Poo spotted despite builder's mess…
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Hi Annie
Definitely a little frog in the pond today. I could see it’s little nose and eyes peaking up above the water.
This year it seems to be the female blackbirds who are drawing attention to themselves to get extra food. But also a robin. Nice to know that they are continuing as normal. Only one hog last night. Not the ferocious one. Perhaps he’s found some females somewhere else! The cat even managed to get a sneaky few mouthfuls – first time for ages – but didn’t stay long.
Sorry to hear about the striped hog. So unfair to them.
It’s very difficult to tell what’s going on from one photo, or even a series of 3 in a row. That’s why I tend to set mine on video. The rechargeable batteries seem to do a pretty good job, as long as I recharge them every day.
The new camera has been playing up. They are blaming the batteries (which I know is often the problem) but I have another one which is exactly the same model and it works fine with the rechargeable batteries. So I’m not convinced. Even when it had the lithium batteries in, it didn’t seem to pick up everything. But not easy to send it back at the moment and they expect you to pay the postal charges, which I wasn’t very impressed about. After I was giving them good PR on here, too! So I am using it for daytime images at the moment – I have been seeing a starling on the lawn collecting nesting material, which is quite fun. I might try setting it to photos for a while. It isn’t focused on the feed area now, where more action tends to happen – the old one is, which is a bit ironic. That one’s clasp broke and it’s done up with one of those bits of metal used to hang up calenders bent to make a sort of catch! But it still works well.
Well done with the litter collection. You’d hope there would be less around with people not being around so much. I only go food shopping once a fortnight – I’ve done that for ages now, not least to save on petrol. It’s actually more difficult now, not being able to get everything you need and having to wait another fortnight to hopefully get it. Since the virus, I have been doing a friend’s too – quite exhausting juggling the two lists!
Hope you stay safe, too.
Hi Nic
Oh that’s good you’ve seen a frog in the pond, love their faces, probably not the only one in there.
Not good about the camera, what a pain, not very good of them to be so disinterested either. Inventive of you using a bit of calendar to fix the clasp on the original camera, needs must & best way anyhow doing it yourself.
Sadly, litter picking yesterday I went up the road to pick up whatever was in the road & found it was a hedgehog. First I’ve seen killed on the road here for at least 12 years when I saw the last one. Less traffic but still managed to get the timing all wrong, so sad. It’s a fast corner, no time to get out of the way even if they knew how.
The litter situation has improved at last, doing it regularly you start to get the oldest bits appearing, as the foliage is dying back because of no rain it gets easier to find too, even if it’s pretty embedded. Just realised, not a single Mcdonalds container, so glad they’re closed, not one for miles but they usually toss them out of the car windows onto the verges. So dry, we need some rain, not least because idiots are lighting fires in the countryside & burning large areas of scrub & trees. Idle hands & all that but they always do it.
Hedgehogs still busy eating all the food in the dish & drinking lots of water as well as paddling in the bowl! I’ve ordered own brand food from Ark as I can’t get any hog food locally, bought a few extra bags of Mr Johnson from Wilkinsons a few weeks ago when life was on the edge of normal& I’m glad I did. Also ordered calciworms from them as they recommend them for bone health in hogs. Won’t ever contemplate buying mealworms again for the birds (haven’t for some years since reading on here) as every extra one a hog eats is going to add to those they eat elsewhere & ultimately do such awful harm.
Be nice if your rather bumptious hog has found a girl elsewhere so he can leave yours in peace. 3 different cats on camera every night here but my anti cat brickwork & flowerpots are 100% successful happily. They just have to satisfy themselves with watching the hogs & mice & sitting directly in front of the camera so I can see nothing but close up cat fur. Robins here are a delight, so tame & so attentive.
Shopping I have to do on foot, once a week as I can only carry so much. I bought a small insulated shopping trolley a while ago that I can manage at Lidl as there’s room downstairs to put shopping in it from their trolley away from people. Not observing the spacing in there which is a huge worry as I have an immune deficiency disease apart from anything else. Lovely walk anyway, alongside a river partly, green park, all pretty quiet & calm. Hard work for you doing 2 shops at once, lucky friend. Had a mixed box of fruit & veg delivered last week from the local market & going to keep doing that from now on, lovely fruit & good mix of veg. Sign of the times we’re in but it might become a permanent part of life for a lot of us as things have to adjust.
Stay safe & well, be nice to hear how your hogs are doing.
Hi Annie
Lovely to hear your news. The good news here is that I keep seeing a frog in one of the ponds. Not sure whether it’s the little one grown up, or a different one! But good to see the little chap/chapess there.
Sad to hear about the poor hog. As you say, timing wrong. That’s what sommetimes happens on smaller roads, too, even in normal times.
Good to hear about the lack of McDonalds containers. The current situation has some advantages, it seems!
I got some calci-worms from a local garden centre – luckily a while before everything closed. Make sure that the ones you get have a good ratio. I found a document online describing how the calcium levels can vary enormously depending on what the calci-worms are fed on. So the worry is that people will start producing cheaper ones and feed them on a bad diet. I tend to sprinkle just a few on top of the food – as a garnish! But I have a feeling that they put the cats off a bit, which has to be good!
Talking about food, I had a rat again a few days ago – grrrr. I normally give the hogs a mix of hog food and kitten biscuits. So I cut out the hog food and just put out the kitten biscuits (with their garnish of calci-worms) and the rat wasn’t interested. So last night I didn’t see it at all. How lucky is that to find a rat who doesn’t like kitten biscuits! Just have to hope that the cats don’t come back now! It was quite funny watching the rat on the video. It approached within about a foot of the bowls but then retreated. It came back a few times, as if to see if the food had magically changed again, but eventually gave up. Didn’t eat any of it. Hopefully it won’t be back.
I have a poor hog visiting every night at the moment who is quite badly blobbed. I did wonder whether it might be Igel, but not even certain whether it’s male or female at the moment. The poor thing keeps crawling on it’s belly, as if it’s been scared. I hope it has the sense to stay away from the dreaded blobbers from now on. But I haven’t been able to see underneath it – and no convenient scratching! At the moment the hogs seem to be complying with social distancing and all turning up separately for their food! Social distancing comes naturally to them, of course! But it would be nice to see this one with another, to get an idea of whether male or female.
The robin/s here are continuing their antics to get my attention so I give them more food. But it’s so lovely. I have a two tiered feeding place for the birds and the other day the little robin thought I was putting the food on the top and flew there (but I was putting it underneath), so I moved it to the top and at the same time she/he moved to the bottom and so we went on for a few seconds. Like (in the olden days!) when you were about to bump into someone in the street and both kept moving the same way to avoid each other. It was quite funny. Poor little chap. In the end I just left it on the top even though he was by then on the bottom. Clever little thing – he soon found it.
That must be very worrying doing the shopping with your immune deficiency. I’ve found that it’s men (perhaps ones who aren’t used to doing the shopping!) who seem to be the worst at keeping their distance. I have found once or twice that I have had to become quite assertive to remind people to keep away! Sounds lovely walking along the river. Another compensation of this present situation. The fruit and veg boxes sound good, too. I’ve tried planting some VERY OLD salad seeds I had lying around. (no new ones available in the supermarket). So far only radishes are beginning to grow, but better than nothing and worth a try.
Hope you stay safe and well, too.
Hi Nic
Wish I’d seen you & the robin, & love the reference to olden days when you dodged people on the same side as you. These days a look of horror & everyone dashes to opposite sides of the road before you even get to them. Except of course for the idiots & yes, I’ve also found men are the worst.
So good for you to have a frog still, some spawn would be even better. Poor blobbed hog, hope it all washes off soon.
The Ark food went down well, hilariously the calciworms were tossed aside the first night & trampled underfoot (accidental Led Zepelin reference there!) so giving them to the birds instead, I don’t need telling twice & some of them love the worms, specially magpies & a gorgeous glossy crow who turns up in the front garden.
Hog activity continues to be busy, squashing down the forget-me-nots between the feeder & the fence has given away at least one way the camera misses them, they’re behind it tearing up & down by the look of things. Field mice quite busy too, setting off the camera & sitting taking long drinks on warmer nights between racing back & fore with hog food for their babies I guess. I made a hole under the front gate a few weeks ago as there was only a gap in the side fence out there, put a makeshift feeder out with food & half a dish of hog food eaten each night so far. Feed them & they will come!
Hope rat continues to dislike kitten food, that’s pretty useful for many reasons. They’re actually very intelligent & affectionate, we once saw one at Secret World in Somerset called George. He’d been found in some woods & handed in as a tiny little thing, so small until he grew a bit they didn’t know what he was exactly & he was sitting on a girl’s shoulder ready for a demo. I noticed she was putting something in her mouth, pulling it through absent mindedly & thought it was her long hair & it turned out to be George’s tail.
Good luck with the seeds, I’ve also seen on the internet that you can regrow lettuce from the stump at the bottom of a head bought from the shops, spring onions if you cut off the end piece with the roots, leeks similarly if the bits are still on, all sorts of weird ideas. May come in useful!! Not too late to grow spuds in a black bag if you have the compost of course, never tried it but a good idea.
Hope hogs are busy entertaining you & you stay safe & well.
Hi Annie
Well that blobbed hog turned out not to be Igel – it was a male, who looks very like her on video, but there are slight differences. She has now turned up (also blobbed, but not quite as bad) and if she isn’t pregnant by now, it won’t be for want of trying!
Her first suitor was a bit of a gentleman and waited patiently whilst she was eating, although made up for lost time afterwards. She seems to have had at least two different suitors – one was seen walking on his back legs across the grass attached to her in almost toad like fashion. He certainly didn’t want any other hogs to sneak in and take possession! Needless to say there was also one male hog who just ate, whilst she stood watching – no manners! But, like with you, they’ve also making a bit of a mess of the flower beds in some areas.
After a lot of fairly frantic activity for a few nights, everything has got much quieter again. They are mostly sticking to their social distancing and turning up to eat one at a time, bar the occasional rolling up.
Interesting about the calciworms. Here the birds don’t seem to be too keen on them, but it looks as if the hogs are eating them. But there are some magpies who turn up early in the morning and finish off any hog food that’s left – but there isn’t always any. Probably shouldn’t say it – tempting fate – but ratty hasn’t been back. But yes, they are intelligent animals – I had some friends at school who had them as pets. Although, not sure I’d want, a rat’s tail in my mouth – even if it was a tame rat!
Not a lot of luck with the seeds, I think most of them were just too old, but I did manage to get a packet of rocket seed at the supermarket last time I went. I’m giving the others a bit more chance to grow, even though it isn’t looking promising, before sowing the new ones instead. I have actually got a bag which I have grown spuds in before, but it’s a question of space – need to leave enough room for the hogs! Also still hoping Siili might be back, so wouldn’t want her to find it too different.
Hope you stay safe and well, too.
Hi Nic
Igel is having a bit of a time of it then, the patter of tiny feet for you later this year, exciting! Wouldn’t it be nice if Siili came back, you never know.
I was still awake in the night last week at stupid o’clock & hung out of the bathroom window in the front of the house to listen to the peace, there were a few birds muttering away as the street lights keep them awake & suddenly a huge hedgehog came through the new hedgehog hole in the gate. It made a beeline for the bird bath & spent a lot of time drinking before trotting round the border & disappearing from sight again. It was magnificent & the biggest I’ve seen since the 80’s. I’ve been putting food in a makeshift feeder out there which has had someone visit every night.
The back garden is busy with spiky folk, one is my new avatar if you can make it out, rather a small picture. Rather a small hog too, it took a short cut through the water bowl as you can see. Lots of poo all over the place in the garden, now the soil is so dry you can see it between the plants as well as on the path & in the feeder. Discovered where they’re getting into next door’s one side behind their bins & under the fence beneath my ladders, cleared a better way for them now I’ve spotted it. That means they’re accessing all 3 gardens around mine as there are little gaps where you can see they’re going in to the other 2 as well. All because of a hole in my back garden gate a few years ago! My only worries are strimmers as 2 out of 3 of them use the things & the dog next door. I’ve warned them to look for hogs before strimming but you can’t supervise your neighbours so have to hope they do.
The grass verges were full of daisies & dandelions until last week when the council decided to cut it all .
Shame about your old seeds, at least you tried.
I don’t know if you watch Gardener’s World but Nigel Monty’s dog has died, he was a lovely dog I watched the programme as much for him as anything else.
Keep safe & enjoy your hogs, frogs & garden visitors.
Hi Annie
It’s good to hear your news. Lovely that the new hole in the gate is being used to such good effect! Cute hog on your avatar – typical, walking through the water bowl! Glad to hear there is lots of activity in the back garden, too.
I went for my fortnightly shopping the other day and the verges looked lovely here too, with all the cow parsley, etc. Luckily round here they leave some of it, but also luckily had cut it at a dangerous junction which I have to negotiate. But yes, strimmers are a worry with cutting roadside verges too.
Yes, I was very sad to hear about Nigel – such a lovely dog, but I did think he was suddenly looking very old on the last programme he was on. It doesn’t seem long ago that he was as young and sprightly as Nelly. I expect she’ll miss him, although I did see the new little one licking her, which I thought was quite cute.
Still fairly busy here, with mostly male hogs. Igel still seems to be disappearing with the males, so maybe wasn’t pregnant after all. Although at least one large one left her alone, so maybe he knows something the others don’t! But apparently even if mating takes place the hogs don’t always become pregnant. In fact, according to Pat Morris “Many females still fail to become pregnant, even after several matings, and a fair proportion may escape becoming pregnant altogether.” Just have to hope Igel isn’t one of those. We could do with some hoglets around here! Hopefully some females!
Sadly lots of flowers and plant tops got zapped by that frost we had the other day. Perennials, so couldn’t take them in and didn’t want to wrap them because of the hogs. The plants had all been growing too green and lush with all the warm weather beforehand. But hopefully there will be more back before too long. Chelsea is taking up a lot of my time again, even though it isn’t on! Just love seeing all those lovely plants. I wonder what they will do for Springwatch this year.
The other night a frog made a starring role on a video, right in the hog feeding area (no hogs present at the time) and I’ve been seeing a few damselflies, near the ‘ponds’ which is lovely. I’m really pleased with my front garden, with all the shrubs growing now – I’m always seeing birds out there. It’s only a tiny area, but is getting to be quite woodlandy (but without large trees overhead). It looks lovely in the spring. Only trouble is the shrubs have grown to the height where I need to cut them now, but it’s worth it. I just use secateurs – shears are too much like hard work!
Please you take care too.
Happy Monday Nic
Far too hot out there, glad to be inside.
Your words were exactly what mine were when I saw Nigel last on tv, he looked very old & tired bless him. Will miss his sweet face.
If female hogs don’t always get pregnant it makes you wonder how they ever reproduce, particularly after last night’s shenanigans in my front garden. The very large hog was out there pursuing a slightly smaller one very noisily around 10.30 & was still doing it after 1.30am. She didn’t seem impressed & was repelling boarders!
The back continues to do big business, must be a lot of hogs round here.
How are yours, any sign of some ladies apart from Igel?
Your front garden sounds as if it’s filling up nicely, mine is too at last, getting some height with shrubs giving the birds shelter & somewhere to sit for a rest. I’ve trimmed away lower branches to make the shrubs into little trees , safer for birds if any cats are about. There are a few ferns growing along one side, I call it my woodland side as it’s always a bit dark & cool, cats don’t go in the ferns.
The insane world carries on being insane & hopefully we can keep our homes a safe home for ourselves & wildlife.
Take care & stay well Nic.
Hi Annie
Sorry I’ve taken so long to reply.
Well the activities in your garden sound promising! Fingers crossed for some hoglets visiting both of our gardens this year. I did have one other female one night – looked like a newcomer. No sign of Siili. It’s so late now that I fear she won’t be back, which is sad – after all that. The sad fact is that some hogs don’t survive hibernation. At least she had some time being a normal wild and free hedgehog. Just wish she had come back and had hoglets of her own.
The frog made a starring role again and jumped straight into one of the water bowls from a couple of feet away!
Unfortunately I have a rat around again. I stopped feeding the birds and it disappeared for 3 days, but no sooner did I put bird food out again, than there it was (or possibly another one). So annoying. The poor birds lined up on the fence and no food unless I’m there to supervise. Hope rats don’t eat frogs! This rat seems to like collecting the kitten biscuits (not sure whether it actually eats them) and obviously caches them somewhere – which is just as bad as eating them! I keep finding little piles of them in an empty hog box!
Oh and one of the rats attacked a hedgehog. Crept up close within a few inches of a hog eating at a bowl and suddenly leapt forward towards it’s face! The hog hastily tucked it’s head back and the rat started eating out of the bowl – there were 2 other bowls with food still in! Needless to say some of the hogs were scared of it.
Still a fair few hogs around – glad we’ve had a little bit of rain – the marks not looking quite so prominent! Mostly males.
I think of my front garden as my mini-woodland, too. It even looks best in the Spring like woodland. At the moment the buddleias are still quite small but when they grow up there is a little space I can sit in, surrounded by bushes. Although the other side of my path is my ‘wildlflower meadow’ – better in the Summer. A bit of a strange mix!
I ventured briefly to the garden centre because there wasn’t a queue, but a lot of people weren’t being very careful about keeping their distances, so it wasn’t a very comfortable experience. It seems some people have stopped bothering. Maybe the best time to go is when it’s pouring with rain and not many people want to venture out!
Hope you stay safe and well, too.
Hi Nic
Just had a little read about Siili last year, such a shame she hasn’t reappeared, as you say many don’t survive the winter. Having a safe place is a big part I think & I have the horrors even considering the pitfalls of making a winter bed somewhere in gardens where nobody is aware
I’ve heard a bit about rats being a problem lately, attacking a hog in your garden is a step too far, what a beast. I’m in the middle of changing both bird & hog food for different reasons. One of the rescues told me on Twitter the ARK food isn’t very good nutritionally so I have kitten food on order from Tesco (home delivery, yay!!) next week & have ordered some semi moist Spike online I found popular before. I’m trying a seed mix for the birds as I really don’t like feeding them suet pellets, there’s a little suet in the mix but not much. They’ll eat anything at the moment so want to teach them to be more adventurous. Looking to make it easy to clean up before nightfall if there’s anything down to stop hogs eating the wrong food as I’ve seen them eat bits of suet pellet & it’s not good for them.
Still busy both gardens, hubby bought a camera cheap on ebay, it does 10 second shots video amongst other things, bit short! Hogs run so fast by the time it starts recording they’ve gone, having said that saw one on it that was doing the 4 minute mile, something must have scared it it was quite a sight. It shot out of the border & almost flew down the garden. More shots of a black cat I don’t know visiting than hogs as it meanders around – obviously watching hogs.
I’d like to have seen the frog jump into the water bowl! I imagine a rat would eat a frog but maybe hopefully not easy to catch.
Shame about the garden centre experience, lots of people are not bothering, being complacent when there’s no reason to be, the virus hasn’t gone & we need to be vigilant. You have to move fast yourself & the handwashing is the biggest deterrent after you’ve been out. I’m in Wales & not much is open yet as we’re being more cautious here happily & haven’t any intention when it finally is of going anywhere further than the Co-op here I already use.
Enjoy your hogs, hope ratty people keep away & stay safe.
Hi Annie
Apologies for the delay replying.
Yes, very sad about Siili. I still keep looking to see if there’s a hog with no eyeshine. I think even without garden hazards many don’t survive hibernation. It’s one of the most dangerous times of year for hogs. It’s a fine balance making sure there is enough of the right sorts of fat, that they don’t oversleep, or wake up too often in mid-hibernation, etc. I was hoping she wouldn’t hibernate (as she hadn’t the year before) but there we are. It had to be her choice.
I probably shouldn’t say it – asking for trouble – but haven’t seen the rat for quite a while. I’ve even risked putting the bird feeder out the last couple of days. The cats are being a problem again now – eating the hog’s food. The cat creeps under grabs a big mouthful of food, comes back out, drops it and then eats it in comfort. Then repeats, several times if there are no hogs around. It’s intelligence is clearly wasted!
But that rat was a real pest. From my old seeds pretty much the only thing that grew was some radishes. I thought there must have been a mouse nibbling at them, but then after I pulled them all up a rat sized hole appeared in the tub they were growing in and the few rocket plants that had grown all got dug up. So I have given up on that plan. Don’t fancy the idea of rocket (or anything else) which a rat has been wandering amongst!
Re. the bird food, I usually feed suet pellets in a dish (similar to the hogs ones) on a bird table, so very little gets to the ground and if it does one of the other birds usually vacuum them up pretty quickly. They do tend to attract some of the bigger birds (rooks and jackdaws), initially at least. But in the bird feeder I decided years ago to stick to sunflower hearts as pretty much all birds eat those.
When I used to feed a mix years ago, I found that so much was wasted. I think they just chucked everything they didn’t like out and just ate the things they did like. I had some interesting plants springing up underneath, though! I think most of any sunflower hearts spilt get eaten by the smaller birds. The hogs come right past where the feeder is (it’s taken in at night) and never seem to stop there. So either the small birds are doing a pretty good job, or the hogs like their own food better. Kitten biscuits at the moment, but I might risk mixing some of the hog food in again and hope the rat really has gone. Cats less likely to eat the hog food, but rats more likely – can’t win!
But yes, the hogs certainly can be pretty speedy! One of my cameras mostly only catches hogs leaving and another mostly only arriving. Different ends of the garden so hogs always going away from the camera. It seems the cameras aren’t always quick enough to catch images of hogs approaching.
There is at least one frog still around. It has a habit of suddenly jumping right near my feet in the evenings – and making me jump! I always love to see them. The garden has been buzzing with bees as well. Just wish it wasn’t quite so hot. Yesterday it was a bit breezy as well – not so good for the plants – it sometimes amazes me that they survive at all. I’ve got a nice crop of ladybird larvae appearing on my hop plant now – they really do look like little mini-monsters! But plenty of aphids for them to eat.
You’re lucky that they are being more cautious there about social distancing, etc. Here a lot of people don’t seem to be taking much notice any more. Good to know you managed to get a shopping home delivery.
Hope you stay safe, too.
Hi Nic
Oh yuck, don’t fancy rat rocket either, I’m sure there must be rats around but I have yet to see one. There’s a suspicious hole in the border, don’t know who lives in it. Plenty of long tailed field mice still, haven’t seen a frog for years, I love them too.
For the moment I’ve stopped putting the cameras out because I’m having trouble with my eye & it’s really hard to watch, specially when the 40 odd videos are either of sweet nothing, Chino the cat, black cat unknown ID or a hedgehog’s bottom disappearing. The hogs are here all right, eating everything in the dishes front & back & muddying the water dishes walking in them as always. Sometimes poo just in case I’m wondering who’s visiting too.
The bird food I’d already ordered is mixed seed, sunflower hearts, nibbed peanuts, suet & stuff & to begin with the birds weren’t sure what I was giving them but they’ve got the idea now & mostly do a nice job of eating it all. Bought different fat balls from the Co-op which they said were horrible but then decided they’d better eat & now they’re happy again! It’s a no grow mix without seed husks, I used to feed the type you said you’d used & I had some lovely flowers including sunflowers & harebells growing years ago from that & lots of barley. I used to watch the hogs searching out dropped suet pellets, they really seemed to enjoy them.
Hog food at the moment is Spike semi moist, Tesco kitten dry food & the remainder of the Ark hog food. None seem to be favourite, I’ve put just one type out each night or all in the same dish & always all gone in the morning. The holes under my fences I’ve spotted are well trodden, there must be busy traffic out there each night.
Your wish has been granted as it was too hot for you a couple of weeks ago, the wind has been so strong it’s just as well I’ve staked most of my taller plants. A lovely cistus sunset is slowly dying, it’s such a shame as it’s very pretty.
I meant the Welsh government were being cautious with slowly coming out of lockdown, actual people on the street & in the few shops I go in tend to vary, the younger ones mostly being carefree about the whole thing. Some shops have reopened in the city centre but I won’t be going, some local ones too, self imposed isolation for me apart from what’s necessary still. Had an outing to my refill shop which entailed a very long walk as very few buses & they don’t want us to go on them unless absolutely necessary or keyworkers.
Hope you’re well & the hogs, bees, birds, ladybird larvae & frog are still enjoying your garden.
Hi Annie
Hope you are managing to stay safe and well.
Probably shouldn’t say it (tempting providence) but it seems to be ratless here at the moment. Not, though catless! One of the cats has been seen sitting on the path waiting for the hedgehogs to go. But also one night I caught it under the cover in the feeding area. You should have seen it move, when I opened the door! Luckily, mostly the hogs get to the food first. Not surprised the cat didn’t want to confront one particular hog – he would probably have tried to roll the cat up! He does with any other hogs in sight.
Sorry to hear you’re having trouble with your eye. It can be hard work looking through loads of empty/cat/rear end hog images at the best of times. I don’t always have time to do them all and have a bit of a backlog. Hope your eye gets better soon.
Butterfly numbers are beginning to increase in the garden which is nice. I had a small skipper in my wild flower patch, which I was pleased about. Loads of bees of various descriptions, too. Froggy is still around, although the pond needs a bit of a clear out – he seemed to be able to move across the top! I’m thinking of trying to have another pond, but maybe with a liner, so I can choose the various depths. Ideally I’d like a beach area both ends. But I might never get round to it! Sounds a bit like hard work! But, I have a patch of plants which aren’t really doing much and thought maybe I’d dig those out and have a small pond there instead. Wish I could magically put it there! It might need a bridge, too, though so I could get to the back of it.
The birds are their usual selves. Female blackbird still making her presence known if I’m in the garden and there’s no food in the bowl for her! Plenty of starlings and sparrows around as well. Not sure how they know when I’m going to feed them (the time varies a bit) but they always seem to be around waiting!
Hi Nic
Hope you’re staying well too, didn’t realise how long it was since I was on here last.Cats have such guilty consciences it makes them run even faster when caught out, they know perfectly well where they shouldn’t go. A hog rolling up a cat would be a sight.
If Froggy is walking on water it does sound as if you may have a job to do, unless he’s a very special frog. An extra pond is a great idea instead of some of your plants if they’re not up to much but it’s hard work making one I know. Easiest ever was when we took the bath out in our first ever house & buried it in the garden, partly filled with earth & it very soon had newts, frogs etc. A bridge, now that’s beginning to sound complicated. When they build ponds on tv garden programmes they tend to put them up against fences so you can’t get round them to work in the pond or maintain the fence.
The eye has settled a bit thanks, yes, it’s floaters that increased after having the hole in my retina in November. Sometimes they’re more intrusive, bad enough without them!
I had a close encounter of the rather cute kind recently. I went out as the light was fading to put the cameras out & sat to wait for visitors. In through the hedgehog hole trotted a fair size hog, approached my bare toes, sniffed a few tickling the hell out of me then disappeared into the feeder. I waited a while listening to the crunching, he came out for a drink then back in again.
If I go out once it’s dark there’s a fair bit of hog activity, the motion sensor lights come on & there they are. I’ve bought a few different LED lights over time from Mr Beams, they’re battery operate with sensors, some are path lights in the border & 2 are remote control/motion sensor, whichever you want, fixed to the shed & fence. Very useful for me to safely go down the path at night & know when someone is out there. They help with the cameras too as they light up a larger area than the infra red. They’re a family firm & I like supporting them particularly now with the world upside down.
Have a sensor light of theirs over my front door too so I can see to come up the front path & get the key in the door.Birds know when you’re out there because they have a lookout bird who lets everyone else know!!
Black cat is still lurking every night, I’ve seen it many times through the window as well as on camera. beautiful creature, matt black & almost unreal.
Hope you’re continuing to keep safe & away from the selfish people who couldn’t care less & even don’t believe there’s a virus. Ordering online still, local shops for fresh stuff that I can carry home & making sure my cupboards are as they always used to be & well stocked with basics. I was badly caught out in March with lockdown due to being rather depressed & not keeping up with things like I usually do so my cupboards were at an all time low.
Hi Annie
Sorry I’ve taken so long to reply! I have been pretty much hogless for a while – can’t remember when that last happened, other than hibernation, but I suppose it was bound to happen some time. One night during the absences I did see one hog on video briefly but don’t know how it got back where it came from – must have been an invisibility cloak again! Am still hoping for some hoglets to appear!
I counted more than 40 starlings this evening on people’s roofs and aerials nearby. Lovely to see them all. Haven’t seen froggy and friend for a while and of course all the blackbirds have disappeared for the moment. It seems like we suddenly went from full Summer to Autumn! The hogs could be forgiven if they got a bit confused.
The cat has been having a field day in the hogs’ absence. I have put some water trays down, under the perspex, with just a narrow path so that theoretically the cat should have to turn immediately left or right to avoid the second lot of water. But the cat, it seems is not only good at limbo dancing, it can also stretch sideways over a water tray (at least a foot wide) at the same time and remember the manoeuvre so that it could do it in reverse, rapidly, when I unexpectedly opened the window! It managed not to step in any of the water at all. Hilarious to see it on video!
Good to hear you still have hogs there. The lights sound good. I have a small collection of solar lights, but ones you can aim so the light stays mostly low down, but I usually leave the outside light on for a couple of hours so I can see any hogs that arrive, then when I turn that light off the solar ones come on (they are light sensitive).
Glad to hear you are managing to keep the cupboards stocked again. It was a bit of a problem at the beginning of lockdown. Stay safe.
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