A Round Tuit

Yesterday morning I noticed that the greenhouse door was shut. It was warm enough so that was a puzzle. Quite a while ago I think I mentioned that I had made the door so it would open automatically with the use of an electric car aerial, some relays, magnetically operated switches, a solar charged leisure battery and an old room thermostat. Checking the battery I found the voltage was very low and all the cells needed topping up. I hoped that was the fault but no, the door still refused to open. Next job was to dismantle things and check each item. In the end I found it was the motor in the aerial had had enough and stopped working. Must get a replacement.

That took far longer than expected. Doesn't it always?
On to the next job on my Round Tuit list. What is a Round Tuit?
See my own private one below....

The surround was made by a very good friend who then presented me with my very own Round Tuit:



The next task was to take down some of the Amateur Radio aerials I haven't used for a while. As a result of the previous night's rain the lawn was saturated and by the time I had finished removing things from the tilt over mast my feet were soaked and I had had enough for one day.

Back on the Nature front the Hoverflies continue making the most of the little time left with the lily flowers. Some have already lost their petals.



I am delighted to see the juvenile Blue Tit has become a regular visitor.



I think our crafty bird visitors are indulging in a spot of 'grow your own'. Where Sunflower seeds have been dropped from the seed feeders several are now growing.



I am pleased about this as over the past few years I have grown Sunflowers in the hope of being able to photograph which birds collect the seeds from them. So far I have always missed those actual moments. One day there have been full heads of seeds and the next they have been almost empty. This time I am in with a chance as they are next to the feeders where I can see them easily every time I go in the kitchen.

Both the adult Hedgehogs were in the garden at bedtime last night. One scoffing dried mealworms and the other investigating the path at the back of the building where there are usually slugs about at night.

Hope Goes for a Car Ride

Hope made one of her daytime appearances today. It was nearly midday when I saw her on the Ground Feeder.



Once she seemed to doze off, woke up again with a start and carried on feeding. The next time I saw her it looked as though she had curled up and gone to sleep on the grass next to the feeder.

This was not natural Hedgehog behaviour so I phoned Elaine at Authorpe Hedgehog Care and had a chat with her about it. As a result I found a cardboard box, lined it with newspaper and put some well screwed up newspaper around the edges so that Hope wouldn't slide about. Then I carefully put Hope in the box and we set off to find Hedgehog Care. Fortunately the route is well signposted from the main road right to the front door.



Elaine had a good look at Hope and confirmed that she is a girl Hedgehog. In spite of all the food she has been eating she is underweight and on the thin side. Also she was wheezing a bit. This could be caused by lung worms which is a common infection for hogs but treatable. Elaine has all the necessary medication and many years of experience treating thousands of hogs.

Elaine with Hope:



Having made a donation to help with her care it was with more than a little sadness I left my little hog in Elaine's capable hands. Hope will have to stay a week or more while she gets expert care and Elaine will phone me when she is fit enough to come home.

A Tale of a Tail-less Bird and others

For three days now there has been what appears to me a juvenile Blackbird with no tail feathers. It is quite young and a bit of the yellow can still be made out at the base of its beak. There has been no adult with it. Fortunately it is quite capable of feeding itself and spends ages hopping round the lawn finding seeds and helping itself from the ground feeder.







How it came to have no tail feathers remains a mystery. A close encounter with a local raptor? A close encounter with a cat? A problem when developing its juvenile feathers? It is anybody's guess. It can fly just fine so it must have adjusted to the fact.

I often see the occasional large sea bird flying over. Yesterday was quite a sight to watch. There were several waves of large birds with over thirty being seen at any one time as they slowly circled and every now and then dived a short distance as though plucking an insect out of the air. I assume they were one of the gull family but haven't been able to match what I saw with any pictures I could find on the net. Any help identifying them would be appreciated. As usual all I managed were virtually silhouettes. Although it appears dark they were in fact white with a black head so I suppose it could be a black headed gull.



A couple of videos of youngsters to finish with. First a couple of young Sparrows being fed by a parent. As the youngsters kept crowding and nearly squashing the parent it gave up and flew off for a breather.



Finally a juvenile Blue Tit at the nut feeder. As usual the birds always seem to choose the back of the feeder but it does pop its head round a few times. It spent ages trying, and in the end succeeding, to get one particular piece of peanut to take away.



More rain today. It is so humid here it fair takes your breath away.

Monday was a Warm Lazy Day

Last Monday was the first time for many a day since I set up the Sun umbrella and the folding canvas chair and sat out in the garden for a few hours with the camera in my lap.

There are just two plants which are attracting dozens of insects. One is a line of four lavender bushes in the front garden. These have been attracting a continuous stream of scores of bumble bees and dozens of butterflies. The butterfly population is mainly Large Whites along with a few smaller white varieties. I pity any neighbours growing brassicas with such a large population looking for breeding grounds. I tried for some video of the lavender - not the best but does give an impression of the activity.

Wide view of the Large Whites
Close shot of a Small Tortoiseshell
Close shot of my first view of a Painted Lady
Finally a very world weary, wind battered Red Admiral on a fence. (The only one I have seen so far this year)



The other plant which has attracted bumble bees, butterflies and the occasional day flying moth is growing just over the fence in next door's garden.

Bumble Bees


Small Tortoiseshell


Peacock


Painted Lady


I kept seeing white butterflies landing on the lawn - well I say lawn but there is more clover than grass this year! It was the clover which was attracting this one - a Green-veined? which was laying its eggs under the clover leaves.



It has been very windy from time to time and many of the butterflies were looking the worse for wear. This is the Red Admiral from the video. It sat on the fence for a while soaking up the sun. I can't remember how long it is since I have seen one of these in the garden.



There are still plenty of Hoverflies about and the lily flower shown a few days ago is still attracting many. They investigate everything including the seed feeders.



... and various other plants


... including this onion flower head which also sheltered a crop of tiny black beetles.



Bobby had taken up one of his favourite positions in the entrance to the shed where he could find a bit of shade and still keep an eye on me.



Not many birds came to visit the feeders as I was fairly close to them. Those that did kept a watchful eye on me.



One young Sparrow arrived with parent and continually fluttered its wings to remind the adult it was feeding time.



A couple of House Sparrows peered down to see if it was their turn for the seed feeder....



... and a Starling showed off his new coat of many colours.



The adult Starlings have little trouble balancing on the fat ball feeders but the juveniles find it a problem trying to grip the slippery wires.



Finally a seven spot Ladybird investigating the clover leaves. I wonder if it found the White Butterfly's eggs?



Wow - if you made it to the end, thanks for visiting.

Yellow Moon

For several nights recently, when there have been less rain clouds about, the Moon has been a beautiful yellowy orange colour. It seems to be in just the right position to catch refracted Sunlight after Sunset. I have tried a few times to capture it and last night gave a reasonable opportunity. Whooped up the ISO to 3200 and jammed the lens barrel tight against some fencing.



I had to adjust it a little in IrfanView as the resultant photo came out paler than reality.

Hedgehog Sightings:

No photo this time as the outside light was off. I was pleased not to see Hope (the young Hedgehog) at all during the day. About 9.30 p.m. she turned up just before I put the food out. As usual she waited patiently while I scattered the mixture of Hedgehog Food (from CJ Wildlife) , crushed unsalted peanuts and her favourite mealworms. She spent a good half hour tucking in and drinking from the bowl of fresh clean water. Almost as soon as she had trundled off one of the adults arrived. I am pretty sure by her behaviour it was Honey. The really touching bit was when Hope came back and they tucked in together side by side. Every so often Honey would sniff Hope and then they would carry on eating. I think if it had been Henry he would have bulldozed the youngster out of the way.

Not an Amazon in Sight

Spent a couple of hours lazing in the garden today and occasionally photographing and filming the butterfly visitors but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Just about teatime a group of about ten Swallows suddenly appeared and spent about ten minutes zooming around overhead before moving on. I tried the camcorder but to get them in vision meant wide angle and I ended up with a few specks speeding across the screen. In the end I fetched the DSLR, set it to a fixed focus and tried for a few stills. Most were out of focus and all were grainy as I had upped the ISO to get a fast shutter speed. Today they stayed high up so the pictures are cropped from small sections of the photos.

From MIDMARSH JOTTINGS

Just one gave a passable photo, certainly better than anything I managed last year anyway.



Plenty of Swallows, but not an Amazon in sight.

Last year I watched a group on the cricket field. Marvellous to see them swoop down at high speed within a couple of inches of the ground over and over again. I watched them for nearly half an hour as they gradually cleared the field of all the insects they could catch.

Hope Goes Walkabout and Other Sightings

One day last week Hope, the young Hedgehog, was spotted in the garden. It was just light enough to take some video. This is the final piece where she goes trundling off having eaten a hearty meal.



It has rained at least part of most days recently but that doesn't put some birds off when it comes to meal times. This clip starts with a male Chaffinch in dry weather and is followed by a pair of Goldfinches in the pouring rain. In fact in this section you can hear the rain on the conservatory roof. The video is at normal speed - the Chaffinch does eat at that speed!



This morning I was a bit later than normal topping up the feeders and the local House Sparrows gathered patiently waiting for some fresh seeds.



While I was topping up the feeders I noticed a lot of Hoverflies hanging around. Glancing down I could see they were attracted to a couple of my lilies which were in full bloom.



I couldn't resist taking the camcorder out to film them. The close up is a bit wobbly as there was a breeze blowing the flowers about.



In fact this morning when we went walkabout there was one stage where I had to walk through what was almost a cloud of Hoverflies flitting about near one particular hedge. Their numbers have increased dramatically recently, here anyway.