food ready for hogs. Of course I had just put the cameras away for the night. Bobby went in the front garden and by the time we returned to the back door there was not a hedgehog to be seen or heard.

I hurriedly prepared some crushed unsalted peanuts and added a slack handful of dried mealworms then scattered them on the slabs hoping the hog would come back again while it was still light enough to take a photo or two.

My luck was in - somebody was hungry. About half an hour later the hog reappeared. Not wanting to disturb him - I think it was Henry - I leant the camera against the glass in the back door. Too dark. Slow shutter, blurry pictures. Oh well, try with the flash. Had to focus manually but the idea worked - no reflection from the glass, probably as the camera was pointing well down and the rubber hood was against the glass.



I also managed a short piece of video from the outside camera. Henry was having a drink of water to wash down all that free food.





I hadn't realised until I looked at these photographs how large the feet are. I seem to remember reading that the legs are longer than they look - three to four inches long. Also they can run as fast as a person can walk. They certainly never seem to hang around and always seem to be rushing somewhere.

And now for Something Completely Different

When I had some overgrown evergreens cut down a few years ago I decided it would be a good place to grow some fruit. Having lost much ripe fruit to marauding Blackbirds in the past I decided to have a fruit cage. After looking around to see what was available I decided I would be better off building my own. It is not pretty to look at but is gale proof, large enough to walk in and does an excellent job of keeping the ripe fruit safe.

From album

Last year I had excellent crops of Blackcurrants, Strawberries and Blueberries with a few Raspberries. This year all my Blueberry plants died as did the Strawberries. The Blackcurrants were attacked by greenfly but did manage to grow new leaves and produce some fruit. The Raspberries have been groaning under the weight of fruit.

Nothing quite like fresh picked fruit for taste. Unfortunately, with the aid of a dollop of single cream, they don't last very long.

From album

Also in the cage are a couple of patio pear trees, yet to produce anything, and a patio plum tree which did start to form a few plums but then the cold weather caused them to drop.

Oh well - better luck next year. At least I have a bowl of Blackcurrants ready for today and more Raspberries ripening for another day.