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by Chilli-head 8th July 2016, 11:13 pm

This evening I happened upon a most welcome visitor my garden - a young and very noisy hedgehog. It has been years since I last saw one in the garden, and I know they are in decline, so I was delighted to see one. I guess this damp slug infested summer means they have a lot to eat. I do hope he stays !

by freebird 9th July 2016, 9:00 am

Oh lovely. Never get them here - don't even see squashed ones in the road.

by Ploshkin 10th July 2016, 8:16 pm

That's great, I love hedgehogs. They're up and down here. We seem to be seeing a few more at the moment. It's not good for them to have badgers around.

by FloBear 16th July 2016, 9:02 am

Chilli, that's amazing because hedgehogs have been gone from this area for many many years and I came upon one in my garden a few days ago. Well, the dogs did. There was tremendous persistent barking and I went out with my torch to find a decent sized hedgehog curled up and probably with his paws stuffed in his ears too. He was covered in dog dribble so I got the dogs indoors. He lay low for quite some time but was gone by the morning. My garden would be brilliant hoggy habitat so I hope he has a few friends to report back to.

by Dandelion 16th July 2016, 2:49 pm

We would see an occasional hoggy trotting across the road at dusk when we first moved here 14 years ago, and would also find droppings in the garden. We haven't seen any evidence of one for quite a few years now Crying or Very sad

by FloBear 16th July 2016, 5:22 pm

It's very sad, isn't it, because they are harmless little souls who do so much good for the garden. I reported my sighting on Hedgehog Street. And talking of reporting, I've only had one sighting of a Stag Beetle here this year, it's usually a few more than that.

by Ploshkin 16th July 2016, 7:53 pm

I haven't seen a stag beetle for more than 30 years. I posted on here a while back I think, Flobear, about the nest of baby hedgehogs that my neighbour found after her dog had caught a hedgehog. There were 5 babies, about 3 days old and they had got quite cold and lethargic so I warmed them up on my body while she was getting a warm box ready to take them to a rescue place. They were beautiful and I do hope they survived. I forgot about hedgehog street, I should report them. I've seen a few this year.

by freebird 16th July 2016, 9:37 pm

I saw a stag beetle in my greenhouse last week. Usually see one or two each year.

by FloBear 17th July 2016, 9:02 am

Ooh, Ploshkin, baby hedgehog cuddles, how lovely. I remember a neighbour finding a nest when I was a child and I was able to touch one of the babies, couldn't believe how loudly they squeaked.

by Dandelion 17th July 2016, 10:27 pm

I also haven't seen May Bugs for a long time

by Chilli-head 27th July 2016, 2:48 pm

I went outside late last night to put the onions away I'd left out drying in the sun so that they didn't get wet again, and on my way back to the house I heard a scurry - there was a hedgehog bottom sticking out from under my log store ! Glad to see my hoggie is still around.

by Dandelion 27th July 2016, 9:45 pm

Chilli-head wrote:I went outside late last night to put the onions away I'd left out drying in the sun so that they didn't get wet again, and on my way back to the house I heard a scurry - there was a hedgehog bottom sticking out from under my log store ! Glad to see my hoggie is still around.

by FloBear 28th July 2016, 8:33 pm

Haven't seen my hoggy again, but then I haven't looked.
I'm afraid Mr or Ms Ratty is in evidence - in broad daylight yesterday!

Quite a few butterflies around in the sun. Red Admirals and Gatekeepers mostly and one Peacock, one Brimstone, one Small Tortoiseshell and a few Whites large, I think.

by FloBear 18th October 2016, 4:58 pm

Mr / Ms Hoggy has been sighted several times lately. He/she seems to have a regular route up the side path and behind the raised beds. Was alarmed, on arriving home from yoga two weeks ago, to see my prickly friend ambling up the driveway. Have to keep a careful lookout now.
Another surprising and welcome recent visitor - who came again today -is a Grey Wagtail. Much more common on riverbanks, he was foraging at the side of my small front pond and then walking out on to the water! Not a miracle, there is so much Canadian pondweed that it would probably support a small Ostrich at the moment!

by Dandelion 19th October 2016, 7:53 pm

How lovely FloBear!

by Ploshkin 21st October 2016, 10:18 am

Another grey wagtail fan here. We used to have a lot of wagtails, pied and grey, always arrived just before the swallows but numbers have been noticeably sparse in recent years. But they seemed to have made a bit of a comeback this year, which is good news. Back in the summer I was confronted by a very agitated grey wagtail when I crossed the river and I realised that she was drawing my attention away from her newly fledged chicks that were taking a breather on a tree stump.
We have also had a definite rise in the number of hedgehogs around this year but I think that is probably linked to the badger population. I'm purely guessing but we do have a very active hunt.

by Chilli-head 21st October 2016, 1:18 pm

I haven't spotted our hedgehog visitor in the garden for a little while, but I did see one in a neighbour's driveway a couple of weeks ago. I think they are quite wide-ranging in their foraging, so it may or may not be the same one. Perhaps I should have given him a prod back in our direction Laughing

by Dandelion 21st October 2016, 4:15 pm

Ploshkin wrote:Another grey wagtail fan here. We used to have a lot of wagtails, pied and grey, always arrived just before the swallows

They always remind me of fussy little civil servants in suits!!

by FloBear 23rd October 2016, 10:06 am

Not unusual in the scheme of things but I was delighted to see a Greater Spotted Woodpecker on my birdbath yesterday. I thought I'd heard them occasionally but not seen one.
Also pleased to see that Autumnwatch is coming from Arne again this year. It feels a bit special to have them in one's local area as there is the opportunity to learn much about what is nearby.

by freebird 23rd October 2016, 1:08 pm

We hve a GSWoodpecker who is currently visiting most days. It goes to the top of a tall conifer in a neighbouring garden, so easy to see through binoculars.

Always feels quite special to have such things close by, since we live on an incredibly busy A road.

by Chilli-head 8th April 2019, 12:26 pm

I came back from my weekend away last night, and popped out down to the greenhouse with a torch to see if the tomatoes had survived without me. Delighted to see a hedgehog on the lawn Very Happy

it quickly disappeared in to the shrubs. I hope it isn't too cold still for him/her to be out and about.

by Ploshkin 8th April 2019, 3:22 pm

That's good CH.
Out in the lambing shed in the early hours a few nights ago I was rewarded with the sight of a barn owl flying over the yard.

by Dandelion 8th April 2019, 4:13 pm

I wish we still had a hedgehog. We have had a pheasant visiting our garden though, presumably looking for corn the hens haven't noticed.

by FloBear 8th April 2019, 5:43 pm

I don't have hedgehogs any more and I've never seen a Barn Owl, apart from captive ones.

by freebird 8th April 2019, 7:34 pm

Not here, but lucky enough to watch a barn owl hunting where we stay in Norfolk. No hedgehogs here. Best sightings have been (many years ago), skylarks on our lawn, presumably looking for food after weeks of snow, and last summer, a buzzard.

With the rate that red kites are spreading, I wouldn't be surprised if one turned up in the next few years. If we buy the property that we hope to, red kites will be daily visitors.

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