Disappearing hogs

No hedgehogs at all Saturday or Sunday night.  Hoglet was in the hog house during the day on Saturday but he's not been seen since.  Despite the nice weather this weekend my hogs may have decided to hibernate.  If that's correct then unfortunately not in my garden.

This could be due to the Landlord sending someone round on Saturday to kill all the weeds.  I just managed to stop him spraying the toxic substance anywhere near the hog house.  However hogs have a highly developed sense of smell and that could be why they are not in the garden.

Sunday morning produced a surprise.I was watching the birds when I suddenly saw a bird fly around the back of the house opposite.  As it banked round I could clearly see tapered wings = Falcon.  The bird changed direction and headed straight towards me. I had a wonderful eye to eye (through binoculars) moment with the bird which was very clearly a male Peregrine.  It flew up and over the flat.  I registered the sighting on the Sussex Ornithological website and later discovered that two Peregrines are being seen on the Crawley College building.

Above is a picture of a Peregrine at Pulborough Brooks. 

9th October

Hoglet is fast asleep in the hog house again this morning.  Both his and Mrs Hog's behaviour has changed.  They are not coming in for food as frequently.  Although the weather is warm this weekend it is due to get  colder next week.  It is thought that Hedgehogs can tell the weather up to 10 days ahead. So they may be getting ready to hibernate.

When I got home from work yesterday I managed to find the stolen food bowl in a garden down the road from us.  It was fine so after being cleaned it went straight back out with food last night.

Got some good footage last night.  In the video below it looks like the foxes are talking to each other.  I think that they are this years cubs which means they should leave to find their own territories soon.

Thief!!!!!!!

In the early hours of this morning a theft took place from my garden.  One of my green food bowls was taken.  So far the bowl has not been recovered.  Reward offered of £1.75 for the return of the bowl (that's what it is going to cost to buy a new one).  The whole incident was caught on my CCTV camera.  Therefore I have a full description of the culprit and they can be identified.  I will be watching carefully for any repeat offence.

Video of the crime being committed below:

For obvious reasons the theft has not been reported to the Police.  I don't think that the police have the technology to take paw or snout prints.

3rd October - update

Well Hoglet has decided to carry on using the second hog house to sleep in.  He's not using it every day.  Originally it seemed he was staying every third day.  However it now appears that he is timing his stays around bad weather.  I knew that Friday 1st October and Sunday 3rd October would both have heavy rain.  On both days Hoglet stayed all day in the hog house.

I cleaned it out on Saturday 2nd October as there was a fair bit of poo.  I relined the box with newspaper and added loads of dust free hay.  Sunday morning I checked and it didn't look like anything had been in the house at all.  Before Hoglet had flattened the bedding down and laid on top of it.  I did carefully move a couple of strands of the hay and suddenly realised that Hoglet was underneath.  He had burrowed under the hay. With all the heavy rain it was quite nice to know that he was safe and warm.

A strange Magpie is coming into the garden.  It has a lot of feathers missing on it's head and particularly around it's eyes.  At first I was concerned that it was blind.  However it can clearly see and is able to fly and is feeding.  The problem is that two other Magpies are attacking it on a regular basis.  I have no idea why.  It could be that they regard my garden as their own food store as they are down every day.

Some interesting fox behaviour recently.  The video below was a fight over food and it appears that it is two cubs involved.  Cubs start to move away from their parents in October so it will be interesting to see how the vistitors to the garden change.

Exciting week

It's been an interesting week.  There has been a lot of fox fighting (over food) this week but I will post the video's on here at the weekend.

My Wood Mice have decided to expand their family.  This week I managed to catch sight of two little babies.  They are tiny.  I managed to get a photo of one of them (below) whilst it was hiding in the corner of my plastic shed that houses my bird food.

To give you an idea of size the plastic box he is next to is a normal sized lunchbox.  Excluding the tail he is just bigger than a 50 pence piece.

The next exciting thing was discovered this morning.  Hoglet has been coming into the garden for food.  Recently he has started to use the other hog house to rest in during the night in between meals.  But during the day he disappears.  Each morning I have checked the hog house to see if there are any signs he's been in there overnight and add some more bedding (hay) is needed.  I always take my camera with me and open the lid very carefully just in case.

This morning I carefully opened the lid and there curled up fast asleep was hoglet.  He didn't even stir.  I took a couple of pictures without using a flash so that it didn't disturbe him.  Fingers crossed he decides to hibernate here.

Bless.

Update

Having been away on holiday I am now catching up with the garden wildlife.  Had a great time staying just outside Rye.  For most people the weather would have been classed as terrible but for us as birdwatchers it was perfect.  Great South Easterly winds and sudden hard rain showers = loads of birds.  We even managed to see a bird that should be in America.  This was a Wilsons Phalarope.  Unfortunately no pictures as 2 minutes after we got to see the bird the heavens opened and we got stuck in a thunderstorm.

The week started well.  I have long distance photo's of Marsh Harriers in flight but no real good close ups.  After 4 years this changed and I got the following picture:

This is a female and she has just killed and is now eating a Coot.  This bird is huge compared to anything you will see in your garden (in Sussex anyway - if your lucky enough to live in Wales or Scotland that may not apply)

The views in the Rye area are amazing.  I am putting together a calendar of Sun rises/Sun sets for next year.  The following may be included:

Sunrise from Pett Level looking towards Dungeness Power Station.

Sunset from the same viewpoint but obviously looking inland (west).

Now back to the garden.  We came back 24 hours early as I was worried about my hedgehogs.  We had no one to fill up the hog food after Friday morning.  Despite the food being over filled I didn't think it would get the hogs through to Monday morning.  So we came home Sunday.  Turns out I was right.  The hog feeding station was a mess.  Food and Poo everywhere.

I'm back to taping events and caught some good footage this week.  I cannot work out if it is Mrs Hog or Hoglet visiting throughout the night.  If it's hoglet then he really has grown since we went away.  If it's Mrs Hog then her damaged leg really has healed.

Last night I caught this on camera (watch carefully as it's quick)

As you can see during the rain a Frog decided to leap across the garden right in front of the camera.

The hogs are also rushing into the hog house for food.  The video below is at normal speed and as you can see they are almost running into the hog house.  More sedate on the way out for a drink.

I have 2 hog houses. The first you can see in the videos which I use as a feeding station.  The second is tucked in the corner by the fence.  I am hoping that this will be used for hibernation.  I have newspaper in there and yesterday I added some clumps of straw.  This morning it looked like a hog had been in there (twig in front of doorway had been moved) so I carefully opened it and this is what I found:

Definately a hog shaped nest.

23-24 August

Monday I was able to put the camera back out.  Mrs Hog arrived for her food about 10.35pm.  She almost prefers to eat in the Hog House now which is funny after all the coaxing I had to use to get her in it.  She'll have a few biscuits from the fox bowl but then will head straight to the Hog House and is in/out of there most of the night.

The Hoglet from Saturday also arrived but in the early hours.  Mrs Hog was outside having a drink at the time when Hoglet came round the bush to where the water bowl is.  Mrs Hog did not take kindly to Hoglet being around and she pushed him out of the way. She then appeared to "guard" the entrance to the Hog House.  So far Hoglet has shown no interest at all in the food outside for the foxes or going inside the Hog House.  He seems to like snuffling around in the stinging nettles instead and clearly likes snails.

Fred and Freda were in as usual.  No sign of Hoppy though.

On Tuesday night I started putting the camera out just after 9pm.  I was just about to put the camera box down on the floor when Hoglet appeared.  He came trotting towards the Hog House and then suddenly saw me. He stopped and turned round back towards the fence.  I did get my camera and I took 1 photo of him.  I find that Hedgehogs dont like the flash of the camera that much so I try not to use it and go through the
infa-red camera instead.

He decided to go off foraging in the nettles.  Mrs Hog arrived about 10.30pm and did her usual in/out of the Hog House most of the night.  Hoglet also came back in front of the camera and went to the Hog House door but didn't go in (probably a good thing as Mrs Hog was still in there).

Fred and Freda were in for their food but much later than usual.

22nd August

I decided not to put the camera out tonight. Although it was just spitting with rain at 9pm.  Having been woken up at 3am due to high winds and heavy rain I defintely made the right decision.

No evidence of any hogs in the garden last night.  I hope they were tucked up somewhere safe.  The foxes only collected the Markies and left the other biscuits.

Instead of setting the camera up outside I decided to set it up to watch my hamster, Herbie.  He refuses to come out and play if we are still up (regardless of the time) and will only come out once all the lights are off.  He will pop out for a wee, food and drink but that's it.

He has a rather large cage as I believe that all animals should be given the best life possible and I try and make their lives as natural as possible.  It's clear from the video that he uses all of his cage and spends 4-5 hours playing in his wheel or going around the tubes and the cages.  He seems to like using the wheel in short bursts.

Due to the size and location of his home it was difficult to get close up picures but I will add some video footage later in the week.

21-22nd August

Last night a hedgehog arrived about 10pm.  I was watching on the camera and at first thought it was Mrs Hog.  However this hedgehog didn't seem to know that there was food in the hog house.  I went outside and being able to see the hog directly it was clear that this one was smaller and may infact be one of this years hoglets.

He (I'm guessing) happily wandered around and quite enjoyed going into the stinging nettles to forage about.  I kept an eye on him.  As he was quite small I decided to check him over.  I carefully picked him up using heavy gardening gloves.  He rolled straight into a ball and was the cutest thing you have ever seen.  I brought him in to check him.  No ticks, marks, fleas etc.  I weighed him and he was 487g.  He needs to put on more weight before hibernating and needs to be at least 600g to get through the winter.  I will keep an eye on him.

Mrs Hog came in later in the night and ate a lot of the food from the hog house.  She made such a mess it looked like the aftermath of a hog party.

Fred, Freda and Hoppy all in for food.  For once Fred was in fairly frequently.

May not be able to put the camera out tonight.  The weather forecast is heavy rain and thunder from 11pm.  The camera is fine in light rain but I don't want to chance heavy rain.

21st August - none garden post

Ok so these pictures were not taken in my garden.  Frankly my garden area is not big enough for this bird nor has enough water.

The photo's below were taken at Weir Wood Reservoir, just outside East Grinstead, on the East/West Sussex border.  The pictures were taken on 19th August and are of two Ospreys. I managed to take 574 pictures that included the Osprey going through the complete fishing sequence.

The two together

Above the water looking for fish.

With a small fish for dinner

Best shot of the day. Fish just been caught.

Going to find a place to eat the fish.

Ospreys only eat fish.  They spend the winter mostly in parts of Africa. Some youngsters are now being tagged so their route can  be followed to their wintering grounds.They migrate north in the spring and mainly nest in Scotland. Two of the most famous sites are Loch Garten and Loch of the Lowes.  Both in Scotland and both with the most fantastic websites with live cameras set up watching the nests. Loch Garten is run by the RSPB and Loch of the Lowes by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.  Both have very famous females.  EJ is at Loch Garden and Lady is at Loch of the Lowes.  Lady is the oldest known breeding female Osprey that returns to this country. Sadly she was very ill during this spring and it wasn't looking good.  But this amazing bird recovered and has raised two chicks and has now left on her migration.  Fingers crossed she manages to return next year.

See www.thewebbroadcastingcorporation/swt or www.rspb.org.uk/webcams/birdsofprey/lochgartenvideo

The Osprey is a large bird of prey.  Wing span can be 152-167cm.  The females are larger than the males.

16th-20th August

Mrs Hog has changed her behaviour.  Monday-Wednesday there was no sign of her at all.  However she was back in Thursday and Friday night. I was wondering if she was pregnant and had gone off to have her hoglets.  However I have no way of confirming this unless she brings the little ones in the garden.

The fox video below was from Monday 16th August.  This was Hoppy trying to get at the food in the hog house.  She didn't manage to get in. She did manage to dig a large hole in front of the hog box.  However this behaviour resulted in me having to change the entrance to the hog house.  I have taken the roof off an old bird nest box and attached it to the entrance of the house.  This has created a curved wall so the fox cannot get straight into the entrance.

Fred and Freda have been in each night. Freda was very distressed when she came into the garden and found the hole Hoppy had dug.  She was pacing around the area sniffing at everything.

Friday morning 3 Jackdaws were down in the garden for food.  One was an adult which was feeding the other two (chicks).  They like the berry suet.

Fox after food

Below is a video clip of a fox trying to get the food out of the hog house.

12-13th August

Whilst I was refilling the bird and hog feeders last night there were over 200 Starlings on the roof of the house opposite.  One of my Wood Mice was eating away in the my bird food box when I went to refill the bird feeders.

Mrs Hog arrived for dinner (breakfast to her) at 9.50pm.  Again straight into the Hog House.  After about 15 minutes she came out for a drink and then went back in.  I put the bowls out at that stage.  I have changed the set up as there are now 3 bowls of hog food in the hog house and two bowls with food for the foxes outside.  That doesn't stop Mrs Hog pinching some of the fox food.  She spent nearly 2 hours in the hog house last night so she must be having a quick nap in there.

Freda in as usual for food. I didn't see Fred last night but there were a couple of occasions where I just had footage of the foxes head so it could have been him.  For a positive ID I need to see the back end or at least the tail to tell him apart from Freda.

Mrs Hog came out of the hog house and twice curled up into a ball.  But I could'nt see what had provoked that response.  One of the foxes could have been in the car park.

At one point Freda had her head in the hog house entrance.  Mrs Hog had left by then.

I put newspaper pieces in the other hog house to try and tempt her to sleep in there but she didn't go in it last night.

11th-12th August

Well I have now stopped using the useless DVD recorder.  The computer software worked well last night and I was able to record 6.5 hours.

Mrs Hog arrived at 9.55pm and went straight in the hog house for food.  She came out about 20 minutes later for a drink.  I had put the outside bowls out by then and she went to both of them for some food.  She then spent the next 5 hours in the garden happily going in/out of the hog house for food.  At one point she spent so long in there I thought she must have fallen asleep.  She certainly seems to like it now she's worked out there's food in it.

Fred and Freda were in as usual.  It's always Freda that comes in for the most food.  She likes the hedgehog biscuits.  I'm going to get some dog biscuits for her today.

The new female fox made a brief appearance as well.  More worrying she tried to get her head in the hog house.  She could obviously smell the food.  The entrance to the hog house is set out as a maze so she cannot get in but I might have to start thinking about extending the entrance maybe with a tunnel or even a couple of bricks.

Mrs Hog in for some food. Hog house in the background.

Freda in for food.

10th-11th August

Last night was full of highs and lows. I'll start with the low. My useless DVD recorder failed again so I have no footage at all for last night. This will be the last time I'm let down as I now have computer software which means I can record direct to my computer.

As to the high. Mrs Hog came in at 9.45pm. I had decided to keep the bowls inside and see what she did. I wanted her to go into the hog house to feed. I was watching closely to ensure that she didn't go hungry. I expected her to hunt round for the bowls. I would then have gone out with the bowls. However she came in, sniffed the air and went straight into the hog house for food. She stayed in eating for at least 30mins. So I now know that she will be ok when we are away on holiday.

9th-10th August

Mrs Hog in the garden at just before 10pm.  I am still trying to get her to eat from the hog house.  She will go in it but won't eat from the bowls inside.  I've got to get her eating from inside the hog house before the weather gets bad or before I go on holiday as there are now 2 nights when I don't have anyone to fill up the food bowls.

I asked for ideas from the Hedgehog forum I use and they very helpfully suggested using a cat bowl with a timer so I will look into that.

Fred and Freda in as usual last night.  Again Freda in more frequently and she has now taken to scent marking the Hedgehog House thats under the tree.  However a new female came in late (just before 4am).  She sniffed the roof of the hog house and the scent marked that as well.  Fortunately it was raining last night as the smell of fox would have been over powering.

8th-9th August

Mrs Hog was in just before 10pm. I had put a trail of mealworms from the entrance to the hog house inside to the main chamber where the food is. After 30mins of munching on the good outside she went to the entrance of the hog house. She put her nose in for the worms and eventually fully went inside. I had high hopes that she would eat from the bowl inside the house as she was inside a long time. But this morning none of the food had been eaten other than the mealworm trail.

Fred and Freda in for food as usual. Again Freda comes in more than Fred. No sign of Hoppy or any male hogs.

Two Wood Mice in my bird food shed yesterday afternoon.

7th-8th August

At least all the technologhy worked last night.

Mrs Hog was in at 10.15pm. I went out and took a couple of pictures of her. However she took exception to the flash and decided to leave. She did come back about 30mins later. She still won't go into the hog box to get food. So tonight I'm going to put a trail of mealworms into the hog box to try and encourage her in.

Fred and Freda were in for food. At one point both were in as well as Mrs Hog. Fred went up to Mrs Hog and seemed frightened of her. No male hogs in.

It did appear that a new female fox came in and took some of the food. She was only in very briefly so difficult to identify. But no White tip to the tail so wasn't Freda.

This afternoon 2 Wood Mice were in my shed.

My Wood Mouse and hogs

This is my Wood Mouse.  I realised something was living in the shed earlier this year.  At first a rat was expected but I eventually managed to get a decent picture and it was a Wood Mouse.  There is a pair and I have seen 1 baby this year.  They like getting into my mini plastic shed that contains my birdfood.  Fortunately the food is in large plastic covered containers.  The mice don't realise that they are visiting a food store that would last them years.

Mrs Hog and a larger male.  Mrs Hog is on the left.  The male was trying to court her but she was not having any of it.  She makes this strange huffing noise and walks around always facing the male.

My first hoglet.  It was only seen in the garden for one evening.  Unfortunately the mortality rate for young hedgehogs is high especially on roads.

An introduction to some of my visitors

Mrs Hog

6th-7th August

Well last night was a total disaster. Not for the wildlife but due to so called modern technologhy.

The DVD recorder started recording without problems but by this morning it had corrupted the disk so it was wiped blank. I woke at 5am to find it raining hard so I got the camera in quickly. I was half asleep and as I cut through the tape on the plastic bag covering the connector from the rain I managed to cut through the cable as well. So that's 50 meters of camera cable in the bin.

On a postive note Mrs Hog was in for food at 9.45pm. But she was disturbed by our neighbour driving into the car park.

5th-6th August

A lot of activity in the garden last night.  Mrs Hog was in for food at 9.55pm.  She was happily eating as much as possible for over an hour.  She left to go wandering about 11.45pm.  Shortly after 12.30am the first fox arrived and this was Freda.  I've noticed that she has a white tip to the very end of her tail whereas her mate, Fred has only dark fur.  Freda was in and out for food most of the night.  She was not scent marking as much last night so thankfully my food bowls did not smell as much this morning.

Just before 2pm a large male Hedgehog came into the garden for food.  He is a regular and will go into the hog house for food.  Mrs Hog won't do this.  He was in the hog house when Freda turned up for more food.  Just as he came out Fred arrived as well plus a black and white cat.  So for 5 minutes I had two foxes, one hedgehog and a cat all within feet of each other.  The cat left quickly but the hedgehog stayed put and went into defensive mode by curling up into a ball.  The foxes completely ignore the hog and once they had left he went back into the hog house for more food.

Still no sign of Hoppy and Mrs Hog didn't come back into the garden as far as I am aware.  As I started recording early the DVD stopped at just before 4am.

This morning my Magpie was down at the front door for worms along with the baby Blackbird.  The birds are still eating large amounts of food each day.  All the feeders are empty by the time I get home from work.  I'm hoping that the natural autumn food will start to appear soon. Certainly I am now seeing purple bird poo so they are beginning to eat the Blackberries.

4th-5th August

Mrs Hog was in for her dinner at 10.15pm.  She stayed for about an hour and then went off wandering.  She came back for food twice more during the night.

Fred and Freda (foxes) were in separately for food.  A new cat appeared in the garden and got the shock of its life when it turned round and was face to face with the fox.  It is getting easier to tell Fred and Freda apart. Fred is definately larger. 

Still no sign of Hoppy.  It may be that the other two have displaced him from the area.

Mrs Tatty (Blackbird) was in for food this morning.  Her moulting feathers looking worse than usual.  Most Blackbirds will skulk around when they are moulting but she doesn't seem to bother.

Although not technically in my garden area there were baby Goldcrests in the fur tree just down the road this morning.  Great to see as the Goldcrest is a tiny bird (smaller than a Wren) and numbers were affected by the bad weather last winter.

This weekend I will add some pictures of my usual visitors.

Events of 3-4 August

Last night I had put the camera out and was just getting it into position when my regular female hedgehog walked around the apple tree to get some food.  She's not bothered about me being around and will head straight for the food. She is distinctive as unfortunately she has an old leg injury that means she limps a bit.  Most injuries to hogs are caused by humans.  It's very important to check for hogs if you are having a bonfire, cutting or strimming grass.

She had a good feed eating as much as possible staying in the garden from 9.55pm to 11.20pm.  She then wandered off.  About an hour later a male hog came in.  He is much larger and tends to enter the garden across the car park rather than under the hole in the fence.  He had some food, wandered into the hog house next to the tree and then wandered off to the hog house at the back of the garden near the fence.

As he was leaving a fox appeared and it was Fred coming back in for some food.  He loves the dog biscuits known as "markies".  Again taking them and quickly diappearing.  Suddenly a new fox arrived.  This one was clearly female as she decided to have a wee right in front of the camera.  She again took some food and then left.  Next I was very surprised to see Fred and the new female in the garden together.  They entered together and went to feed together.  As foxes are quite solitary animals clearly these are a pair.  I've nicknamed her Freda.  I'm not sure on the breeding patterns of foxes but fingers crossed I may see some cubs.

No sign of Hoppy at all last night.  Fred and Freda dominated the food so that may be why.  About 3.30pm my female hog came back in looking for some more food but the foxes had eaten it.  She managed to find a few crumbs.  She won't go into the hog house despite food being in there.  She stayed until just before dawn and then left to go back to her nest.  I have no idea where she is sleeping as it is not in my garden but it must be near by.

The birds in the garden are beginning to disburse and as autumn approaches more natural food will be available.  I get a bit of a respite in bird food costs during autumn but if we have a winter as bad as the last one the savings soon diappear.  I'm just putting the last of the live mealworms out.  I still have a baby Blackbird coming down for them and this morning a Magpie eat half the bowl.  But the birds are not actively seeking them so it's time to stop putting them out.  I only put the live food out during the nesting season.

3rd August 2010

Last night the camera only caputured fox activity.  There was no sign of my regular hedgehogs.  Two of my usual foxes were in for food.  The first appears to be a young fox.  Independant so clearly not one of this years cubs.  I have not yet been able to determine sex as the camera has not caught a clear view of the relevant "bits".  I suspect it's a male so have nicknamed him Fred.

My other regular has a broken front paw.  This appears to be an old injury as there is no inflamation and does not appear to be hindering the fox at all.  This fox is clearly older.  Again I have not been able to dermine the sex so have used the nickname Hoppy.

Fred took most of the food.  He darts in, grabs a mouthful and then runs out of the garden.  Fred is coming in around 2-3am.

Hoppy was later in last night and found only a bowl of hedgehog biscuits left.  Hoppy was happily eating them when Fred appeared across the car park.  Hoppy immediately lay flat, almost cuddling the bowl of food.  Ears were flat against the head and he stayed very still.  Fred came closer and Hoppy was snarling and showing his anger.  Fred tried a couple of times to come in for food but took the decision to leave Hoppy to it.

This morning one of my regular female Blackbirds was in for worms.  She tends to moult very badly whilst raising her young.  So when she appears this time of year there are bits of old feathers sticking out all over her.  So she has earnt the nickname of Mrs Tatty.  She raised 4 chicks this year which are now independant. Mrs Tatty hates the Starlings taking the live worms.  She will stick her tail in the air and snap her beak at them.  If they get too close to the bowl of worms she will also peck them.

Hi

Welcome to my new blog.  I live in a flat in West Sussex that has very little garden.  The garden comprises of a small patio area, a space that used to have grass but is now covered mostly in stinging nettles, a car park and the one interesting point - an apple tree.

I have lived here for 17 years.  During that time I have developed an interest in nature and have started to observe what is happening in my garden area.  As I am in a major town I was not expecting much but over the past 4 years the wildlife appearing has increased to exceed all expectations.

I have created this blog so others can share my interest and observations.  I have a night camera set up in the garden so I can observe my nocternal visitors and I will try to up date on a daily basis.

I hope everyone enjoys the antics of the wildlife visiting my garden as much as I do.