The Charge of the Spiked Brigade

I know there have been at least two different Hedgehogs visiting most nights but last night was the first time this year  I have seen two at the same time. Early on there was a bit of a kerfuffal while I was filming but it took place in a shady area where it was too dark for the camera to see. That ended with each hog going its own way. A short while later one returned and was quietly crunching dried mealworms when the second returned.

This time it was the charge of the spiked brigade and the first (Horatio I think) ended up sat in a water bowl:



As is normal only pride was hurt and once again each Hedgehog went its separate way. Once they had departed I put fresh water in the bowl and some more mealworms in the feeder in case one or more returned. It was about 4 a.m. when one dropped by for a quick snack before their dawn bedtime.

If you enjoy seeing and reading about Hedgehogs then I recommend a visit to the blog Twosie the Hedgehog where there is always plenty of hog activity.

Macro on Monday - Guess What

It looks as though I confused many last week. Wilma deserves a silver star for identifying a snail shell. In fact it was a close view of a rams horn snail I found in my garden pond. This one was quite large, at least 30mm across.

   

As always - my thanks to all who made a stab at the identification.

Here is this week's Guess What:



Once again I found it difficult to think of a suitable clue so you will have to make do with this cryptic to work out what plant it is.

Clue:  Confused race amongst part of the hive.

No prizes, just for fun.

Friday at the Flicks - Hedgehogs, Great Tit

Apart from one night when no Hedgehog activity was spotted I normally have at least one tucking in to their favourite food - dried mealworms. There are usually several choices but they always head for the mealworms first.





For a while I have been trying to video some of the local birds while they have been singing but many things conspire against me. Not least being the camera spotting radar all birds have but I did manage to catch a Great Tit yesterday as it soaked up the Sunshine.



There was a bit more frog spawn yesterday morning and I did at least spot the frogs, unfortunately not in daylight when they seem to stay well hidden from view. I have only see them by torch light at night.

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

A bit of 7 Spot Rumpy Pumpy

The second clip in the video below was taken with the TZ7 on its zoom macro setting, not so clear as the standard zoom + macro setting but definitely gets in close. A bit wobbly as it was hand held.

First Flutters - Frog Spawn

Yesterday as I was pottering round the garden enjoying the Sunshine a Peacock Butterfly fluttered across in font of me and landed on some gravel. It looked a bit worse for wear but it was another sign that Spring is with us at last.



This afternoon a Large White fluttered across the front garden but it didn't stay for a photo call.

Earlier today I looked at the frogs and frog spawn on Hedgeland Tales and left a comment to say I didn't have any yet in my pond. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I checked my pond an hour or so later and saw two clumps of Frog Spawn which had appeared out of the blue.



Not a frog in sight though. I moved the spawn to the nursery pond as there are fish in the main one. A couple of hours later there was more spawn in the main pond but still not a frog in sight.

Macro on Monday - Guess What

A good week for gold stars last week. Four out of four correctly identified the photo of a crocus. Gold stars to Jan, Keith, Glo and Adrian. Well done to all.




Now for the new photo: Guess What.



Clue: You won't find this on a sheep.

No prizes - just for fun.

Perigee Moon - Hedgehogs

Last night I was hoping for some more video of the Moon as it was at its closest distance to the Earth for many years. To start with there were small dark clouds drifting across the Moon which would have been just what I wanted for video but there were telephone wires in the way. As luck would have it, by the time the Moon rose higher in the sky the clouds cleared so I took the DSLR outside for some still shots.



I tried many settings on the camera but the one thing I forgot was to set a low ISO so there are some artefacts on the picture. Also it is difficult to get great detail on the full Moon as there is little in the way of shadow on its surface.

Two Hedgehogs visited at various times last night. H, the one with one eye, was first. I think I will have to call it Horatio. Later another visited and ended up scurrying away after upsetting the water dish. (Seen at the end of the video) As that happened before I went to bed I was able to replenish the water supply which was just as well as both appeared again in the middle of the night.




Now I know why the water dish was empty a couple of mornings ago!
Snapshot from the video: