oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Just throw torn up newspaper out of the window every morning. See post #659...
Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?
- Thread starter Dog Star
- Start date
Alive?
I use the Merlin-ID app, and find it really excellent. It can hear birds that you can’t-I’m popping on a bit, so upper frequencies are missed by my lugholes!
Osgood
Western Thunderer
Whilst walking around the fields, our first German Short-haired Pointer (forever dipping in and out of the ditch lines) would regularly appear alongside me carrying a rolled-up hog in his mouth.
A quick "Drop" and the hog (quite probably often the same one) was on the deck.
A few minutes later the hog would be unrolling itself, no doubt wondering which field it was in this time!
Amazing how soft a dog's mouth is, and that they do not get pierced by the spines.
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Our firt springer used to do that, he would find them in the garden and bring them into the house !
Fortunately the 2 we have now just stand there and look at them. There was another in the front garden last night.
My eyes ain’t what they used to be, so imagine my surprise at my seeing a long-tailed goldfinch in the garden. Knowing there isn’t such a thing as a long-tailed goldfinch, I decided to take a closer look. The result: my first spotting of a lesser-spotted woodpecker. It has been seen a few times since —- I’m chuffed!
richard carr
Western Thunderer
He's found one, it is night time but this one is by the shed door and the flood light has come on.
Cool weather again today, but at least it’s sunny and not raining. At last, the vegetation in the garden Iooks like it’s spring. I have never wanted a manicured garden, so many wild plants are welcome and are allowed to spread unchecked.
Primrose in flower, with the new leaves of wild strawberry:
Blaeberry (or whortleberry, depending on where you come from):
The new fronds of oak fern:
And lots of bees on our garden Rhododendrons:
Primrose in flower, with the new leaves of wild strawberry:
Blaeberry (or whortleberry, depending on where you come from):
The new fronds of oak fern:
And lots of bees on our garden Rhododendrons:
Lancastrian
Western Thunderer
Ladybirds..."running away"!
Well, the one furthest away decided to do a runner as I caught the pair up to some mischief! I'm not sure what all the yellow stuff is
Well, the one furthest away decided to do a runner as I caught the pair up to some mischief! I'm not sure what all the yellow stuff is
Found this youngster crossing the road near our house yesterday:
I escorted it across to safety so at least it wasn’t run over. However, no sign of mum or siblings, so I wouldn’t be too optimistic about its chances. Very, very cute. Was alert and no sign of injury or distress.
I escorted it across to safety so at least it wasn’t run over. However, no sign of mum or siblings, so I wouldn’t be too optimistic about its chances. Very, very cute. Was alert and no sign of injury or distress.
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The turning of the seasons. I posted this photo in this thread on 6 December 2023:
I took this in the same place this morning:
It has been a cold, wet spring, so it’s a late season in the garden. But, crucially, we haven’t had an actual frost for weeks. After a long wait, the Rhododendrons are giving us a particularly good display this year:
I took this in the same place this morning:
It has been a cold, wet spring, so it’s a late season in the garden. But, crucially, we haven’t had an actual frost for weeks. After a long wait, the Rhododendrons are giving us a particularly good display this year:
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
For several years I have been putting Hedgehog food out each evening and in previous years I have been rewarded by regular sightings of the Oakley Hogs. This year I have had just two sightings whilst the food is gone sometime between 11pm and 3am. Might some other animal be active in the very wee small hours and giving false hopes of seeing Prickles?
Max M
Western Thunderer
Cats? We have to put hh food under a slab supported on bricks, low enough for the he's to get under but too low for the moggies.
Depending what you’re putting out and where you live, foxes, badgers, feral cats, the neighbour’s cat, pine martens, possibly other things. We don’t have hedgehogs because we have badgers (the main predator of hedgehogs). We only occasionally see a badger in the garden, but if it has rained overnight their tracks do show they visited.
oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Regrettably badgers get better press than hedgehogs. I've not seen a hog in either of our two homes in Bucks and before then in Herts. We used to see them in Harrow when I was a boy. However, the number of badgers has expanded exponentially. Personally I'd rather have the hogs.
Just a thought for those putting out food. I have a very close friend in Suffolk who was putting food out for hedgehogs which he'd sen in his garden. The food was disappearing every night but he saw no hogs! He put up a trail camera and discovered the food was being taken by rats - sadly no hogs any more. I regret being so negative but it's worth checking what is actually visiting the garden.
Brian
Just a thought for those putting out food. I have a very close friend in Suffolk who was putting food out for hedgehogs which he'd sen in his garden. The food was disappearing every night but he saw no hogs! He put up a trail camera and discovered the food was being taken by rats - sadly no hogs any more. I regret being so negative but it's worth checking what is actually visiting the garden.
Brian
