Wednesday 31 January 2018

Wednesday 31st January 2018

Cold, very wet this morning. Contrast this afternoon as sunny with blue sky you would think it was a different day.
Not home much today so little to report. The sparrowhawk and great spotted woodpecker were in the garden at breakfast.
               Spent time with the Berkshire Asbestos Support Group today hence not being at home much .

Tuesday 30 January 2018

Tuesday 30th January 2018






Frost overnight but day turned out good. Mild and sunny most of the day. Temperature reached 13c this afternoon.
Not much to record today as busy on other matters. 7.30am and the two cooker engineers arrived (pre booked) to move the cooker to a position where they could deal with the heavy duty rollers before replacing the grill element.
How on earth did I manage to install this cooker in the first place, it was 18 years ago!?
This afternoon was a visit to the Apple Store to sort my iPad out, did not know iPads can go into sleep mode. Once awake it sprung into life thankfully. No charge do happy chappy.
                   On arriving home I was made welcome by a sparrowhawk, some great images. Busy with foxes in the garden last night, where have they all come from?

Monday 29th January 2018




Mild but spoilt by showers most of the day.
Not much time spent at home today.
An extended appointment with the dentist this morning. This afternoon it was another visit to Henry Street for a few more helibore plants.
Not being home today I have nothing to record, hopefully tomorrow.

Sunday 28th January 2018










Mild and sunny most of the day. Temperature this afternoon reached 15c.
Day spent in the garden. Swept up the fallen leaves from the decking and paths at bottom end of garden. All in the compost heap as were so wet from the recent wet spell.
Snowdrops and helibores looking great, each sees an improvement.
           Trail cams' confirmed a fair few number of foxes about each night. One eyed, injured leg and one with three legs including the pair that appear ok, all were out last night.
Another trail cam' showed a starling and goldcrest eating from the peanut butter feeding station.
Did the RSPB bird count lunch time.
Was a good result with jays, pied wagtails, wren, great spotted woodpecker plus all the regulars making an appearance.

Saturday 27 January 2018

Saturday 27th January 2018






Miserable day. Mild but wet for most of the day.
Did manage to clear the leaves and twigs from the wild flower meadow I have been trying to create.
              Trail cam' showed a goldcrest has been visiting a bird table at the bottom end of the garden during the last few days.
Trail cam' also confirmed at least two foxes out in the last two days. The fox with the bad leg still unable to put paw to ground, wonder if a thorn is the issue. Leg looks good in every other respect.
Long tailed tits were busy today, pied wagtails also about as were two Jays and three magpies. All other regular birds were busy feeding mostly on sunflower hearts.
No sign of the woodpecker today and been two days now since the last visit of the parakeet, that is good news.
                Very pleased with my Fox Family book, finished and ordered today.

Friday 26 January 2018

Friday 26th January 2018

Another mild and sunny day, bootiful.
A day in the garden. A day picking up twigs and branches which had fallen during the gales over the last week.
All the twigs and branches broken up and spread about the wooded area.
           Magpies, Jays and long tailed tits looked absolutely stunning against today's sun. Some good photographs.
Amazing to see a peacock butterfly flying about in the morning sun, sadly unable to obtain a photograph.



Thursday 25th January 2018

Not a bad day, mild and sunny most of the day.
Day out today with Colin and Janet. A delightful meal at Bills in Windsor before seeing an unbelievable show, Elvis the Musical. What a show, superb.

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Wednesday 24th January 2018

Very mild but sadly also very wet. Rain all day.
Parakeet bit of a regular now. Was on the peanut feeder this morning and afternoon.
Worryingly, since its appearance this week there had been no show of the woodpecker. Hopefully will not stay long.
Foxes noisy in the garden last night, trail cams did not pick out two together but at least three were about including the injured fox.
             My Garden Wildlife book arrived today, very pleased with the end result. If I self criticise the book it is the lack of identification. Have a plan for my 2018 book. Each day I will identify anything seen with a note made. This will partially help when it comes to moths and insects.

Tuesday 23 January 2018

Tuesday 23rd January 2018

Very mild day, 13c this afternoon. Blue skies and sunny periods, a good day.
A full day working on the fox family book. All photographs now selected and in date order. Time to upload, a task for tomorrow. Tonight I will make notes to prepare me for writing the foreword.
            Busy in bird world today. Great spotted woodpecker, parakeet, jays, wren, all the range of finches, blue & great tits, dunnocks, blackbirds and doves.
Pair of squirrels also busy this afternoon, clearly a pair.

Monday 22 January 2018

Monday 22nd January 2018







Much milder day. Dry with sunny periods throughout the day.
A day working on the fox family book. I am at 49 pages but feel some changes are required so think will delete tomorrow and start again.
                Lots of birds about again today. Great spotted woodpecker, pied Wagtail, Jays, magpies, along with the daily regulars. A parakeet also arrived late this afternoon feeding from the peanut feeder.
The two four legged foxes and the fox with an injured leg were out last night. No sign of the three legged fox.

Sunday 21 January 2018

Sunday 21st January 2018





Cold with rain, sleet and snow showers all day.
Day indoors working on the latest book. A book on the garden fox family covering the cubs at a few weeks old to current day. This could take a while as have thousands of images to check out.
             Another fox appeared in the garden last night, this one with an injured leg. So to recap: a one eyed fox, a three legged fox and a fox with an injured leg. The pair that mated did have a full set of eyes and legs however!
Despite the appalling weather today the garden was full of feeding birds. A good mix which included robins, blue tits, great tits, greenfinches, goldfinches, chaffinches, blackbirds, long tailed tits and dunnocks.

Saturday 20 January 2018

Saturday 20th January 2018

11am - Sadly still unable to upload YouTube clips or still images. Not sure what the issue is, applies not only to the blog uploads but also FB and Twitter. Two hours this morning for one clip.

13.30 - Back in business, had to refresh browser.

Friday 19 January 2018

Friday 19th January 2018

Woke to a hard frost. A cold day but reasonably sunny all day.

Nothing to report today as out most of the day with Tony and Heather.

Thursday 18 January 2018

Thursday 18th January 2018





Gale force wind last night but thankfully no damage just a few plastic pots scattered around. Today coldish, overcast and showers this afternoon.
             Finished the book today and ordered. Have already started the second book which will cover trail camera and monitor images. Just so images images to incorporate in the first book. 
              Some amazing video clips last night of a pair of foxes mating on the back lawn. Interestingly these two had four legs each! Not sure where the three legged fox fits in? 
Going to be an interesting Spring I think?

Wednesday 17 January 2018

Wednesday 17th January 2018

Wind made the day feel cold but sun was out most of the day.
Day spent working again on the book. At 100 pages I have decided to finish the book at that as majority of the wildlife seen has been covered. Not covered are 'projects' and 'trail camera' images.
I will be producing a book on the fox family so may also include these two categories?
Tomorrow I will be proof reading a few times before I finally order.
               Nothing else to report as day spent on the desk top.

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Tuesday 16th January 2018




Colder day but at least some sun. Has turned windy today.
Another day spent working on the book. Typing out the foreword took longer than I thought. Did also manage to upload the moth photographs. Have held back on using all my moth photographs as have already uploaded 120 images.
            The pair of pied wagtails were busy feeding in the garden again. Not spotted any other pairing up yet. The squirrels and foxes are clearly pairing however so think it will be a busy Spring?
Unsure how many foxes are in the garden but at least four so perhaps two pairs?
The three legged fox has clearly paired as eat together on the back lawn.

Monday 15 January 2018

Monday 15th January 2018



Mild with showers most of the day. Temperature reaching 10c this afternoon.
Day spent working on the book. Foreword written and front cover created. Long way to go yet as once I make a start on uploading photographs they have to be identified. This will take me a while.
                 At breakfast this morning two foxes chased one another around the lawn, sometimes disappearing down the garden but within minutes reappearing. Was this a mating exercise?
What was interesting to note, both foxes had four legs. Meaning there are at least three foxes using the garden.
Did not remove the trail cam' SD cards today for checking as did not want to miss out on fox action.

Sunday 14 January 2018

Sunday 14th January 2018

Mild day, temperature today reaching 8c. Little sun, mostly overcast.
More work on the book today. Writing the foreword and categorising.
                Lots going on in the garden, watched a fight between a crow and red kite in one of the trees. Managed a reasonable photograph.
The pair of pied wagtails appeared again ground feeding at the feeding station on the lawn.
A male sparrowhawk turned up this afternoon and stayed a good half an hour. Had many attempts at a catch during that time but missed every time. Some good photograph opportunities.
The three legged fox was out again last night clearly showing a stump, really puzzled by this. Could be an interesting mating season?





Saturday 13th January 2018



Mild but an overcast day. Temperature reaching 7c this afternoon.
Most of today I spent working on my latest book. Moths still the biggest issue partly because I am impatient. Clearly I did actually record a large number of different species.
                 Trail camera showed up something interesting. A second fox has appeared but has only three legs. Healthy in every other respect.
Not sure what has happened here as does not look like an injury, born with this deformity perhaps?

Friday 12 January 2018

Friday 12th January 2018

A reasonably good day, mild for the time of year.
A day outside, eight large sacks of leafmould spread over the Spring bulbs border. Snowdrops, hellebores, bluebells, crocus, tulips and daffodils all showing now.
                 No sign of Tufty today, fleece not touched today, cameras still set so hope for more action tomorrow.
Doves already nesting, taking twigs from the back lawn and taking them to a tree in the front area of the factories.

Thursday 11 January 2018

Thursday 11th January 2018







Cold and dismal day.
Day working on the book, all categories now sorted. Moths still as an issue as showing 199 images and that is after selection. Can't believe for one moment I saw that many different varieties. Must still be duplicates?
                     Jays, magpies and woodpeckers busy in the garden today but the highlight was squirrel activity. Tufty found my fleece store and spent ages pulling and ripping but no more than that. Have cameras trained now so not to miss further activity.

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Wednesday 10th January 2018

Warmer today and sunny most of the day.
Not much doing today, did visit Henry Street this morning for coal.

Hopefully can report tomorrow on something more meaningful?

Tuesday 9 January 2018

Tuesday 9th January 2018

Cold and mostly overcast all day. Misty first thing.
A day working on the book. All day on the final selection of insects. Will give it a go but know at this early stage I will not be able to identify all. I would rather not identify than get wrong.
               Nothing special in the garden today. Did see a wren drinking from the pond using one of the branches laid in the pond.
The one fox is still showing walking around the garden of a night. Expecting soon to see a pair?

Monday 8 January 2018

Monday 8th January 2018








What a contrast in weather today. Cold and overcast all day.
Another day on the book. Managed to complete this part of the selection process. Next stage is to select into categories, this I will start tomorrow.
            Highlight today was the sighting of a song thrush on the back lawn. Thought at first a Fieldfare but noticed what I saw had a short tail. Have never seen one in the garden before, well chuffed. What a start to the year, parakeet, chiffchaff, song thrush and pied wagtail.

Sunday 7th January 2018

A beautiful winters day. Cold and sunny most of the day.
A day working on the book, managed to upload selected photographs January-June. Making the final selection will be the difficult part as in this book I would like to identify a high % of images.
                  Highlight of the day was seeing the return of a chiffchaff chaff, not seen for some years now. Never settled for any length of time flying between plant pots mostly. It eventually flew over to the conifer trees.