Spring has sprung, they’re back!
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HI Nic
I thought I replied to your posting but looks as if I didn’t.
Seems the weather (here at least) is still pretty mild so the hogs who aren’t hibernating will be OK for now.
My feeders are mostly empty by morning, mice as usual helping out. Anything left I put on the garden for the magpies as they love it, same as yours by the sound of things. Glad your ratty pal has stayed away & less cat problems
Occasionally the poo that’s left in the feeder is enormous, there were some absolutely huge hogs last year so it’s probably one of them. Don’t know how they fit through the door.
Won’t be long before the hibernating boys in your feeder come out for Spring, time flies.
All the usual creatures still coming here, pigeon disappears for a week or so then returns to sit on my hand. Mrs Blackbird & Robin still come asking for food when I’m out the back, so rewarding having wildlife communicate with you.
Bath time is hilarious, making sure the water is changed every day because of bird influenza. So sad all the geese, swans etc who’ve been found dead all over the place. Humans have a lot to answer for with intensive farming concentrating bacteria that gets passed onto wild birds etc.
Happy New Year!
Hi Annie
Happy 2022 to you too!
The weather seems to be going all over the place now – sometimes fairly mild but then frosty nights. It doesn’t seem to make any difference to the hog activity here – there is still at least one hog around. I don’t see it every night, but suspect that has more to do with the cameras playing up with the damp and/or cold than any potential hog activity! There is usually some food left for the magpies, jackdaws, starlings and blackbirds who now seem to descend on the area in the morning. (not all at the same time!)
I still see cats, but it seems they can’t be bothered to pick up the food when the grass is wet – apart from it being too much like hard work having to forage for it.
That ratty disappeared, but then another (I think) appeared and I had to stop putting the bird feeders out for a while – when it disappeared again.
No sign of the boys emerging. I just hope they’re ok.
Yes, it is sad about the bird flu. I often see skeins of geese flying past and it would be so sad if they got it. It’s lovely to see them.
Hi all, and a happy new year. And may you be blessed with a good 2022 season. I have two hedgehogs that come in every night for food. No sign that they want to hibernate. One is a last year juvenile, and the other seems older by about a year.
Hoping for a good year myself, minus the badger hopefully, as my season came to an abrupt end last year, but thankfully did pick up again.Willpar.
Hi Willpar
Great to hear from you – and a happy 2022 to you too! And a succesful hog year for all hedgehogs everywhere. Glad to hear the hedgehogs are back there and visiting well again. Fingers crossed that pesky badger stays away!
Hi Nic
The weather is very up & down, think if I was a hibernating animal I’d be exhausted wondering whether to do it or not.
There have been some nights with what appears to be just mouse activity in the feeder boxes but a few nights ago in the large feeder definite hog crumbs left in the dish plus poo, muddy footprints & bits of straw scattered around. Last night all food gone, The entrance to the nest box shows signs of someone having gone in or out or both as straw is scattered. First time there’s been any strong indication of the box being used. Maybe time to start a new thread for 2022, that’s a thought!
Hopefully you’ll be seeing the boys soon, but there could be some proper winter still so I’m hoping mine will go back to sleep & yours wait until it’s warmer. At least in our gardens hogs always know where to get food & water. I put a small water dish in the large feeder as it doesn’t freeze in there. I stopped using the camera as it objects to the cold & damp like yours sounds as if it’s doing.
My Garden Birdwatch was reasonable on Friday, tried again a couple of times over the weekend in the hope of more of my regulars turning up but gave up eventually as they obviously knew & were doing their usual trick of staying away for the watch.
Glad the cats aren’t being a nuisance for you & hope the ratty folk go elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
Hi Willpar
Happy New Year to you too & your visiting hogs. So glad there are people everywhere feeding year round as even if they do hibernate they sometimes wake & go foraging & if they know where there’s a reliable food source it means the difference between life or death for them.
My fingers crossed too that Brock stays away.
Hi Annie, always leave food and water out all winter. Just as well with two that had been visiting. They seem to have gone awol now. But a much smaller one has appeared. Seems to be in good health and eating well, so am inclined to leave it be. Weather is on the mild side here.
Willpar.
Hi Annie
Good to hear you still have some hog activity there. Hopefully they’ll have a head start on the upcoming season.
The hogs here seem to have decided to hibernate despite the funny weather. No sign of any hogs for about 3 weeks. I’m still putting food out, but there is a corvid party every morning eating the food on the grass!
Froggy still seems to be around, but no frog spawn in the pond again – but I suppose it’s still possible. Unfortunately I also saw a ratty last night, briefly, but not eating the food. Also a cat which maybe why ratty only made a fleeting visit!
Yes, it could still get really cold. I usually see the first boy here about the beginning of March, but that could change. I hope they are ok. I saw a rat going in there briefly – a while back, but hopefully it was met with a load of spines as it seemed to come straight out again.
Garden bird watch wasn’t too bad, here, this year. Surprisingly a greenfinch turned up, but I haven’t seen it again since. Otherwise just the usual suspects, although the numbers of each species seemed lower.
Hi Nic
Having put out the camera the last week or so I’ve just started a new thread for 2022 as there are regular visits every night from at least one hog, probably more as you can’t always see the markings clearly.
The cat I thought I was keeping out has appeared on camera emerging from the feeder in the most impossible place for a cat to fit so I’m having to think again to keep her out. She’s very small & skinny & apparently determined too.
It’s hopefully not too late for you to get frogspawn, I hope froggy brings a few friends round to your pond & gets stuck in.
We have umpteen squirrels but I’ve never seen a rat, hopefully yours will disappear soon for good. I’ve read on a hedgehog site that they hate change & are frightened by things being in different places so maybe you can rearrange a few bits & bobs to put them off.
This year the birds are going to have to get used to sunflower hearts, mealworms & peanut nibs as the starlings were throwing the mixed seed everywhere & it either grows or goes rotten in awkward to clean places. I stopped buying the cheaper food from various providers & now just use one as theirs is better quality if a bit more pricy, the birds are gradually being weaned off the mix by combining it with the sunflower heart chips etc. All the food is fledgling suitable so I don’t need to worry about that either.
2022 looks to be an interesting year in many ways!
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