November 2016 - Part 2

November has come and gone so quickly, it doesn't seem like two weeks ago we were remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  St. Mary's at Brabourne was packed to the rafters for the traditional Remembrance Sunday service, and after there was a short ceremony outside the church with the laying of wreaths and poppies.

There was a good turnout from all services at the ceremony, with mainly those who served in WWII, and some others who had more recently served in Bosnia and Afghanistan.  After the parade drinks were taken at the Royal British Legion in Smeeth.

November is starting to turn cold now, and the extra bird feeders in the garden are getting busier each day.  Fortunately, sunflower hearts were on special offer this week at Sainsbury's Homebase, so we've loaded up for the winter, as these seem to be the choice of all the different birds visiting the garden.  The Robin is still content to feed on live mealworms, it's as if he has realised there is little or no competition for these at this time of year. 

The owl box is now up and secured with the camera in place, and we have been monitoring it for the past week or so, but as yet, Hooty and his pal have not paid us a visit, but we know they have been looking around early in the morning. Plenty of time yet!

The strong winds last week did bring a couple of our nestboxes down in the paddock, so these have now been put up more securely.

The sheep are now settled in the field behind us, they all appear to be pregnant Ewes so it looks like it could be an eventful start to the New Year around here.  We've volunteered our services if they need it on the farm. 

We took a trip over across the field to Forty Acre Wood which is where the other Badger's setts are situated, and we've left a camera there all this weekend, this one having a 6v battery attached which should give us longer and better quality videos.  I do hope the badgers and foxes over there are happy to oblige.

New visitors this week.

We are really pleased to have had a visit from a Firecrest this week.  This was the first time we had ever seen one, and he/she was darting around near the feeders and was delightful to watch. 

Firecrest - Library Picture

We have also had the return of a whole family of Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Long Tailed Tits, a sure sign winter is on its way. Neville the Pheasant and his harem still come and go in the garden.

Motty has booked her bed for the holiday period, so it looks like we'll have her as company.

Village Events.

There was a bit of a clash of events last night, with the Gardening Society and the Allotment Society both having their Christmas do's on the same evening.  We decided to go the diplomacy route and tossed a coin, and went to the Gardening Society dinner, where for a fiver we were treated to Cottage Pie with Vegetables and two glasses of wine for a fiver.  You can't say fairer than that.  Village life at its best!

This morning saw the Village Christmas Fair in the village hall, where there was a vast choice of Christmas presents on display, with all proceeds of the profit going to St. Mary's Church.

More later....

November 2016

Now that the clocks have gone back, the nights are beginning to feel a little longer and colder. The leaves here in Brabourne and around the cottage have nearly all fallen from the trees, leaving a carpet of colour on our front garden.  Not only have the leaves come down in torrents but the rain has too, making life that little bit more difficult for the wildlife here. 

The Robin has been battling bravely to get his share of the mealworms during the shorter days, avoiding the Magpies early in the morning.  I have put out another feeding tray for the smaller birds with a wire cage around it, so that only the smaller birds can get through to the food.  They seem to be coping so far. 

The farmer has spent the last two weeks or so gathering in winter feed for his sheep and cattle, and we're fully expecting the cattle barn, just over the back of us, to be populated within the next few weeks.  He has also been putting up some electric fencing over in the fields where we walk, it looks like the cattle will be in there first before the winter weather sets in.  The field is a beautiful lush green at the moment, so they will be looking to fatten themselves up for the winter.

The fields on the other side of the village have now all been ploughed and sown again, and the transformation of colour is wonderful.  If you leave the village via the North Downs you can climb to about 182 metres above sea level and from there the view down onto the village and over Kent is magnificent.  

To the other side, just up over the ridge of the field behind the cottage, there is a public footpath running down to a small copse which has a stream running through it.  There are one or two Badger setts just by the stream along with a Fox den and a host of Rabbit warrens. We left a camera there for four days and you can see from the pictures below just how much activity takes place around the Badger sett at different times of the day and night.

 

We were quite amazed to see the dog who had obviously picked up the scent of the Badgers and other animals which had passed that way.  Even Ratty gets his share of food there.

We have another winter visitor coming to see us regularly now, Motty, the black and white cat who lives down the lane (sounds like a nursery rhyme) and is Min's mum.  

Motty is quite confused at times and appears to be growing old gracefully, but is not backward in coming forward when it comes to a warm lap.  Both the cats here are outdoor cats, and curl up most nights in the estate greenhouse.  They get fed each day by the housekeeper on the estate, and enjoy a little bit of pampering when they visit us.  We've even bought a brush to try and get rid of some of their matted fur, which they seem to appreciate.

Hooty, the Tawny Owl is still looking for a partner.  We've been hearing two owls calling each night, so hopefully they can make a rendezvous in the not too distant future and check out the owl box which we intend to put up in the tree this weekend.  Fingers crossed and we may have some junior Hooty's sometime next March.

This is the Owl box in preparation.  We plan to hoist it about 3-4m up the tree.

As I mentioned before a lot of the community activity in the village centres around the church, and every first Friday of the month there is a small social gathering, with wine and nibbles etc., which is quite different when it's held in a 12th Century setting.  Last week we took along our house guest, who was staying for the weekend.  She thoroughly enjoyed her first visit to a church, and was quite adamant that she should go into the pulpit and say hello to everybody.

This week sees Remembrance Sunday and there will be a special service in St. Mary's which we will be attending. 

New Garden Visitors

Only one this week, and that was the Blackbird.  He's been around since we moved in, but unlike Blackbirds in the town this one if very timid and will take flight as soon as he spots you.  I suspect a few more bits of apple on the lawn might win him over. 

Over the next couple of we are going to try and set two cameras up at the Badger's sett with a view to getting some videos taken from different angles.  Fingers crossed!