December 2016 - Part 2

We have seen some of the first frosts of winter here in Brabourne which has completely changed the landscape, along with the early morning fog it has made for some glorious sunrises over the fields of frost. For the first time, the birds water bowl has frozen over, winter is well and truly here.

The bird stations are still very busy, especially the fat-balls where the birds are stocking up their reserves for the cold weather. There have been no new visitors to the stations, so far over the last couple of weeks, in fact the only new comer has been a Mistle Thrush visiting outside one of the Badger setts.

The '2017 Birdwatch' nestbox is now up and tested, and all seems be working well. In fact, it already has the seal of approval from one of the resident Blue Tits, who has been spending some time in there roosting overnight. We've called him Charlie and here's a little glimpse of him in the box.

He usually arrives just before sunset around 4.15pm and stays until about 6.15am the next morning. It's still dark when he leaves, so we're hoping he doesn't bump into Hooty, the Tawny Owl who is usually just on his way back from a night's foraging about this time. So far their paths haven't crossed.

I mentioned in the my last posting that Johnny the Fox has moved his den into the middle of the Paddock, and that Bella had moved into the lane next to the cottage. Well, I have to say I'm not quite sure of what's happening here.

The Paddock is just under one acre in size which will not really cope with two resident foxes in the same territory. Have a look at this video we filmed at Johnny's original den at the end of the paddock.

It quite clearly shows a dog and vixen fox entering the den. So who is occupying the den in the middle of the paddock? Unless I can come up with some way of identifying the individuals it would appear that they have two dens on the go, which are about 25 metres apart.

Bella the badger on the other hand is extending her territory. Badgers usually live in family structures of about six individuals, so it's really no surprise that their territory is spread across the paddock. Here's a video of one of them surfacing from a fresh sett in the lane, which is about 75 metres from the original sett. 

This badger appears quite nervous and is very wary when leaving the sett. The field opposite is a gathering place for the fox family, and other members of the badger sett. This sett could be linked to the other one via underground tunnels, as the badgers are very good diggers, thanks to their powerful front claws.

Meanwhile, back to Johnny and his partner, we're going to call her Jenny. It's that time of year for foxes, so we will keep an eye, and a camera on the den in the hope that we see some cubs in the fullness of time. It's usually about February/March if she is to produce any. It could be anything from 2 to 12 pups!

2017 Projects.

As the foliage disappeared from the garden, we discovered this buried in between the boundary of the two cottages. We had wondered where the toads were coming from and this appears to be the answer.

We intend to give this area a good tidy up and provide what we call ' A frog and toad abode', I think the name has some cockney connotation in it somewhere. We'll get some stones and pond plants in the old bath once it's had a good clean out, and provide some shelter for the frogs and toads, and try and encourage the amphibious wildlife into the area.

There are always plenty of Damsel flies hovering about in the summer, so perhaps this will be a good place for them to lay their eggs next year. 

We'll provide a ledge and safe ramp where the birds and other wildlife can get in for a drink or a bath, and so that they can get out safely too.

More later...

Happy New Year.