Tuesday 3rd September 2019

A warm and breezy day, temperature this afternoon reaching 20c.
I was in town meeting friends most of the day so not much to report.
The trail cameras confirmed the two fox cubs and two hedgehogs were in the garden most of the night. One of the cubs appeared with a chicken sized two legged animal. Just could not work out what the animal was. 
A local cat decided to bed down at the entrance to the fox den last night. The fox was not impressed and did a good job in letting the cat know who's den it was!

Monday 2nd September 2019

A very warm day with temperature today reaching 24c this afternoon.
Another day of Autumn clearing. Today pruned the fig tree which had doubled in size this Summer with the largest crop this tree has ever produced.
Trimmed the ivy hedge by hand so as not to cut any seed heads off. I disturbed a few moths but am sure they will soon return.

The hedgehogs and fox cubs were out last night as expected. The hedgehog call Bubbles that had made a home in the shed from bubble wrap took leaves in last night. Getting ready for the colder evenings.

Sunday 1st September 2019

A very warm start to Autumn with today's temperature reaching 24c this afternoon.
Chuffed or what, photographed a holly blue butterfly on the white flowers of the viburnum shrub. 
So many moths about at the moment, Ivy hedge is full of them. The wildflower plants area is swarming with all manner of insects, this was a challenge creating this area so very pleased with the end result. 
Only been two hedgehogs out each night for a while now and just the two fox cubs. Not seen the vixen for over a month now. 

Made a start on the Autumn clearing today. The Passion flower that had grown into the silver birch tree at the bottom end of the garden now cut back and training along the fence trellis work which it was meant to do in the first place.
Some really bad news to report, devastating actually. The silver birch tree in the lawn has died. I planted this from a seedling 43 years ago so is a great loss. Have been lucky however as the life of such a tree is only 20-30 years.

July / August 2019

July and August weather varied from mild, warm, very warm and hot. There were a few random wet days but not enough to make any difference to the parched ground so watering most nights was required.

Garden Wildlife was varied with the fox family and hedgehogs out every evening, fox cubs now the size of the adults. Although the hedgehogs appeared to mate in the Spring there had been no sign of young.
The highlight during the last two nights were the arrival of five sycamore caterpillars and the southern hawker dragonflies emerging from the pond.

Hopefully I will be back blogging every night from now.

Wednesday 26th June 2019

Warm and sunny, temperature reached 25c this afternoon.
Not at home much today due to the Asbestos Support Group get together.
           A comma butterfly flew into the conservatory this morning landing on a window fully open. Obtained a cracking photograph. Been out again tonight hedgehog spotting, the one in the kennel kept me waiting an hour before it emerged, bit dark for a photograph but worth keeping.

Tuesday 25th June 2019

Warm and partly sunny, temperature this afternoon reached 25c.
Lawns cut today and a little general tidying of the garden.
           Swifts appeared again, same time as yesterday. Did one swoop of the house and gone. So much about garden wildlife this year has been a cause to worry but I guess with weather patterns shot away again this year we should expect some degree abnormality?
Some good news however are the young great spotted woodpeckers and young jays. Blackbirds are clearly nesting again this season as the male is busy taking food to a nest somewhere in the front garden.
Two cubs, the vixen and at least two hedgehogs still out each night. No sign of young hogs yet.

Monday 24th June 2019

Very warm day bug again very little sun. Temperature this afternoon reached 28c.
Another day doing nothing much.
Four swifts swooped over the house this morning but disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Very strange behaviour this year and disappointing of course.
Just back indoors after watching a hedgehog for half hour in amongst the leaves.
Photographed a magpie moth and a meadow brown butterfly this afternoon. 

Sunday 23rd June 2019

Very warm although not sunny. Temperature reached 26c this afternoon.
Another day relaxing in the garden.
Admired jays and great spotted woodpeckers feeding young, amazed to see a rather large jackdaw taking away mouthfuls of fat from the fat balls. Good to see sparrows in the garden today. Photographed a dark garden tiger moth that flew on to the decking. In flight I thought it was a red admiral.
So many bugs and insects in the wildflower patch tonight along with even more ladybird larvae.
Just back indoors after watching a hedgehog for an hour.
A good day.

Saturday 22nd June 2019

Very warm and sunny with temperature today reaching 25c. Nice.
A day relaxing in the garden. 
Managed to photograph a young and adult great spotted woodpecker in the dead silver birch tree. With no leaves it was easy to spot them.
SD cards confirmed two cubs and the vixen still very active on the back lawn of an evening. Still only the one hedgehog however.

Friday 21st June 2019

Very warm and sunny day with temperature this afternoon reaching 23c.
The Leaping Frog Museum was officially opened today, cutting the ribbon ceremony took place at 3pm after a drink, nibbles and a walk round the garden. I still need to sort out an infantry but this will take some considerable time.
             Some great trail camera images/video clips this week. Learning so much about fox life, mannerisms etc. The bond between foxes and hedgehogs is amazing but I do worry if young hedgehogs do appear however.

Thursday 20th June 2019

Warm day with temperature reaching 21c this afternoon.
Dental treatment today so not gut for much today.
Did manage to cut the lawn and a bit of garden tidying. Garden beginning to perk up after days of rain. 
             Lots of bug photography this evening, so many ladybird larvae in the garden this year. As I suggested in a previous post, mostly harlequin.

Tuesday 18th June 2019

Warm day with temperature reaching 21c until late afternoon that is. Absolutely poured.


Nothing to report today.

Wednesday 19th June 2019

Warm day with temperature at 23c most of the day that is until 4pm when rain returned.
What do you do with an old Victorian fireplace that is surplus to requirements? Make it into a BBQ of course! Not sure how I managed to transport it to the bottom end of the garden but I did, bl**dy heavy or what. Looks good though. Used to be our dining room fire, due to issues it had to be replaced, Eversley Antiquities came up trumps.
                Experimented with a trail camera set on video last night, good results but deleted by mistake after uploading to Twitter. Set again tonight.
Watched young magpies and great spotted woodpeckers being fed this afternoon. Tried, but impossible to photograph as were in the silver birch tree which is just a mass of twigs and branches.
On the subject of the silver birch tree sadly it has died, never recovered from last years heatwave. Pretty upset as grew this tree myself nearly 50 years ago. I am at the wrong age to replace it so will change the face of the back garden, it was the centre piece of the garden.

Monday 17th June 2019

Warm and sunny day with temperature today reaching 22c by lunchtime.
A day in the garden, front garden tidied, five bags of weeds and leaves now on the compost heap.
Alpine house tidied and plants watered. 
             While pond dipping this afternoon all manner of insects were active on the pond weed and numerous dragonfly larvae also seen. All good stuff.
A male meadow brown butterfly flew into the kitchen, even more harlequin larvae seen.

Sunday 16th June 2019

A warm and sunny day with temperature today reaching 22c. 👍 
A relaxing day. A visit to Henry Street this morning for nothing in particular. Did buy a Summer shirt and a few jars of bird peanut butter.
This afternoon checked out the trail camera images. Cracking images of two rather fat hedgehogs trying to squeeze into their food box.
Have just come indoors after a couple of hours sitting outside in the wild flower plants area. 
So many harlequin larvae this year, found some on the ferns tonight. Lots of other insects were photographed.

Saturday 15th June 2019

Very warm and sunny day with temperature this afternoon reaching 21c.
A day at the 30th year of the Reading Water Festival. Thankfully weather was kind which of course makes all the difference for such an event.
I also visited Blakes Lock Museum where for the rest of the month there is an Arborist Artist Exhibition. Slightly disappointed as expected more paintings than were shown. 
                  Being out for the day means no garden wildlife reports. Did check the trail cameras tonight and interesting to note that three fox cubs were out on the lawn last night. Only one hedgehog, wonder if that means young are being looked after?

Friday 14th June 2019

Breezy but at least warm and sunny. Temperature reached 19c this afternoon.
A quality day with Lulu, a rare treat.
No time today to check out garden wildlife activity but the trail cameras recorded a number of ace fox images. Practicing defence and play acting. So lucky to have this activity recorded.

Thursday 13th June 2019

Much cooler today but sadly another day of showers. Had enough now.
Visiting friends today so sadly nothing to report today.

Wednesday 12th June 2019

A reasonable day with the temperature reaching 18c this afternoon but oh dear what an evening. Cold and wet.
Not much to report today due to visitors most of the day.
Did note the female great spotted woodpecker still feeding young as were the jays.
The trail cameras worked well last night showing fox family activity with a few colour images captured in the early hours.

Tuesday 11th June 2019

Mild, mostly overcast but thankfully no rain. Temperature today reached 19c this afternoon.
A day indoors catching up on yesterday's trail camera images. There really is a lot of night time activity at the moment. Good to see the vixen showing a cub how to take an apple from my inventive apples feeder.
Young jays and great spotted woodpeckers still being fed, no sign of other birds being fed today. 

Sunday 9th June 2019

Warm and sunny day albeit a little breezy. Temperature this afternoon reached 22c.
Today was our annual garden open day for a group of elderly the youngest being 95. We host the event, Contact organise the event.
Another very successful day with those able enjoying a walk about the garden with the Museum a big hit.

Monday 10th June 2019

Mild but very wet in the extreme. Temperature this afternoon 20c and rainfall as at 10pm 33mm.
This morning checked out over 7000 trail camera images. An unusually high number of images for one night. A lot of activity at the latest fox den. The vixen and a cub have cleared an area under the boardwalk leading to the entrance under the wood stack.
The same vixen and two cubs also spent a large amount of time on the back lawn. A lot of bonding and playing. 
Despite appalling weather I was able to photograph great spotted woodpecker chicks and blue tit chicks being fed on chewed peanuts. Jays regular in the garden now, two this morning feeding on monkey nuts.
Tonight Tufty is curled up and cosy in its drey box. Best place to be in this dreadful weather.

Saturday 8th June 2019

Very windy but warm and sunny. Temperature reached 21c this afternoon.
A day working at the Whitley Museum June Way Back When event. My turn to act as curato, thankfully I was not let down, local folks came up trumps again. So frustrating we have not achieved enough space to display all the artefacts, it will happen.
Being out all day means I have no further Wildlife information covering today. I will not mention my anger about the one young blackbird left being predated late this afternoon. Grrrr

Friday 7th June 2019

Warm but a very wet day. Temperature this afternoon reached 16c and at 8pm 6mm of rain recorded.
A day indoors due to the weather, time to catch up with editing and checking out last nights trail camera images.
Despite all the digging creating new dens this week by Foxy it was interesting to note that they are still using the original den. I have a theory that these recent dugouts are the work of cubs practising?
Should also add that the hedgehogs are still sharing the den with the foxes. A little worrying as am sure any young will be predates?
Tonight during the downpour and while watching the monitor Tufty appeared in the drey box, curled up and went to sleep. Ahh bless.

Thursday 6th June 2019

Warm and sunny day, temperature reaching 21c this afternoon.
Following dental treatment this morning I was not up to much today. 
Spent some time this afternoon hunting bugs in the new wildflower plants area. I was not disappointed, lots of differing bugs from ladybirds, ladybird larvae and all manner of insects. Well pleased how this area has turned out.
Young dunnocks were being fed, wish I knew where they nested. Young blue tits still being fed but the young blackbirds and starlings now feeding themselves. Numbers well down on previous years, only one blackbird and four starlings.
Fox activity was a little puzzling last night, burrowed under the bandstand and one of the wood stacks. The trail cameras picked out just the vixen and one cub last night.