June 2017

New Life

Foxes

There is at least one fox cub we have seen in the paddock, hunting with mum. You can see them below in the undergrowth, Tigger we've named her/him, has a small white tip on its' tail.

Mum and Tigger

And this is Tigger hunting alone in the paddock. Tigger looks to be about 10/12 weeks old.

Tigger

This picture came from a video where we caught her stalking a vole.  For some reason she only played with it and it eventually escaped. 

Birds

Summer has arrived and since the last blog update we have witnessed an abundance of new life in and around the garden.  Blues Tits, Flycatchers and Robins mainly.

Gina and Gino produced eight eggs originally, and we're pleased to see that three of these eventually fledged the nest and are now doing fine in and around the garden.  Satchmo is still rather noisy and getting the lion's share of everything at the feeders.  Hopefully he will be back next season.

Added to this, we had several other boxes in and around the area and least three of these housed families of Blue Tits which eventually fledged.  We don't know the numbers as we did not have cameras in these boxes.

This is the aftermath of a successful Blue Tits' nest box.  This was the camera box where unfortunately two chicks were left behind.  We did give them a proper burial.

Blue Tits nest (1)

 

Blue Tits nest (2)

You can see from the nesting material, there is fur, feathers, hair and lots of moss and dry grass intricately weaved to make it soft and comfortable for the chicks.  This won't be used again, and so we clear the boxes out and give them a good scrubbing ready for next year.  There were three other boxes all with the same nest design. 

On the East side of the cottage we put a slightly different nest box up hoping to encourage Wrens or Sparrows. (Below)

Fly Catchers box and nest

 

In fact, we were luckier than that and managed to attract a pair of Fly Catchers who weave a very intricate structure seen here below.  This nest is mainly dry grass and straw with a cocoon of feathers deep inside.  There doesn't appear to be any hair or cat's fur.

Fly Catcher's nest

We have seen at least one juvenile Fly Catcher in the garden recently being fed his parents, so we assume it was successful. 

In addition to all this, there were clearly some other Blue and Great Tit nests nearby as we are seeing so much activity on the feeding stations that we are having to replenish them twice a day.  With the on set of new insects and caterpillar larvae we have cut back on the meal worms in order to encourage the new fledglings to cater for themselves. 

Woody the Wood Pigeon

We've had a late arrival on the nesting scene with a Wood Pigeon.  She has built a very precarious nest on the top step of an outbuilding just down the drive from the cottage.

She's has been sitting on two eggs for over a week now and these should be hatching soon. 

Woody

Woody's eggs

 

I will keep an eye on her and try and get a camera in position if it doesn't disturb her.

Badgers

The Badgers have been very quiet for the last few weeks, although the night camera has caught one of the adults right outside the front door of the cottage.  She doesn't seem to be bothering the hens at night, and on one occasion has turned Motty's food bowl over hoping for some left overs.  No luck there! 

The onset of summer means that the paddock where they live is overgrown with the grass about 5' tall in places which is providing a lot of cover for the animals in there.  This means that each visit requires a long trousers and good pair of boots, as we're not sure what exactly is lurking down there. 

We have managed to cut a path through the middle which the animals are grateful for and are using to get in and out.

Hens

Since we moved our hens into their new run they have been positively thriving.  For the past couple of weeks they have all been laying EVERY day.  Three eggs a day is good going, which indicates they are happy with their new surroundings.  They are getting half a sweet corn each day, shredded cabbage leaves (this keeps the yolks nice and yellow) as well as their favourite layers mash and lots of water.  

The new run has a layer of dried bark about 3 inches in depth, which means they can scratch away as much as they like looking for small insects, and creating dust baths to wallow in while it's sunny.

Pixie appears to be top of the pecking order at the moment, and is seemingly broody as every morning she takes to sitting on the other hens' eggs until we take them away. 

  

Allotment

We have harvested our first produce from the allotment, strawberries.  They are absolutely delicious.  We only planted three plants this year to see how they would fair.  Next year we intend to increase the strawberry plot to three times the size and produce a lot more.

We have some flower beds there also, which are producing some really fragrant Sweet Peas which are currently decorating the cottage.  The Sunflowers are also taking off and should have some heads on them soon.  We also have a big trough of Runner Beans which are shaping up nicely, and should be ready in August.

The work on the allotment has not been as back breaking as we anticipated, and taking it just a few hours a week seems to be paying off.  One of our neighbours at the allotments has installed a Bee hive, so pollenation is not a problem. 

Cats

Mim and Motty are well settled into the cottage now and rarely go far.  To be fair they don't really have to with the environment they are living in.  Motty captured another mouse while were we having a barbecue a few weeks back, perhaps that was her contribution, who knows.

The mini heatwave has affected them and they have spent most of their time hiding in the undergrowth keeping cool.  Mim has a very thick and long coat and finds it difficult to keep cool despite constant brushing.  If she didn't have the habit of trying to remove your fingers while brushing her fur, she might just be a bit cooler!

Motty

 

 

Mim

Cricket

No village setting would be complete without the cricket club, and just around the corner about 40 minutes walk across the fields is Stowing CC.  Founded in 1895, it has a quintessential setting,  amongst the rolling fields of Kent, surrounded by Ponies and Sheep.

Our introduction to watching them nearly came at a price a few weeks back, when we arrived at the ground,the ball suddenly came flying through the hedgerow missing us by a few feet and landing in the field occupied by a none too friendly Pony.  The owner was summoned and she retrieved the ball.  A six was given, so the two batsmen did not have to keep running while the ball was retrieved.  Not a problem you often see at The Oval or Edgbaston.

We had a great afternoon, and Stowting rolled out as victors in the game.  We also had a splendid tea at the ground.  Visitors are encouraged to participate for a small donation which we willingly paid.  We look forward to some more visits to Dawes Field.

Well, it's time to go and reserve a lounger in the sun.

More later....

May 2017

Chick Update

The eight eggs you saw in the last blog update have now turned into eight beautifully handsome chicks.  Well, sort of anyway.  Here's the latest picture of them, they are now 14 days old and their eyes should be open any time now.

This is two of the chicks taken from the side camera, which unfortunately has some cat's fur from the nest cup over the lens making it a bit hazy.  Hopefully when the chicks' eyes are open and they move around a bit more they will move the fur.

We're fully expecting all 8 chicks now to survive, as they have had a really good start in life thanks to one of my fellow 'twitchers' who showed me a natty adaption for a feeder which allows only the Blue Tits in.  From this, Gina and Gino have been taking meal worms all day long for the chicks, and they have grown at an enormous rate.

We're about halfway through the cycle before they start thinking about leaving the nest box, and when they do I will turn the outside camera on to capture the moment they all fly to freedom.  This will be a pretty hairy time for everyone as the Magpies and Crows will get wind of this and want to poke their beaks in.

Judging by the sound of the snoring coming from the sofas, Mim and Motty won't present any sort of threat to the birds when they leave the box. 

The hens.

While we have been watching the growth of the Blue Tit's unfortunately one of our hens was decidedly unwell for a few days, so we had to isolate her.  Martha had stopped laying, and had developed what looked like a fungal infection at the rear end and after looking up the symptons we gave her rear end an Epsom salt bath, and fed her some mealworms doused in yoghurt.  This appeared to be working well, and her comb regained its bright red appearance and she was on song for a few days.  Unfortunately when we put her back with the others she started to go down hill again.

So, rather than put the other hens at risk we whisked her off to the vet straight away.  The vet was intrigued and could not come up with an answer to what the problem was only that she was quite sore, and to get to the cause of the problem would mean some serious investigation.

The vet allayed our fears as to whether she would infect the rest of the flock, and rather than put Martha through any unnecessary suffering or pulling about, we decided it would be kindest if the vet put her to sleep. 

So, now we have only three hens who are still laying, in fact Pixie, the lead hen is laying double yolks every other day.

We have built a new house for them which has given them about four times the amount of room they had previously and they have all taken to it very well.  They are also right outside our kitchen window now and not only can we watch them, but they watch us too.

The field next door

Over the past week or so, all the fields surrounding us have been bristling with lush green grass about two feet high.  Our neighbor has rented her fields to the local dairy farmer, and this week he came and took his harvest for winter silage.

We spent most of the evening last week watching the action in the fields, the first night which was cutting, went on pretty well most of the night.

On day two came some more machinery, which we've called locally, 'The Scatterer', 'The linerupper' and 'The Hoover'.

The Scatterer.  This machine went round and round the fields just turning over the cut grass so that it all had a chance to get dried in the sun.  This got a little boring to watch, however, we didn't know what was to come later.

The Linerupper.  Well, basically this was the same machine with the blades turned at a slightly different angle and the farmer drove it up and down in a line, piling up all the grass he had turned over the previous day into long, neat piles.   This is where The Hoover came in.

With a big funnel dropped to the side into the empty lorry, the farmer then drove into the lines of grass and neatly deposited them into the lorry which was travelling alongside The Hoover..  There were three lorries in all, and once each one was full, they took it about 2 miles away to the dairy farm where the farmer would bale it ready for the silage container.

The three lorries all worked in unison, and at no time did The Hoover have to stop what it was doing; as soon as one lorry was full, the next empty one was waiting in line to take over. 

We had a very enjoyable couple of hours watching this in the week.

All of this had disturbed thousands of insects, and the air was full of birds picking them off.  Later that evening about dusk it was the turn of the bats to come out and feast.  We took the bat dectector near the edge of the field and it recognized at least 3 different species of bats.

Badgers and Foxes

It's still been very quiet in the Paddock and the cameras have picked nothing up for a while.  Perhaps they have all moved on, we're not sure.

I will put some cameras down in different locations for the next two weeks to see if we can pick them up again.

More later...

 

April - Part 2

Blue Tit update.

Great news from the nestbox.  Gina and Gino have finished building the nest and Gina has produced 8 eggs which she is now incubating.  Gino is turning out to be a great partner and bringing her a supply of meal worms as she sits on the eggs.

Gina's eggs.

The incubation period is 14 days which started on 21st April, so we expect to see the first chick hatching about the 5th May, with a further 21 days in the nest before fledging.  So be sure to check the nestbox on http://birdwatch.ddns.net around this time.

I will post updates on Facebook from time to time. 

The Bats are back.

Not only the flying kind, but those made of Willow too!

Two of the most endearing features of countryside living, is without doubt the wildlife and the local customs.  Where would this country be without the village cricket team?

The first cricket bats are being raised in anger down at Stowting CC today as they take on Betteshanger in a friendly at home. They have a full Saturday and Sunday fixture list throughout the season, with some mid-week and T20 games thrown in for good measure.

The ground is as a picturesque village cricket ground as you will ever see in the country, and we are certainly looking forward to spending a lazy, sunny afternoon watching the cricket, with a beer or two.

The Flying kind.

The local bat population is also out of hibernation after a relatively mild hibernation over winter.  We have recorded at least three different species flying around at dusk picking off the insects.

We use a heterodyne bat detector which translates their echo location sound into something audible for humans.  Each species has their own frequency and the most common, the Pipistrelle is about 45Khz.  Quite often there is a clash around this frequency with other species of bats going about their feeding.  They detect their prey by using echo location  through the air, and any which bounces back usually indicates something edible which they then home into.  Contrary to popular belief, bats can see, quite well in fact, but when light fades the echolocation kicks in and is a valuable aid to food detection.

We will try and identify the other species of bat flying around by their echo location frequency.

Chickens

Martha, Pixie, Bunty and Sally are all doing very well down at the egg production hut, with an average of 3 eggs per day between the four of them.  One is producing double yolks every time she lays, however, it's difficult to identify who it is, as they have already laid their eggs by the time we get there.

They are all developing their own individual characters, with Bunty at the top of the pecking order and first to the door every time we open it with food and drink.  They have all become partial to a few meal worms as an evening treat.

Bella and cubs.

Those of you on Facebook will have seen Bella with her four cubs spending some time with a family bonding session.  I'm aware that the videos do not run on all platforms, but if you're using a PC or Android this should work.  (If it doesn't there's a still shot below).

This video was taken when the cubs were about 2/3 weeks old, and still not quite steady on their feet.  It was the last video we got with the cubs and we think Bella has moved them to another part of the paddock.  We will move the cameras around and try and find them.  We still hear them at night so they are not far away.

Foxes

Johnny and Jenny are still active in the paddock but as yet no sign of any cubs on camera, which doesn't mean to say there aren't any.  It may be some time before they venture out of the den with them.  Watch this space!

Allotment

The allotment is taking shape with Onions, Radishes, and other salad plants growing well.  We desperately need some rain to keep them on track.  The runner bean canes are going in next week, along with some more Sweet Peas in Mia and Halle's little plot.

There will be a beehive situated not far from our plot, so pollenation shouldn't be a problem for anybody this year.

Mim and Motty

Due to a sad set of circumstances Mim and Motty are now with us permanently, after the passing of their owner who was also  our landlord, Mike Marshall.  Mike was a captain in the Gurkha regiment in WWII and one of the last surviving veterans who served in Burma, and gave a great deal for his country.  He will be sadly missed no doubt by these two, and everyone who knew him.

As you can see the cats are settling in well.

More next time...

February 2017 - Part 3

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz

 

I wonder where the winter is?

This has to be one of the best times of year with the Snowdrops, Crocuses and Daffodils coming into bloom.  We are fortunate enough to have an abundance of all of these scattered around the cottage and gardens.  The good work of previous occupants has paid off handsomely.

The air temperature is getting slightly warmer and it's time now for a wake up call for some of our hibernating species.

While we were at the allotment recently, in my rush to tidy up some debris I unearthed the rare sight of two juvenile grass snakes who had been sheltering up over the winter beneath some rotting wood.  Needless to say I covered them over again and let them continue their sleep. They were still there at the end of the cold snap, but now the weather is a little brighter they have moved on.  Hopefully we'll come across them again some time. (Note: Take a camera next time!)

Toad Patrol

Just about 2 miles from the cottage is the main pond, which sits just outside of Brabourne Lees, and every year about now it is a Mecca for breeding toads.  As this was something we never witnessed in London, we signed up  to assist the migratory toads in getting across the roads to the pond.  Now, the roads here are not particularly busy, however, the amount of toads and frogs trying to get across is quite extraordinary and invariably there are many casualties.  But, with the assistance of the good folk of the town in recent years the numbers have increased with the aid of the 'Toad Patrol'.

Toads usually return to their traditional breeding grounds, and tend to make the arduous journey in late February/early March when the temperature is above 5 degrees and preferably it's raining and the ground is wet.  There are several routes to the pond in Brabourne, and it requires some organization to get round to each crossing, and that's where the bikes come in handy.

Unfortunately, most motorists will have no idea of what's happening so it's really a question of just asking them to stop for while the road is cleared enough for them to continue.  You have to bear in mind that the Toads have other things on their minds while they are crossing these roads.

We will take a head count of all the males and females we encounter that make it successfully as well as those who don't.

Hedgehogs

We have not seen any evidence so far of any Hedgehogs, however, it may well be that they are still asleep.  We previously spoke to our neighbour Hester, who thinks there may be one or two asleep under her compost heap, so we have put a camera nearby for a week, to see if anybody stirs.  If they do, we'll put a footprint trap down.  

Watch this space. 

The Fight!

Last week was National Nest Box week, a time to put up the nest boxes and offer them for inspection from any interested parties.  We've had ours up for a few weeks already so that we can test the cameras and lighting inside, and all is going well.  This year I also positioned a camera on the entrance hole at the front so that it is covered from three aspects, inside top, inside side and outside entrance.

While we have had a few interested parties, two birds in particular came to blows over future ownership of this nest box.  This is what happened.  I have slowed some of the motion down so that you can see a bit more detail.

 

I'm pleased to say neither bird was hurt in this altercation, only a bit of wounded pride.

The Blue Tits have been visiting regularly and we hope that in the next three or four weeks when the weather gets a bit warmer, they will start constructing the nest.  The female will probably do most of the gathering of materials which will include, moss, feathers and dry grass and we've even saved some of the cat's fur from their brush which will make excellent bedding for the eggs, and the male will provide her with food.

Fledging is usually the last week in May dependant on the weather.  Once the building starts I'll turn all three cameras on and provide a link.

Badgers and Foxes

It has been relatively quiet from both the Badgers and Foxes lately.  The cameras reveal that they are all still active, but we are now in breeding season and so I wonder if that's what keeping them in a little more.  Hopefully we'll know soon enough. 

New arrivals

We're getting ready for the arrival on Tuesday 28th of Martha, Pixie, Bunty and Sally.  Now that the Avian Flu ban is lifted the hens will be ready for collection this week.

More about them next time... 

 

February 2017 - Part 2

The Owl and the Pussycats.

As I write this update the snow is coming down and settling all around in Brabourne.  The sight of the snow on the fields and trees is quite amazing to see, but it's not welcome in all quarters.  The birds are gathering in numbers on the feeders as the temperature drops and it's vital they get their source of energy to get through these cold days.  Water is also vital and this morning for only the second time I had to break a thin layer of ice on the pond and water dishes.

It's particularly hard for the Tawny owl when it's either raining or snowing, as the owls' feathers differ from other birds in that they do not repel water very efficiently. This does have benefits in that their flight approach is almost silent to their unsuspecting prey. 

If the owl cannot fly at night to gather its food source, then it will have to resort to hunting during the day at a time when most of its' prey are safely tucked away.

There is a good water source nearby located in our landlord and neighbour's garden which has a freshwater stream running through it.  Many animals drink from it including our two adopted cats.  There are also many animal tracks leading across the stream and last week I put one of the cameras down by the stream to see exactly who was using them.  

This is what I captured. 

At last, our first decent sighting of Hooty.  I've slowed the video down a bit so that we can see her taking to the air.  It looks as if she's popped down to the stream for a drink.  I have left the camera there for a further week to see if this is a regular spot for her.  Watch this space!
  

Cats

Motty and Mim are still visiting regularly and seem to enjoy the company.  So much so that Motty left us a present on the doorstep earlier this week in the shape of a dead mouse.  Now, this cat by all accounts is 16 or 17 years old, so for a cat of that age and limited mobility with her hips, she did well to catch it.  She did trot through the front garden making a sound which said how pleased she was with herself, and made sure we were all aware of her catch.  She also got the praise she deserved.

Motty - Mum

Mim - Motty's Daughter

We think Mim bears an uncanny resemblance to the cat with no pulse in the Specsavers Ad. 😀

Blackbirds

Being so close to nature in the country, death is inevitably going to raise it's ugly head now and then, and we were both unfortunate and fortunate in this respect this week.  

We have two male blackbirds frequenting the garden with their partners, and sadly early on Wednesday morning I found one of them had been taken by the fox.  He must have been foraging at first light when the fox was still about. 

About an hour later there was a crash against the conservatory window and I couldn't believe our bad luck, but the other male had flown into the window and was laying dazed on the lawn outside.  I managed to get to him first, and he appeared to be moving his head so I figured his neck was in tact and took him in to the garage, covered him with some clean cloths and put him in Mim's cat box high up out of reach of anything.  When I went back about an hour later he was sitting on the handlebars of my bike looking towards the garage doors.  I opened them both and he flew straight under the car where he stayed for another half an hour.  He was OK.  We have now put some bird decals on the windows to deter them flying into it.

Later that afternoon he was seen tucking into some meal worms on the lawn.  So, he lives to fight another day and hopefully many more.  Since then he's been feeding regularly outside the kitchen window and no damage appears to have been done.

Visitors

At last we have had some visits from Starlings.  For some reason there are plenty of them down the lane by the church but have never quite made it to the feeders at our place.  Yesterday was the first time we saw them, so I will put the Starling nest box up where hopefully they will make use of it.

We have also seen a Nuthatch around the garden and he's been very busy taking the sunflower hearts. I'm rather hoping he's got one eye on one of the open fronted nest boxes we have secreted away in the hedges.

More next time.... including the battle for the nestbox....

February 2017

Well! Where did January go?

It's been a cold, frosty and foggy time down here in Kent, with the fog rolling off the fields next door early in the morning, being replaced mostly by rain.  The early part of January gave us some snow and kept the birds huddled around the feeding stations, not to mention our two house guests, Mim and Motty, who secured a bed for pretty well most nights.  I suppose it's not surprising seeing as both of them are into their old age and taking any scrap of comfort where they can find it.

Foxes

We have been successful in identifying who's who in the adult fox world.  I won't go into detail but by a bit of detective work on the videos we have now established for sure which one is Jenny and which one is Johnny.  

If you look closely at Johnny's tail you will see that's it's a lot shorter than Jenny's.  Whether he's had some sort of accident or not we're not sure, but it's considerably shorter than Jenny's which has a white tip at the end of it.  Identifying them both and their movements will be easier.

Both are in excellent condition at the moment which serves them well as we're now into breeding season.  We've witnessed lots of barking from Jenny while she has been in the paddock during the day, which is a sign that she's calling for attention from other dog foxes.  Johnny will have to make sure he's in peak condition if other males are around. 

New Arrivals.

The hen house is secured and in place in the field next door.  Pauline, our neighbor has let us use part of her poultry field. As you can see from the picture we've gone to great lengths to secure the house, making sure that nobody can dig underneath the house, or jump on top of it.  We've used welded mesh around the perimeter of the house, as the fox or badger will always dig as close as it can to get in.  We also added an extra run at the end to give the hens more room to move about.

The hens are due to arrive on February 28th when the current ban on poultry movement is lifted, so we're hoping that there are no more outbreaks of Avian flu to push that date back.   The hens are Bovans Neras, a docile breed which lay dark brown eggs.

Hedgehogs.   

We haven't seen any Hedgehogs in the vicinity which is probably due to the Badgers and Foxes being in residence, however, one of our neighbors, Hester, has seen them in her fields and we think there are some hibernating in an old pile of leaves she has near her compost heap.

It's that time of year now when the Hedgehogs might just be waking up to top up their fat reserves, and so we've put a 'footprint trap' near to where they are nesting, in the hope that we can capture them either on camera, or their footprints when they feed.

This is a standard footprint trap for small mammals which we'll be using. It's made out of corrugated plastic, with two sheets of A4 paper at either end, some food in the middle as bait, and some inked masking tape which the animals walk through.  The ink is eco friendly, a mixture of charcoal powder and vegetable oil and will not harm the animals.  We'll be borrowing some of Mim and Motty's chicken flavoured cat food for the bait, as apparently the Hedgehogs are partial to that.

The plan is, the animals will walk through the tunnel, across the inked tape and take the food. Which ever way they leave, we should get some prints. We'll put this down in an appropriate place and leave a camera at one end and see who visits.  Watch this space.

Owls.

Some of you may have seen the video on Facebook of the Tawny Owl near the nest box.  It wasn't a good quality video so I won't load it here, but suffice to say Hooty was in the vicinity of the nest box early one morning this week, and hopefully she's spotted it with a view to using it.  I'll keep the camera on it for a few more weeks.

The Pond.

The pond is now complete with some oxygenating plants, and hessian around the sides to assist anything that falls in unexpectedly, to climb out.  There is also a ramp and a bird bath in the middle.  The roofing tiles to the left allow the frogs and toads to crawl underneath for shelter.  There has been no activity so far around the pond and it's only slightly frozen over once so far.

Badgers.

Bella and her family are still very active and keeping their sett(s) clean and tidy. 

I've done some research on the structure of the Badgers' setts and it could well be that the underground tunnel system is spread over the whole of the paddock which is little under an acre in size.  Here's a picture of the area and who is sleeping where, but for obvious reasons I won't say exactly where it is.

1 and 2 are the Foxes dens, while 3,4 and 5 are the Badgers' setts.  It appears that there is a maze of connecting tunnels between all five entrance sites as we've seen both species using the same entrances at different times. Entrance 1 seems to be the central point.  It doesn't look that 4 and 5 are linked, but there is a link between  1 and 4, and 2 and 3.  It's mainly here at entrances 2 and 3 where the Badgers and Foxes bump into each other.

So far there is no evidence of any squabbling, as it seems to be the badgers who are getting their own way especially when it comes to housing. There are probably enough resources to go round for both sets of families, but spring should be interesting if we see more cubs arriving.

More later with hopefully an update on the Hedgehogs......

January 2017

Allotment.

 

Quite unexpectedly, we managed to put in half day's work on the allotment in the second week of January. The weather was beautiful so we decided to go there to plant the spring bulbs and generally tidy the area up.

The local donkey sanctuary is very generous in supplying the allotment with manure from their stables, and fortunately a delivery had taken place. So after we had finished preparing the flower bed and planting the bulbs, we gave the bean trough a digging over and dug in a healthy supply of compost. Hopefully over the next month or two this will rot down and create a fertile bed for the runner beans this year.

We have several other vegetable beds on the allotment, and these will be prepared over the coming months, along with the grassed area for sitting and enjoying the magnificent views. We also have some resident moles who through their digging activity provide a good supply of top soil.

The allotment

Bird-boxes.

Charlie the Blue Tit, is still visiting the nest box for an overnight roost, however, as it turned a little warmer overnight he didn't visit as often. When it finally snowed he was back in the box keeping himself snug and warm.

No takers for the Owl box so far, and I think it may be too late for the next breeding season. We will give it another couple of weeks and then do some more research as to whether it's in the right position.

The snow did arrive on Thursday 12th January, and we got our first experience of being a little cut off. The roads around here do not see the gritter lorries, so most of Thursday and Friday meant it was too treacherous to take the car out. We did manage to walk across the footpaths and fields to the shops about 2 miles away.

Snow time is also very good for giving away the animal tracks, and there were plenty of badger and fox tracks to be found in and around the paddock. Fortunately, the dens and setts are positioned well beneath the trees and are comfortable and warm away from the weather.

The Paddock

The Street

Frog and Toad abode.

The amphibian area is taking shape nicely. We dug out all the muck and gave it a clean up, and put some stones and rocks in the old bath, and filled it with rain water. We've purposely put a ramp covered with some Hessian to the edge of the tub so that anything which goes in can get back out again. We plan to put some oxygenating plants and a few small lilies to decorate the pond. We're hoping that the wildlife will come across this naturally rather then transport any frog spawn, newts or dragonflies.

Frog and Toad abode.

Live Cameras.

We've got four cameras working at the moment, two in the nest box, one monitoring the owl box and one monitoring the bird feeder. I will try and leave the bird feeder camera running, but the others will be turned on and off depending on what's happening.

To view them go to:

http://birdwatch.ddns.net

You may have to make some adjustment to the Java settings on your device, just follow the instructions on the screen.

Viewing instructions for cameras.

New Arrivals in February.

At the end of February we are taking charge of four hens. The chicken house has arrived and is now in the field next door at Parsonage Farm. We've added another extension run to it so that the hens have plenty of space to stretch their wings and move about. We've also secured the surrounding area outside the house and run with 18inches of chicken wire on the ground to stop the foxes or badgers digging their way in.

The hens are Bovans Neras, which are extremely docile and produce a nice dark brown egg. Between four of them, once they are settled, we expect about 21-24 eggs per week. This will more than enough for us, even after paying the farmer some rent with half a dozen or so.

Bovans Nera

Chicken House

Housing crisis in the paddock.

We mentioned last time that there was a lot of activity around the Badger's sett and the Foxes dens.

We got some interesting video footage over the Christmas period which seems to suggest that there is some 'sharing' of housing taking place.

Have look at this video which is self explanatory and see for yourself. I think the term 'home of multiple occupancy' is quite relevant.

That's all for now, we'll bring you any updates in the next couple of weeks or so, especially if Jenny the fox is expecting pups.

N.B. Unfortunately we have found that the videos do not run on some Ipad's due to the nature of the software.  We are only able to produce the videos that work on PC's and Android devices.