Saturday 30th September 2017

Mild overcast day. Very wet tonight.
All the sunflower heads (seeds) harvested today, drying now before I start feeding the birds.
Some good trail camera images again last night. Mouse busy at the hedgehogs feeding station, the hedgehog twins enjoyed a different food mix and the fox cub just finished up all that was left.
Appears only the one fox cub on the scene now but all that could change in the coming months of course.
Long tailed tits seen on the feeders today, not seen for a while. Just the woodpeckers and jays to appear now to complete the line up.

Friday 29th September 2017

Not a bad day. Dry, mild and mostly overcast.
A lot of activity from the trail cameras last night. A mouse, the hedgehog twins and a fox cub.
This afternoon a male sparrowhawk swooped in, missed its prey then rested on a post for a few seconds before flying away.
Magpies appeared today after a break of three months. Already upsetting the regular birds roosting in the silver birch tree.

Video 1 - Fox cub and a hedgehog.
     "    2 - A mouse close to the hedgehogs feeding station.
     "    3 - Hedgehog twins.
Image 1 - Male sparrowhawk.
     "    2 - A hedgehog with a mouthful of straw. Have traced it to the log pile.

Thursday 28th September 2017

After last nights heavy rain it was a pleasure to wake on a sunny morning. Very mild.
Last nights rain played havoc with the cameras, all the lenses were misted over giving very blurred images.
Strange day for garden wildlife. Hardly saw a bird in the garden, a contrast to yesterday.
Did spot a beautiful insect on the hot lips shrub, a stunning blue colour was shown when in flight.
All the cut sunflower stems now drying and will be used in bug boxes next Spring.

Image 1 - Missed?
    "     2 - Tufty after the birds peanut butter.
    "     3 - An odd shaped fungi in the border today.
    "     4 - Sunflower stems drying in the winter sun.
    "     5 - An insect in the hot lips shrub. Blue in colour.

Wednesday 27th September 2017

Mild but mostly overcast today. Heavy rain tonight.

Some good fungi in the garden today plus a beauty of a parasol in the alpine house.
Hedgehogs busy last night in all areas of the garden, still unable to work out where home is.
As mentioned in an earlier post have so many goldfinches and blue tits in the garden at the moment.
A fair few dunnocks are appearing now which is good but do need to see more sparrows.
Not seen the woodpeckers or jays recently. Probably not requiring the bird feeders at the moment as so much other food about.

Image 1 - A parasol in the alpine house.
    "     2 - Slug.
 " 3 & 4 - A dunnock resting on a bird feeder.
    "     5 - Foxy.
    "     6 - Hedgehog twins, time for bed?
    "     7 - Not ready for bed yet?

Tuesday 26th September 2017

A mild and sunny day. Autumn colours showing well today in the garden.

TechniCol spent day with me dealing with the Picasa September folder issue. Took a while but problem now sorted, fingers crossed for October?

Monday 25th September 2017

Very mild but also very wet. 
With such wet conditions it meant almost zero moths in the trap and the trail cameras ended up with very misty lenses. Meaning not so many images to watch.
So many goldfinches and blue tits on the feeders today, hopefully the other regulars will soon start appearing.

Image 1 - Video of two fox cubs and a hedgehog feeding.
     "    2 - Video of a fox cub trying to entice a hedgehog out of its HQ.
     "    3 - This does not look like good news?
     "    4 - The one moth in the moth trap last night.
     "    5 - Headless something on the lawn this morning.
     "    6 - The twins out feeding last night.

Sunday 24th September 2017

Another decent day, mild and sunny most of the day.
Enjoyed the pleasure of the neighbs' company this afternoon. Good to catch up over a beer/wine.
Busy in the garden last night for wildlife. Fox cub and a hedgehog almost inseparable these nights. Good to see.

Images 1 & 2 - Moths.
     "             3 - Shield Beetle.
     "             4 - Lady bird.
     "             5 - Fox cub and hedgehog feeding.
     "             6 -    "    "      "          "
     "             7 - Spike sniffing fox cubs tail.

Saturday 23rd September 2017

A beautiful Autumn day, warm and sunny all day.
Most of the day day opening pressies! Enjoyed a birthday lunch at the Great House Sonning followed by a short walk beside the River Thames towards Marlow.
Gutted not in Scotland of course celebrating with family and friends. Was so looking forward to the week on Skye but health comes first. Looking at May 2018 now for the Isle of Skye.
               Back home and what a delight to see the hummingbird hawk-moth again. Some reasonable images.

Image 1 - Night night Spike.
     "    2 - Collecting straw for the bed?
     "    3 - Fox cub and Spike.
     "    4 - Twins enjoying ones evening meal.
     "    5 - Hummingbird hawk-moth on the hot lips shrub.
     "    6 - Interesting looking insect.

Friday 22nd September 2017

A half decent day with showers and sunny periods.
Not able to do much at the moment so time sitting, relaxing and reflecting. Not a bad past time? 
Brilliant to see a hummingbird hawk-moth out again tonight despite the damp conditions. 
There were a few moths about this morning, nothing in the trap but on branches or fencing close by.
Hedgehogs eating loads at the moment, they have to be quick or the fox cub soon finishes the bowl.

Images 1 & 2 - Moths.
     "             3 - Small snail on the ivy hedge.
     "             4 - Twins out for their evening meal.
     "             5 - Spike exiting its HQ.

Thursday 21st September 2017

Not a bad day, spoilt again however by rain this afternoon.
Day spent catching up on trail camera images and what some surprises. From a cat and fox cub eating from the same bowl together, fox cub and a cat enjoying a lamb chop together and the hedgehog triplets. Brilliant news.
The sparrow also good news as not seen one for five years now.
Tonight at dusk I spotted a humming bird hawk moth on the hot lips shrub, managed a few good images. Will post tomorrow.

Image 1 - Video of a fox cub wary of the hedgehog feeding station.
     "    2 - Hedgehog triplets feeding.
 " 3 & 4 - Moths.
     "    5 - Spider on the hot lips shrub.
     "    6 - Sparrow.
 " 7 & 8 - Moths.

Monday 18th September - Wednesday 20th September 2017

Mixed bag of weather from heavy rain, showers and some sun I believe?





Hospital so sadly no images to post.

Sunday 17th September 2017

Mild and sunny most of the day. Rain late afternoon.
Day spent in the garden mostly on cutting the sunflower stems into 150mm lengths. These will dry over winter then hollowed out and used for bug boxes in the Spring.
The spikey twins and a fox cub were out again last night, another confrontation with the black cat. This cat is being singled out as the fox is not interested in the other cats that roam the garden. Must be the colour?

Image 1 - A fox cub and hedgehog feeding last night.
     "    2 - The spikey twins eating last night.
 " 3 & 4 - Moths from last night on a garden chair.
 "        5 - Cut sunflower stems.
 "        6 - Sheltering in the garden lodge from this afternoons rain.