March 2015: Catch-up

Much has happened since last I updated this blog. Let me try to bring you guys up to speed!
The Grey Wagtail that has been visiting our garden pond since she was a juvenile way back in 2011 is still here. "Waggy", as we have affectionately called her, still arrives in the garden each autumn/winter until the following spring when she moves away to find a mate and raise a brood.

Over the successive seasons, she has matured into an adult Grey Wagtail, capable of evading threats from aggressively territorial Robins and hunting Sparrowhawks. She continues to spend the winter months on the garden pond, coming to the back door to accept live mealworms and spending the daylight hours in our garden.

Forward to 22nd March 2014, out of the blue sky, a male Grey Wagtail appeared on the garden lawn. Larger and with bolder colouring, the male departed and returned each day with the female over successive days until April 17th, which turned-out to be the last day that they spent time here. After that we have to assume that they flew to the summer breeding grounds to raise a brood.

December 3rd 2014 saw the female Grey Wagtail return to our garden pond and to be fed a regular intake of live mealworms. As of writing this account (Sunday 8th March 2015), "Waggy" is still here, but last Wednesday 4th, a male Grey Wagtail landed in the garden.

It too accepts live mealworms and will walk right up to the back door to accept a meaty morsel. As the male has arrived early, you will notice that his black bib has not fully developed compared to last year.

Now there are two Grey Wagtails in residence, this has given the resident male Robin much to think about. Whereas before, both the Robins (there is a resident pair) would continually chase the female Wagtail, now both species are evenly matched! The male Robin will still vent his spleen at any and all House Sparrows but particularly hates the resident Dunnock!

While all this is going on around us, the daily comings and goings of the Wren, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, and occasionally the Sparrowhawk, makes for intriguing observations.

Last Summer, our garden hosted the regular visits from two Hedgehogs. Each night both Hogs would spend time in the garden and share a bowl of live mealworms. Through May to October, the two Hedgehogs would eat and spend their nights in our garden. We purchased a couple of Hog-Houses, Mel fitted them out with hay and dried leaves. Both Hogs, for a few weeks, spent the days in the houses. This year we're hoping that one of them will return.

April 2011 - Hedgehogs pre-release night!

Friday 1st: The time has come, the bad weather gone and spring is in the air. Tonight at 10:20pm, all three Hedgehogs - Grumpy, Little-Lad and Pinky - are back in the garden. Born last June, we found four baby hedgehogs in the planthouse. Probably two days old and cold to the touch. It appeared that they had either been abandoned or orphaned. We of course took them in and through Mel's perseverance, raised three to adulthood with the fourth unfortunately dying a few days after we took them into the house. They spent the late summer months and early autumn living outside in the garden. But in late November when the freezing weather and the snows came, we moved them back into the house to feed and gain the weight needed to become adults. So now the time is here and they are back in the garden. Here they will stay, probably for three or four weeks before we transfer them to another garden in the countryside where eventually they (we hope) disperse into the wild. The Blackbird nesting just outside the backdoor has today hatched two of the three eggs. Two tiny and helpless chicks are being fed by both male and female Blackbird.

March 2011 - Blackbird on nest

Tuesday 22nd: A female Blackbird that has moved into the nest near the back door is sitting on 3 eggs. By our calculations, the eggs may hatch next Wednesday. The nest was previously built and owned by the female Blackbird that died last December. The photo below was taken at 5:20pm today. Meanwhile another pair of Blackbirds are nesting in the conifers at the bottom of the garden. The male is a frequent visitor to the kitchen for live mealworms.

Hedgehogs to return to the garden soon. All three have gained weight over the winter months and will go back into the garden for a couple of weeks, soon. Having checked with various sources, the weather has not warmed sufficiently for pre-release. Hopefully we will then transfer them to a friends' garden where they will make the first steps into the wild.

February 2011 - Sparrowhawk comes a calling!

Tuesday 1st: A sunny and balmy day for the beginning of February, perfect weather for the Sparrowhawk to call. Melanie took these shots while this male perched on the broken arches. He didn't stay for long, maybe 10 minutes and then he was off, without a kill, probably to another of his hunting territories.

News on the Hedgehogs: Well they are still inside and semi-hibernating. They are still spending around 20 hours asleep but do tend to get up to eat and toilet! When in their card-board boxes (they each have their own), we have found on a couple of occasions that all three are sleeping in one box together. This is unusual as Hedgehogs are solitary animals but these three do spend a lot of time together, even when they were outside in the garden. We are still looking at an March release back into the garden for a couple of weeks or so and then hopefully into the big wide world. Still looking at locations for release. So if you know of anywhere that is devoid of Badgers then we would be interested in hearing from you.

December 2010 - Snow and more snow!

Wednesday 1st: The snow fell relentlessly last night and we awoke this morning to a depth of 13 inches! As you can see by the amount of snow around the car, I didn't get to work! In fact hardly anybody did, in common with the rest of South Yorkshire. The roads were impassable and nothing was moving. Glad we took the decision to bring the Hedgehogs inside, they could never have survived this and I suspect that many wild Hedgehogs will perish. It is bitterly cold! Our Hedgehogs are content to be in the warm and are oblivious to the weather outside.