Wednesday 28th February 2018

Very cold and sunny with the occasional snow shower.
What an amazing number of birds in the garden today. Never seen so many blackbirds, witnessed a fair amount of territory fighting.
Six apples were eaten today, would have been more if I continued to put out more. Have stocked up with more ready for tomorrow.

Sunday 25th February 2018

Very cold and sunny most of the day.
A lazy day not doing much except for relaxing and watching the activity in bird world.

Tuesday 27th February 2018

Very cold with snow showers throughout the day. Has settled slightly tonight.
Checked out the SD cards this morning, a great image of the red kite when taking apples yesterday afternoon.
Birds extremely busy today. Five apples eaten by five blackbirds, there was a fair amount of territory fighting.
The male pied wagtail was in the garden today along with just the one dunnock, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, chaffinches, magpies, Jays, goldfinches, pigeons, doves, robins, sparrowhawk and a wren.
The one fox was out again last night.

Monday 26th February 2018

Very cold and sunny most of the day. Snow shower late this afternoon.
Visit to my computer geek this morning who is working a way forward to my latest camera. Cheers TechniCol, we can do this!?
Checked out four trail cam' SD cards this afternoon. The one healthy fox is still visiting every night. Feeder cam' showed that a starling and male/female blackbird just love currents. A pair of robins were also shown eating together. No sign of the goldcrest however.
The song thrush was in the garden late this afternoon ground feeding on spilt sunflower hearts.
Now some amazing news, had to be seen to be believed. Late this afternoon I noticed the apples for the blackbirds and thrushes had disappeared. Could not believe they had eaten them so quickly. 
Luckily I had more to put out and guess what? A red kite flew down and took an apple, this happened three times. Two trail cameras were set in the area so hoping for some images when checked tomorrow. Will be blurred as the Kite reacted at such speed.
              I was contacted today by a media company who wishes to license my YouTube clips of the foxes. Clearly a way of making money but I am very wary and need to study the t&c very carefully.
As it happens I am meeting someone tomorrow who wants me to write an article who is also clued up in all things media. 
Watch this space.

Saturday 24th February 2018

Hard overnight frost. Very cold and sunny most of the day.
Day working outside. Over 200 snowdrops replanted in the wooded area, can't wait for next Spring.
Planted six alpine plants in the alpine border. Replacing six that had become pot bound.
               Birds very busy on the feeders today, missing the dunnocks however. How can they just disappear? 
Sat watching the goldcrest this afternoon but sadly no photographs, would not cooperate. Just hope the trail camera kicked in.

Friday 23rd February 2018

Very cold and sunny day.
Day spent in Oxford taking Colin to the JR Hospital.

Thursday 22nd February 2018

Cold and sunny most of the day.
Cable and the next generation of bird box technology arrived this morning. Cable for the front garden camera worked so have a working compliment of 12 cameras supported by three monitors working now.
The new 4MP camera that will work from any device through a router will be a while until up and running. My computer advisor had been given the job of setting up.
                      Good news today as a blue tit has been prospecting my latest bird box I only installed last weekend (Christmas pressy from Lulu). The blue tit was in and out all day, not nesting but hopefully will given time.
Trail camera picked something extraordinary today. A male great spotted woodpecker sitting down eating out of a jar full of squashed fat balls. 
Male sparrowhawk was in the garden a couple of times this afternoon. 
Next posting will be on Sunday as in Oxford for the day tomorrow.

Wednesday 21st February 2018

Cold and sunny most of the day.
Visited Chris today at his new old house, just wish I was forty years younger as would love to get my hands on an old house again. Great views from the back of Chris's house, woods and open fields. Family of deer in the fields and foxes in the garden. Definitely my kind of house.

Trip to Henry Street this afternoon for a few bags of coal, a cold spell is forecast over the next few days.
Not being home today I have nothing to report on garden wildlife. Did see the sparrowhawk on the fence at 4.30pm.

Tuesday 20th February 2018

Mild and sunny all day.
Where did today go, I do not appear to have achieved much?
I did photograph the snowdrops, helibores and aconites which are looking rather good in the borders at the moment.
               All the regular birds were about including the male pied wagtail and chaffinches. Tufty has taken a liking to the new wooden bird table. This could be an issue in the future?

Monday 19th February 2018

Overnight rain and showers during the morning. Mild and overcast all day.
Working on the monitor project again. All twelve cameras now connected and working. The front garden camera cable ordered but works ok with a temporary connection.
Heck of a job now to label the cables, have ordered 'special' labels for this purpose which will not be with me until the 25th the earliest.
Nothing else to report today.

Sunday 18th February 2018

Cold, dry and sunny all day.
Day spent working on the monitor system. What a job, this is some project. Ten of the twelve cameras now connected and working. The camera allocated for the front garden requires a different cable/connector, will order from Handykam tomorrow.
Nothing else to report today.

Saturday 17th February 2018

Hard overnight frost, the day was cold and sunny all day.
Blimey, taking some sorting all these camera/monitor cables. All disconnected now, hopefully tomorrow I will be in a position to start installing and reconnecting. When finished I will have three monitors and cameras connected in the observatory.
               Was not able to see much bird action today but did notice starlings and blue tits prospecting in bird boxes. Also clearly a pair of chaffinches, were together on the lawn most of the afternoon. 

Friday 16th February 2018

Hard overnight frost, a stunning day. Cold and sunny all day .
A superb day with Lulu. Very rare we get this opportunity. Lulu stayed over last night after a night out in town. Stayed with us today, leaving late afternoon so a good chance to catch up.

Thursday 15th February 2018

Cold but mostly dry and sunny. 
Checked out the feeder cam' today, over 3000 images. Good to see the goldcrest still in the garden. Must try and obtain my own photograph, will mean sitting out for a few hours I guess, not very good at that.
Rest of the day was spent working on my observatory monitor system

. Have inherited a monitor from Clive so need to redo the electrics to accommodate it. I ordered the various electrical parts required so early next week I should be able to make a start.
In the meantime I will disconnect the current system and prepare for the change.
                 

Wednesday 14th February 2018

Cold, overcast and wet all day.
Despite the awful weather there was an incredible number of birds about. The chaffinch with papilloma appeared again today, seems to be ok despite the dodgy feet.
Pigeons have returned in large numbers again so time to bring out barny the owl again. It worked last time so fingers crossed.
The rats have appeared again in the food store, now I know it's rats I must act before they multiply.

Tuesday 13th February 2018

Cold, overcast and wet most of the day.
Day spent in town for the annual pancake race. A good turnout for a good cause. Events like this make for good photograph opportunities, I captured some good moments today.

Monday 12th February 2018

Dry, cold and sunny.
Another day in the garden working on the bird feeder project. It was clear from last nights gale this structure required bracing. This I did today. All good and birds have approved.
Male and female great spotted woodpecker in the garden this afternoon. Although lots of birds are visiting the garden it is very noticeable the low numbers of chaffinches, greenfinches, dunnocks and sparrows. Sparrows in fact not seen for three years now. One did appear (trail cam') last year but that one the only record.

Sunday 11th February 2018

Dry, cold and sunny. 
Day spent in the garden finishing off the bird feeder. Works well but requires bracing, job for tomorrow.
Due to me working on this project today I did not get a chance to check wildlife activity. Birds also disturbed while I was installing. 

Saturday 10th February 2018

Cold and showers most of the day. 
Despite the rain I stayed out all day working on my bird feeder masterpiece. If dry tomorrow I will start assembly, looks like a wooden mecano set at the moment.
               Some good trail camera activity yesterday/last night. A couple of healthy foxes, mice and an albino cat (where did that come from).
The bird feeder trail cam' confirmed a pair of pied wagtails and a pair of chaffinches are busy in the garden. A lot more pigeons than I would like so think will place out the decoy tomorrow. Worked the last time I used it.

Friday 9th February 2018

Dry, sunny but very cold.
Despite the cold I spent the day outside. Almost finished the bird feeder I am making from throw away material. Tomorrow will brush on some forest green outdoor colouring.
            Bad news today on seeing a male chaffinch with Pipilloma. Growths all over its feet. 
Will have to isolate the feeder while I give the area a good clean including the paving slab base.
The male sparrowhawk, male great spotted woodpecker and the male pied wagtail were busy feeding in the garden today. 

Thursday 8th February 2018

Cold, dry and sunny day.
A first for me, visited the cinema to see the Darkest Hour. 
Not at home much today so nothing to report.

Wednesday 7th February 2018

Dry, cold and sunny.
Not home much today as gave talks to two groups of year 5 children at a local school. So important to engage with local children at this age. I am always surprised at how little children know of their local area. Should add it is not due to lack of interest.
The sound recordist tonight sent me a recording of my talk and my word, talk about sounding like a worzel!?
                Have checked the bird feeder trail cam tonight and am chuffed the goldcrest is about still.

Tuesday 6th February 2018

Dry, sunny and very cold.
Builder over this morning capping the chimney pots to stop pigeons pooing down the chimney.
Started another project this afternoon. Making a quirky bird feeding station using recycled material. Base is a solid lump of timber that was a shelf in an alcove that housed a huge galvanised water tank in the front bedroom. Using the square section metal legs and roof supports from an old folding garden canopy for the roof. On this will be fixed feather edged fencing material.

Monday 5th February 2018

Hard overnight frost and a very cold day with sun most of the day.
Most of the day spent with John and Hillary which included a pub lunch at the Pack Horse.
            Interesting re great spotted woodpecker. At breakfast two male great spotted woodpeckers appeared at the feeders at the same time. Managed a reasonable photograph. Do I have a pair of gay peckers or is there a female out there who will have a choice between two handsome birds!?
Good to see a pair of chaffinches feeding today, all coming together now. Just need the dunnocks or sparrows to return now.
Hilarious clips of a fox eating last night. Bits of unwanted chicken from our Sunday dinner was placed on the lawn in the foil dish that the chicken was packed in.
Foxy was so unsure of the foil dish but was determined to eat the chicken. He basically layed stretched out on the lawn with hind legs outstretched. Will post video clips later in the week.

Sunday 4th February 2018

Dry and cold with a fair amount of sun.
Day spent in the garden but not gardening?
Cleared and tidied the two sheds. Everything in their rightful place and a space found for the winter tree uplighting equipment.
          Brilliant news re birds. Greenfinches appeared, not seen for a while now. Chaffinches, pied wagtails, great spotted woodpecker, magpies and jays busy feeding today. What is noticeable over last three weeks is the demise of the dunnocks, puzzled by this.

Saturday 3rd February 2018

Another cold and miserable day, showers most of the day.
A day not doing much. 
My Garden Fox Family book arrived today. Three books this year covering and recording all wildlife seen in the garden during 2017. Well pleased with the end result. As mentioned previously my only self criticism is the lack of identification. This I will be addressing for any books I produce covering 2018.

Friday 2nd February 2018

Cold and damp, pretty miserable.
Spent a little time in the garden. Have sown grass seed in the sensory area of the garden and covered with chicken wire. As mentioned previously I turfed this area last year but the foxes had other ideas and were forever pulling the turfs up.
Trail cameras picked out two foxes in the garden last night, also a hedgehog came out of hibernation for a drink before climbing back into its hotel.
Pair of pied wagtails appear to be regular visitors now. Seen in the garden on a daily basis. The male great spotted woodpecker is also a regular but as yet no sign of a female.

Fox with an egg last night.

Looking at this again I think perhaps the fox has an apple?

Thursday 1st February 2018

Cold day helped by being sunny most of the day.
Spent a little time in the garden. Preparing now to grass seed an area in the sensory garden. Layed turf last year but the foxes did nothing but pull the turfs up. Never had a chance to germinate.
             Great spotted woodpecker, Jays, magpies, goldfinches and all the regular birds were particularly busy in the garden today.
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