September 2010 - Fairburn Ings RSPB

Friday 24th: It's true what they say; "what a difference a day makes"...or two! Last Wednesday, myself and Sandra went to Old Moor RSPB and the weather was warm and even sunny at times... so warm that shirt-sleeves was all that we needed. But today...today here in Yorkshire it was blowing a right old gale! Heavy rain all the previous night only relented at around 8am this morning! A grand day to spend outside watching birds! So fleece and jacket was required but the gloves were left behind and were sorely needed at times. We drove up to North Yorkshire to visit Fairburn Ings RSPB near to Castleford. Setting off early we got caught up in the "rush-hour" traffic but by 9.30am we were parked in a bleak wind swept car park wondering; "is this worth it".

Well we needn't have worried, within the first 30 minutes we had already twitched a Kingfisher at close-quarters that obliged by constantly fishing and gave us around 20 minutes of breath taking views. Marvelling at the antics of Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Tree Sparrows, Marsh Tit, Coal Tit and others on and around a closely situated bird table. After all this, anything else would be a bonus. Well during our long and wind-swept trek around the NR we were to get that bonus!

On our trek down to the village-end of the lake, the usual suspects were seen; Cormorants (17), Mute Swans (lots), Mallards (quite a few), Coots (too many to mention) but also Shovelers, Gadwalls, two Herons, eight white Geese that were probably farmyard related and Grebes, both the Little variety and Great Crested of which we saw five adults and one adult shepherding three immatures that were probably about 3 months old! But the bonus was another two Kingfishers that flew in front of Sandra and the female Goosander sitting on the bank of a lake that I would have walked right past if Sandra hadn't motioned to me!

Having slogged back to the car (at least 3 miles were covered in total) we ate a hearty bunch of sandwiches and drank tea while watching the Tree Sparrows on the feeders. House Martins wheeled overhead in the steadily bluer skies and out of the blue glided a Buzzard! We watched through binoculars as it slowly wheeled around in the sky - what long wings it has!

We had a quick tour of the feeders by the Visitor Centre and over at Pickup hide we watched in amazement as a Kestrel was mobbed for some 10 minutes by three Carrion Crows! To finish the day, we drove up to Spoonbill Flash, but alas no Spoonbills! Here were lots of dabbling and diving ducks, the usual suspects a Black-tailed Godwit and two other waders that have yet to be identified but what was to be the last highlight of the day was the Kestrel that spent some time in front of our hide hovering and dropping to the ground in its search for food. And we got some good close views as it wheeled in front of the hide...binoculars weren't needed it was so close! But the very last highlight was when we got back to the car and Sandra nervously fed a band of Mute Swans tuna sandwiches!

September 2010 - Old Moor RSPB

Wednesday 22nd: Today I went over to my local RSPB nature reserve near Rotherham. A warm late September day meant that it was shirt-sleeve weather -no need of a jacket! I called for Sandra and we got there just before lunch time. almost immediately we were treated to some sights: a male and female Bullfinch, Sandra's first since 2006! Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and even a Willow Tit (we think), was seen from the hide attached to the Visitor Centre. Luckily everything is very close at this hide as my binoculars are just too powerful... must remember to bring the 10x25's as well! Being a warm day, there were plenty of Dragonflies about and one of the Red Darters even landed on Sandra's hand, obliging long enough for me to grab some photos! The Tree Sparrow Farm area was strangely quiet with a couple of birds about, a Tree Sparrow (Sandra's FIRST) and a chiffchaff.

On the Main lake there were the usual suspects: Canada Geese (37), Mallards, Coots, Gadwalls, a couple of Mute Swans, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Little Grebes with 2 Cormorants and 10 Wigeon. Across the lake wheeled 8 Swallows or were they House Martins?

The highlight of the day was over at Wath Ings hide. Here there were flocks of various types of bird, all congregated over the grassy banks and mudflats. Unusual to say the least was the sight of 11 Grey Herons all equally spaced along the bank or fishing in the shallows. A large flock of Lapwings was on the mudflats, could have been 200+. Amongst them were smaller numbers of Golden Plover. As always I take my scope and that just added to the enjoyment of seeing the details of the birds. Amongst all this were... well at least 20 maybe 30 Linnets! Again Widgeon with some Pochard and quite a few Shovelers! A Kestrel disturbed the flock and all Lapwings, Plovers and Linnets took to the air. A mass flock swirled around the sky as the Kestrel tried to pick one from the swirl! Fantastic... but the sight of a lovely plumaged Black-tailed Godwit on the far bank was the bonus!

After a quick bite to eat we toured the outlying areas of the NR where we came across what I took to be a Scaup. Now female Tufted Ducks are often mistaken for Scaups but this duck was bigger than your average female Tufted Duck. The jury is still out on that and I will need to consult some more pictures and compare with mine.

The late afternoon had brought the cool air and the sky became overcast. It was time to depart for home and reflect on a marvelous day out. I have some video footage that when transferred from tape, I will attach to this entry... soon.

September 2010 - Hoglets are now Hedgehogs!

Sunday 26th: It has been a privilege to watch these animals develop from such tiny and helpless creatures to three individuals who have their own personalities and are approaching adulthood. We are approaching the end of the 14th week so they are now 3 months old and all have a healthy weight: the male weighs-in at 818g and the largest female at a whopping 918g! We are extremely happy with the male as he was very poorly when just a few days old and not gaining any weight. It was touch-and-go with him but now he is a very healthy Hedgehog! The only (little) problem with these two is that they keep coming into the kitchen at night and spending as much time as they can in there!

Meanwhile, the other female is becoming a cause of concern; her current weight is 788g, which sounds good, but she has not gained the weight in the last two weeks that the other two have. She is the only one of the three that tends to behave as Hedgehogs do. She is people-shy, which is good, and spends most of her time outside in the enclosed garden. Though there is plenty of dried cat food out there plus whatever insects etc she can get, she is now lagging behind weight-wise. This Hedgehog was the one that was showing the most promise for release, but now we are holding-off.

Indeed, last week was the week that we were due to release them all but releasing them would in our opinion be a death sentence for them. After checking up on various websites and reading the research on releasing into the wild and seeing poor results with tagged hogs...we have decided to over-winter them for hibernation come December and take it from April when they emerge. When they emerge from hibernation next April, they should wake-up as adults and just maybe they will have all the adult instincts that tell us that we can release them to the wild and know that they will have a fighting chance.

September 2010 - Sparrowhawk visit to the bird table!

Tuesday 21st: Lunchtime and all of a sudden the bird song stops. Mel calls me, "Sparrowhawk on the bird table!" I grab the camera and reel-off a few shots. The bird stayed for about 10 minutes and even flew across the garden to the perch by the feeders. As everything had taken cover and nothing was available for lunch, this female Sparrowhawk flew off without making a kill. The photos were shot through the study window so as not to scare it off if I opened it. The short movie below was shot on my camera.

September 2010 - Hoglets now young Hedgehogs

Thursday 9th: The Hoglets are now reaching the end of week 12 and have grown to such an extent that they can be called "young Hedgehogs". It's now approximately 4 weeks since they began to spend all night and day outside in the penned garden. Their weight tends to fluctuate by a few grammes on a daily basis but on the whole, the Hedgies are gaining the weight and thus, the fat reserves. All three at last are ahead of target for their weight according to
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/, but are not ready for release yet. Having researched the subject of; "release into the wild", we believe that the Hedgies need to be over 700 grammes minimum weight in order to survive the Winter and hibernation.

At the moment, the male is far from ready. Weighing only 588 grammes and although healthy , fit and with a heavy set of quills, he has shown no inclination to making a nest, eating live insects, or showing any purpose in what he does. He does eat dried cat food and live mealworms and would readily eat all that we have, but mealworms are not generally found in abundance in the wild! It maybe that come late December, he may be staying behind but as yet it is still too early to make any decision about him.

The two females weigh-in at a hefty 690 & 670 grammes. Both have a heavy set of quills covering their bodies but like the male, are not eating live insects only live mealworms and dried cat food! Although one of them made the nest that all three tend to sleep in, the second female has shown no interest or need to build a nest.

The big question that faces us is; "If released in the next month or two, would they survive or starve?" I keep coming back with the answer; "they would starve!" These Hedgehogs are not wild animals, they were not born into the wild and know nothing of the wild and how to hunt for food. They were born by the patio door and abandoned/orphaned after a few days. Mel has done a monumental job in raising these three Hoglets to become young Hedgehogs. Though, they still have along way to go. For us, it would be cruel to release these animals into an environment that they have no instinct for. Better that they stay in the environment that they know until the time comes when they show us they are ready to leave!

August 2010 - First day and night in garden for Hoglets!

Sunday 22nd: Well, we are nearing the end of this journey of raising 3 orphaned/abandoned baby Hedgehogs. Maybe in four weeks we will release the Hedgies into the wild. We are now looking at possible locations well away from roads and hopefully their main predator...Badgers! The Hoglets already spend about 5 hours outside in the garden at night so as last Friday was a dry and warm night, we left them outside all night with their respective shelters, their group-built nest and a good supply of food and water. But it wasn't just a case of "leave them to it". I also stayed-up all night, checking on them each hour.

It's now 62 days and Monday is the start of week 10. Their weights are 436 and 382 grammes for the females and 300 grammes for the male. He is still not showing much in the way of instinct and purpose about what he does, like the two females. We would ideally wish to release them together, but if he is not ready then we may have to hold the two females back until he is ready. We will see what happens in the next few weeks.

Friday 27th: Apart from one night, the Hedgies have been spending all their time this week outside in the garden. Mel has widened the area within the garden that is secure and they roam at will, eat and sleep a bit then roam again. Apart from one day, when they lost weight due to the weather turning cold, they have all regained that lost weight and more!Their weights as of yesterday are 518, 442 & 364 grammes respectively.

August 2010 - Looking more like adult Hedgehogs

Monday 16th: This is the start of the 9th week and its been 56 days since the birth of these amazing animals - they look more and more like mini versions of adult Hedgehogs, particularly the two females. Besides being bulky and heavy, (the Hoglets pile on the weight each day), their bodies are now fully covered in quills and their fur has developed a brownish tinge.

The Hoglets are eating only dried food in enormous quantities and drinking water. A Hedgehogs natural instinct has kicked into play as they sleep most of the day and only become active at dusk - meaning late nights for us! As the Hoglets have got larger, they require a greater area to roam at night. This has necessitated in Melanie turning our back garden into one giant enclosed area.

Here the Hoglets can forage amongst the flower beds and rockery for insects and alike. The two females have taken to nest-building amongst the flower beds and tend to spend some of the night inside, while the male still prefers to rest in the shelter we have provided.

At the moment, their weights are 358, 328 & 234 grammes, the latter being the male and because of that we bring them inside the house around 2am for their safety. When the Hoglets top 400 grammes, we will be more confident about having them stay out all night by themselves!

August 2010 - Hoglets and Hedgehog!

Sunday 8th: Well, what a difference a week makes! We're now at the end of the 6th week, all the Hoglets are now into the 3-figure bracket for their weight! The two females weigh 202 and 222 grammes with the male lagging behind on 110 grammes. It's a strange scenario; what the male lacks in weight, he more than makes up for with bodily development. His eyes are fully open, ears are developed, whiskers and snout well grown and bodily hair on his body just like his siblings. The only things holding him back is his body size and his weight. We think that because he's always charging about, he doesn't sleep as much as the other two, so he's continually burning-off calories and loosing body mass! The females are very much on the road to youthful Hedgehog status. They eat, have a little mooch about and then slink-off to sleep. We try and have all three outside as much as possible now and they do seem to be better Hedgehogs for it! Though they are nowhere near the weights needed to release them, so that they have a chance of surviving hibernation and the forthcoming winter. And that will present another problem: where to release them? Do we provide them with shelter and food to start off with? These and more questions are what we have to tackle in the near future. But for now, the Hoglets progress is steady.

STOP PRESS!

In the early hours of Monday morning.....1:50am to be precise, Mel encountered an adult Hedgehog in the garden! I too saw it too just before it scampered off. My bed was calling me, so I too scamperd off soon after. Mel decided that she would stay out a little longer and sure enough, it came back! Not only that but it made it's way to the back door, climbing up a couple of tall steps and then tried several times to clamber over the taller door-step presumably with the intention of getting into the kitchen. After failing to do this, the Hedgehog walked past Melanie (who was watching only a few feet away) across the patio and under the gate through to the front of the house and away!

August 2010 - Hoglets out & about!

Sunday 1st: Melanie finished the pen for the Hoglets, that she began making on Saturday. Though they have because accustomed to roaming all over the garden, (under supervision), they have a secure area for when they have a nap! We are taking them outside more and more while we have this warm weather as they benefit from the smells, sounds and feel of the outside. Although this is only a small taster of what the future holds for them should they become independent enough to 'go it alone'! We still house them indoors for safety and warmth at night. When outside, they will all split-up and explore by themselves and at times it requires two pairs of eyes to keep tabs on them as they are into everything! Above are photos of the 3 Hoglets: top is 'Pinky', female and weighing 122 grammes, next is 'Grumpy', female and weighing 100 grammes and finally is the male, Little-lad, weighing 66 grammes.

Each of the Hoglets has developed their own personality: the little male who is still 2 weeks behind the others in development will only feed on kittens-milk with tiny fragments of kittens food mixed in. Still wobbly on his legs but roams far and wide in the garden even though his eyes are still not fully open. Half the size of his siblings, he still looks for human contact in the shape of Mel. The Hoglet we call 'Grumpy' is by far the most advanced in terms of awareness and the ways of Hedgehogs. Of the three, she looks very much like an adult Hedgehog, though not in bulk! She prefers to be on her own and snuffles the ground in search of new tastes and smells. She will often snort, puff and head-butt anything that comes near her, including myself and Mel! We can only explain this as 'the change', moving from Hoglet to Hedgehog. Today though she was very preoccupied with my arm and spent some time licking it and anointing herself without even a snort! The third, also a female is at present the heaviest at 122 grammes but appears not to have acquired that sense of 'self' that Hedgehogs develop. She is the most inquisitive of the three and is into anything and everything. All are now 5 weeks old and though still under weight, they are healthy and active.

July 2010 - Hoglets eyes open and ears up!

Sunday 25th: I am pleased to report that the three Hoglets are now looking more and more like mini Hedghogs. Since they moved to the 'glop' from kitten's milk, they are piling the grammes on at 80, 78 grammes for the two females and 52 grammes for the male. Though according to various sources on the Internet, they are still underweight at 33 days, but we are happy with their progress. They appear fit and well, are eating and are now even spending time after every feed in the garden - though very closely supervised to guard against predators from both the ground and air.

The eyes on the two females are now fully opened and their ears have opened and are upright - in fact they are looking and behaving just like Hedgehogs. The lone male is still underdeveloped but his ears have opened and are upright too. His eyes are not fully open yet. We believe that he is about 2 weeks behind the other two in his development as he still only prefers kitten's milk. But he joins his siblings outside on the lawn after feeding. They snuffle about in the grass, anoint themselves and will walk around and investigate everything. After 15 minutes outside they will be brought back in and go back to sleep until the next feeding session when they will spend some more time outside. This acclimatisation is proving very beneficial and will prepare them for when they spend time in a small penn outside during the day in about 3 - 4 weeks.