December

November has come and gone and the frosts are well and truly upon us now which has caused an upsurge in the visits to the bird stations round the garden.  We invested in a new one at the Village Christmas Fayre last week and this has gone down very well, especially with the squirrel.  It's situated right outside the kitchen window attached to the shed so it's very easy for him to leap onto it. 

In November we saw the SuperMoon when the moon was at its nearest to the Earth which produced some spectacular pictures.  It also made for very bright nights for a while, which makes stargazing a little difficult.  There is little or no light pollution down this way, so stargazing is quite easy providing there is no cloud.  

 

Venus was also very distinctive over the past week or so, and was easy to pick out early in the evening, showing just below the early evening moon.

We left a camera down by the badger sett in the paddock and this time attached it to a tree which gave us a downward view of all the activity which went on for nearly 48 hours.  It was really interesting to see the different mammals and birds which frequented the area at different times.   Bella the badger must have a problem sleeping sometimes with all the comings and goings on her doorstep. 

It is looking as if either Bella, or another badger has made another sett in the paddock, this time it's more in the open and there is plenty of evidence of the long grass being torn up for bedding, and a distinctive trail to the entrance to the sett.  As it's in quite close proximity to the other sett, I suspect Bella may have moved into her winter residence. I have left a camera down there to see what's going on.

Update on above....

It's Johnny the Fox who has moved home.  He appears to have abandoned the old Badger sett at the bottom of the paddock, and moved house across the way, which is a bit nearer the cottage.  You can just see him here.

 

 

We discovered another home down the lane on the farmer's land this week.  This might just be a new home for Bella as it has all the trappings of a Badger sett, with plenty of dried bedding being thrown out to make way for clean, dry bedding.

We've left a camera there for a few days and we'll see who emerges.

The feeding stations just outside the kitchen window are proving very popular, and have to be filled twice a day.  Most of the smaller birds can cope with the feeders, however, the larger birds are mopping up the spillage down below, so not much is going to waste.

Here's a couple of female pheasants enjoying breakfast this morning. (Taken through the kitchen window).

We've had some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the fields in the past couple of weeks, and hopefully that will continue throughout December.  Here's a couple of pictures we took last week.

 

That's all for this year.  So, Merry Christmas everyone, and we'll be back with more in January.