Quiet nights...

Things seem to be getting quiet in the evenings, hedgehog-wise. The last few evenings have seen fewer visitors than in recent weeks - we were getting two visitors just before dark, one under the decking and one through the ATM, but they haven't been for several nights. The feeding station in 9e was almost continually occupied, but again for the last few nights there have only been one or two visits. We hope that this is a sign of plentiful natural food so the hedgehogs don't need our help so much. We just hope the little chaps are all doing well.

We still have Alfie in 9b, and we think Indy spent the day in 9f, but the hedgie who was staying in 9c for the last few days didn't return last night. I did have a surprise yesterday morning, though - just after half past nine, in broad daylight, I looked out of the back door, and there was a hedgehog drinking from the bowl outside 9c, for several minutes, before climbing back into 9c. We looked back through the videos and found it had been out for about 20 minutes - it just popped out, stayed behind 9d for a quarter of an hour, then had a snack and a long drink and back to bed:



It would seem it had nipped out for the loo. We have seen this in 9a, which is very well hidden under bushes, but not on the patio before. Strangely, about 10 minutes later Alfie got up in 9b and came to the entrance of the tunnel, before thinking better of it, turning round and having a poo just before he returned to the nest.

Two nights ago we did have some action on the ATM, with what seemed to be quite a violent pushing fit:



We were getting rather concerned about Indy's lack of exercise. (S)he (yes, on one clip we got the distinct feeling Indy is actually a little girl) as she just seemed to be squeezing out under the door to the mealies and then back into 9f, but of late she has been spending more time away:





So, we will just have to wait and see...

... and Noisy Days

Just as the nights are getting quieter, the days are getting louder. We have been feeding the birds for several years - in fact, it seems it was the bird food which attracted the hedgehogs.

We have a reasonable range of the standard birds - blue tits, robins, blackbirds, pied wagtails, wood pigeons, collared doves, and ... starlings.

It seems a lot of people (our neighbours included, no doubt) don't like starlings, as they are aggressive, messy, frighten off the other birds - and are VERY noisy. The noise is on the increase at the moment as the young birds have now fledged and are all around the garden screaming for food. Fortunately, many of them are already able to feed themselves, although that doesn't seem to count as they immediately squawk when they see an adult with food in its beak.

They have learned to enjoy a bath, though, and once one takes the plunge they all want to get in on the act. In the first clip you can see Chalky, one of the baby starlings with a white tail feather.






From the archives

Finally a couple of interesting clips from earlier in May, when we had a cold spell (down to 1 degree above freezing) - a hedgehog collecting nesting material. The hedgie made two trips under the decking within ten minutes, but we haven't seen it collecting any more since then: