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.

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.

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.

 

 

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!