Preparing the Hedgehog House

Having treated the outside of the Hedgehog House the next thing was to find a suitable video camera to fix inside it. I tried one smallish outdoor camera with built in Infra Red lighting. It gave superb pictures but it was too large and got too hot. I had a feeling it may have warmed up the inside of the house so much that any hibernating hog might wake up thinking it was warm outside. Also it could only see about half of the inside of the house. In the end I settled on an old black and white board camera which took up very little room.



First I fixed it temporarily to one end of the roof so I could see how well it would work and how much of the inside it could see.



Next job was to provide some IR lighting in the form of IR light emitting diodes most of which were 'rescued' from old remote controls provided some years ago by a friend who worked in a TV repair shop.



Last job so far has been a soak test on the shed bench to check for reliability and heat generated. For that I will leave it working for a couple of days. At the same time I put in a layer of dead leaves to simulate what can be found at the bottom of hedgerows. Inside the entrance, on the left of the picture, there is a chicane to help keep out animals such as cats. The house is 27 inches long, 16 inches wide and 13 inches high to the top of the roof, big enough I hope for a couple of hogs and a brood.



A snapshot from the video output showing a camera eye view of the inside of the house lit only by the IR LEDs. The camera is looking towards the entrance.



Once I am happy that everything is reliable and safe then it is a job of tidying up the wiring, putting it in position under some bushes behind the shed and connecting it to the feed from the other cameras.

Although Hedgehogs naturally live under hedgerows the number of suitable hedges in a built up area can be small. Other places they use include compost heaps, a hole in the ground and, unfortunately, bonfires. Many bonfires are built for Guy Fawkes Night on 5th November and this can be around the time Hedgehogs are looking for somewhere to snuggle down for a Winter sleep. Being nocturnal animals even during warm weather Hedgehogs need somewhere dark and safe where they can sleep during the day. Hopefully one will find the des res I am providing and have a good chance of staying cosy, dry and safe.

Bobby the Lurcher meets Henry the Hedgehog

Henry and Honey, the two adult Hedgehogs, are seen visiting the garden most nights. Last night Henry arrived about 9.45 and paid a few short visits to the feeding area. This is the last one I captured on video just before bedtime.



I saw Henry leave the paved area about ten minutes before I let Bobby out for his last patrol of his estate thinking that all would be clear but I did take a camera with me just in case.... Once outside I could see a dark shape in the middle of the lawn and there was Bobby, nose to the ground, following the scent trail. In no time at all he had found the Hedgehog.

What are you doing over here?


I wonder ... what is the best way to investigate this strange creature?


I know. I'll give it a good sniff. Ouch!


Once Bobby had said hello I called him away and we left Henry in peace to carry on investigating the rest of the garden.

For several months I have toyed with the idea of buying a Hedgehog house and I finally got 'Round Tuit'. It arrived speedily by courier from Concept Wildlife (though actually bought on eBay) and looks very well made.



I have chosen one with a hinged roof for two reasons.
1) ease of cleaning out.
2) easy, (I hope) to fit a small camera inside.



As soon as I had photographed it I treated the outside with animal friendly wood preservative. The next job being to try out a camera with some Infra Red lighting.

How to Eat Sunflower Seeds and a Poem

Many birds love Sunflower seed hearts and kibbled Sunflower seeds, especially those in the tit and finch families. How they eat them depends on the shape and sturdiness of their beak.

The Coal, Blue and Great Tits which visit the garden pick one seed at a time and usually take it somewhere they can hold it between their toes and peck small pieces off. As an example here is a video of a Great Tit on a branch doing just that.



On the other hand the finches with their broader, tougher beaks can stay at the feeder where they roll the seed round until they break it enough to eat, like this Greenfinch.



Once again I have been honoured with a poem from Glo of Porcelain Rose. The first verse refers to yesterday's butterfly and Sparrow videos.

As sparrows chatter on the cage
in search of bugs to eat,
a butterfly sups nectar from
a sunflower so sweet.

The second seemed to fit in well with a photo I took of Bobby yesterday morning. After a walk in fine weather he was so disappointed when it started to rain after breakfast that the went back to bed for a couple of hours.

It’s evident that all is well,
with Bobby as the scout -
who settles down to take a nap
when finished walkabout...

My 60mph couch potato.


On the hedgehog front:



No news about Hope, the young hedgehog, from Elaine but it hasn't been a week yet. The two adults continue to visit after dark. I was hoping to get some video but things are conspiring against me getting clear pictures. Bobby looked so disappointed last night. Henry had been feeding and was still there as I got the camera ready and let Bobby out at bedtime. He made a beeline for the spot but Henry had disappeared. Bobby could smell where Henry had been and just stood there looking puzzled - a strong smell of Hedgehog but nothing in sight!

Natural Food

Yesterday morning there were quite a number of the younger Sparrows congregating on top of my fruit cage.



Lots of coming and going and plenty of the usual Sparrow chatter.



At one stage it looked as though a couple of them were trying to find a way in while others stood on guard watching from above.



I watched for quite a while and noticed that the majority were paying close attention to the leaves of the buddleia which has grown so large some of the branches now rest on the fruit cage. I can only assume there were plenty of insects and it was fascinating to watch as the Sparrows ran their beaks along the leaves gathering what natural food there was.



The background noise includes the sound of a neighbour cutting their lawn.

Later in the day I had a look to see which creatures were being attracted to the Sunflower. Along with the odd bumblebee there was a succession of white butterflies gathering nectar.



In this video clip I have slowed down the second section to one quarter speed and you can clearly see the butterfly testing each section and how it digs deep when nectar is found.



Most of the bird seed is lasting much longer. The ground feeder is hardly used at the moment. I guess many of the birds are finding plenty of natural insect life which means they should be getting a good balanced diet. While the number of Starlings seems to be increasing after a short lull the number of Blackbirds visiting has fallen steeply.

A Ladybird Poem

Once the morning walkabout is over I check through to see if there have been any comments left overnight. What a delight to find amongst them this lovely poem left by Glo of Porcelain Rose. I had a quick look round for some free graphics to illustrate it and reproduce the poem here for all to enjoy.



A ladybird with seven spots
alit upon a window pane.
In warning coat of red with dots,
it did its best to entertain.

By staying put, it caught the eye
of someone heating up a pot.
John hoped it wouldn’t up and fly
before he focused in, and shot.

The ladybird obliged him well
enduring photos, in and out.
Perhaps just resting for a spell
is what a ladybird’s about.



So busy eating garden pests -
5,000 aphids in a year!-
A high-ish number to digest,
although they seem to reappear!

A ladybird needs some defense
to propagate 2000 eggs!
This beetle’s predator would sense
A foul-ish smell on oily legs ~

But luckily, John was no threat.
He watches nature do her thing,
and waits for lunch. The timer’s set…
At last … the microwave goes ‘PING’.



A big Thank You Glo. That really did start my day with a smile.

These and more ladybird graphics can be found here.

3 Thanks and 7 Spots

First: thrice a public Thank You even if two are very belated. The other day Professor A B Yaffle of The Nature of Woodpeckers nominated me as one of his favourite blogs. That reminded me of two others which had fallen out of my memory after my broadband connection let me down for several days. They were Keith of Holdingmoments and Crista of Nature As Is. To all of you a thank you for visiting and finding some enjoyment in my local day to day happenings.

Of course there is a thank you to all who visit and to those who leave comments. It is this interaction which spurs me on. It took me months to take the plunge and start this blog and at that time I wondered how I would ever find enough material to keep going. Easy in the end - just ramble on about the visitors to a very ordinary back garden! It is the birds, mammals and insects with their entertaining antics who are the stars of the show.

Back to Nature:

All day there has been a 7 Spot Ladybird on the outside of my kitchen window. Over several hours it has only moved about six inches. While I was waiting for the microwave to ping I took some shots from both sides. So here it is - the ins and outs of a ladybird.

Another Lazy Day

No Round Tuits today. Sun umbrella, canvas chair, Sony Walkman and camera in lap. Several insects actually got me up and about from time to time. There were a couple of Blue Tailed Damselflies flitting round the pond for hours occasionally taking a rest.





A rare 'in flight' capture:



Who loves you baby?



High up in the Leylandii a Pigeon kept opening any eye to see what I was up to.



Later it decided to indulge in a bit of nest building, as if there were not enough of the things about as it is!



Spurred on by the Sunshine the Sunflower had opened quite a lot since yesterday and was visited by a Common Carder Bumblebee which spent quite a while testing each section for nectar....



... accompanied by the inevitable Hover Fly.



You know who was making the most of the warm day trying to get a sun tan on his back.



There are still lots of bedraggled looking Large White Butterflies flapping about looking for the right plant on which to deposit an egg or two. This one was caught 'in flight'.



One decided it needed to know the time and spent a while examining the garden clock.



Finally a male Chaffinch was tucking in to Sunflower hearts as though there would be a famine tomorrow.



The tailless blackbird is becoming a nuisance. Yesterday I had to shoo it out of the greenhouse and today it decided to investigate the shed and took some getting out.