Wildlife on Our Doorstep

I have always been in awe of nature, appreciative of all the blessings along with the trials it sometimes brings. The mesmerising waves crashing on the shore, the changing of the leaves from rich greens to a patchwork of oranges and reds, watching and listening to a thunderstorm or breathing in that evocative smell of the first drops of rain after a dry spell. However, since moving to our smallholding I have become so much more aware of the variety of wildlife around us who allow us to share the land and weather. Taking a moment to look up and down not only rests our tired muscles but gives us the chance to observe the beauty of wildlife and learn more about the world around us.

This beautiful Damselfly was having a little rest in the polytunnel; thankfully I don't think it tends to eat the brassicas quite as much as the caterpillars so we were happy to take a photo and let him be. (I did have to do some reasearch to confirm it is a Damselfly and not a Dragonfly.)

While we were moving some old coal sacks we can across this little nest of chicks. There was a Robin nearby so we assumed it belonged to her, covered it up again and left. Unfortunately when we went back a few weeks later they had all died. Although we had found it by accident and tried our best not to disturb it, we may have upset the parents and sadly they abandoned it.

This is our Midden, it's a large pond like area which historically collected and filtered any animal waste and rain water from the byre. It still fills up with rainwater and provides a home for many insects and animals. Unfortunately it does suffer a little from blanket weed and algae when there is reduced rainfall but generally it seems pretty healthy. The frogs returned this year and produced a lot of frogspawn which we watched become tadpoles and then teeny tiny frogs - lots of tiny frogs.

There was an really interesting piece on Countryfile about the cleansing abilities of mussels and oysters so after some further investigation we thought we'd give it a go. Above you can see our 6 native mussels which will hopefully help to keep our midden cleaner.

M decided to put them in a bucket of water from the midden overnight just to make sure they were still alive. The water was murky when they went in and almost clear by the morning. In fact we were then able to see this little newt who had also got scooped up.

M got in his canoe to put the mussels in the midden, placing them gently into the water and returning the newt safely back home.

While he was in his canoe M went to check on the duck house but it was completely empty. However, about 2 feet away was this little nest. We later saw Mrs. Duck snuggled in here among the reeds, she is really well hidden and camouflaged and (keeping our distance) we can only see her with binoculars. She has been doing a great job and this week she was out on the water with 8 gorgeous little ducklings swimming behind her. Now we just need to hope that the foxes and heron leave them in peace. We're trying to keep really quiet and only watch from a distance so may be able to get some pictures soon.

There is a little alleyway between the byre and the barn and this gap in the barn wall has become home to a nest of 3 chicks.

We think these are the chicks from the wall, they flew the nest, only making it as far as the chicken yard where they stayed for a few days. 

Although we haven't seen any deer for a while we have been aware of their presence in the woods and this week we saw this chap in the next field. It was hard to get a photo of him before he lay down in the long grass to hide so this is the best I could do.

We had an abundance of House Martins last year and they made a real mess of mud and poo under the porch at the back of the house. This year we have managed to deter them from nesting in the exactly the same place but thankfully they have found new homes. It looks like they are nearly finished and ready for occupation. The House Martins also seem to love the midden, diving down to the surface and flying around the for hours. Sadly they are really fast and any photos I've taken have always come out fuzzy so I'll just have to enjoy watching them without recording it.

It's lovely to have a distraction from all the work sometimes and to watch the beautiful colours of the Gold Finches, the numerous Robins, little Wrens, Buzzards, Kestrels and what we think may be Willow Warblers to mention a few. Along with the evening Bats and Owls we have plenty to keep us busy when the day's work is done.

The rain we hoped for arrived; the veg, fruit and flowers are all growing well but more of that next time. We were also able to make the most of the wet days to tackle another room in the house; after the kitchen makeover last year it has taken some time for us to summon up the enthusiasm and now it's time for the living room revamp. M has been extremely busy but as it is presently in a state of evolution I thought I'd leave you with this beautiful picture of a bumble bee in a pumpkin flower. Hope you are all enjoying the long sunny summer days and the nature we share it with.

Hedgehog arrival day

You may remember that I posted last week about our preparations for new arrivals and our excitement of offering our woods as a release site for some rescued hedgehogs. Well, yesterday was the day and off we went to collect our new residents. There are lots of photos but we were ubber excited and I got a bit snap happy with the camera.

Last week M set about building some hedgehog houses. Although it was a necessity I think he was enjoying putting all his diy skills to good use and he produced 3 lovely (and functional) hedgehog homes.

 

21 Hedgehog Row                     Prickle Manor

Spike Cottage

Perhaps we were getting a bit carried away but each has a felt or slate tiled roof, a little entrance hall, a blue ventilation pipe at the back and of course the obligatory name plaque.

 

As my assistance wasn't required in the production and assembly line I went hunting for some wool and a crochet hook and tahdah!! Herbert the hedgehog was born. I've never tried to make anything like this before and to be honest I found it a bit fiddly and tricky. So massive thanks must go to Sarah Lyons at The Crochet Stitch Witch for her wonderful pattern and amazing how-to video.

Even little Herbert had a look inside the new homes.

Anyway, after all that messing around with Herbert it was time to take the houses out into the woods and get them ready for their new residents. We put the 3 houses in semi-shade on the edge of the coniferous trees but close to all the wood piles in the deciduous area.

Each house was placed in it's own area just in case of any neighbourly squabbles.

The last one, the heaviest which has the slate roof was finally lifted into place. Excuse M's ridiculously dirty coat but I think perhaps he'd been in the pig pen with 2 very dirty pigs!!

So each house had some hay bedding and a couple of little ramekins filled with water and a generous helping of tinned cat food. (Note: no bread and milk - as that's really really bad for them)

We had been in contact with Hessilhead wildlife rescue for a few weeks and we were thrilled that they approved our request to provide a new home for some rescued hedgehogs. So yesterday morning we pootled off to meet and collect our new hedgehogs.

 

In addition to lots of really useful advice we were given a total of 3 hedgehogs, 2 females and one male, and each came along with their own bright pink fleecy blanket. We collected one female in our carrier (left photo) and a male and female in the cardboard box (right photo).

 

The journey home didn't seem to affect them too much as they were tucked up in their blankets, fast asleep when we opened the boxes.

This was our first resident, the female, she is just soooo cute. This beautiful little lady settled in nicely to 21 Hedgehog Row.

Our second hedgehog was slightly more camera shy although you can just make out 2 tiny paws. We're not sure if this is a boy or girl and to be honest we didn't investigate as we wanted to get them settled in quickly without too much stress. So he or she is now residing in Spike Cottage.

Last but definitely not least our third hedgehog was put in Prickle Manor. Initially we thought he (or she) was as shy as number 2 but then a little nose appeared. They are just so lovely.

With all 3 hedgehogs tucked in for the night we replaced the roofs and left them in peace to make themselves comfy. (Although the roof is not tight fitting, the blue tube at the top is there for some extra ventilation).

The wonderful people at Hessilhead advised us to keep them in for the first night and so we had to temporarily block up the front door. Note to selves: they do move quite quickly therefore we decided it was prudent to secure the doors before putting the hedgehog in.

This morning we went out to refill the food and refresh the water containers and to open the doors. It was lovely to see that they were all tucked up asleep and that all the food from yesterday had been eaten. The advice we had been given is that we will probably not see them again as they'll soon venture out and find their own, natural homes. Making the most of this last moment we took a few (not very exciting as they were sleeping) videos. However, we did set up the wildlife camera in the hope of getting some footage of one of them moving about tonight. Well, that was the idea but as the fog has just rolled in we have't got great hopes of having more than a white blur. Still, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

While we are focusing on hedgehogs: M has just found out that it is Hedgehog Awareness Week from 30th April to 6th May 2017. If all goes well we may be heading back to Hessilhead to collect some more hedgehogs in the next few months.

Preparing for New Arrivals

Frosty mornings

After quite a lot of rain in the last week we have been trying to stay off our land while it is a bit waterlogged. Thankfully though we have a wonderful country park quite close by and so we have been enjoying long morning walks there.

This is the river which flows through the country park. You can see by the colour and height of the river water that we have experienced a lot of rain recently.

This picture is of the large fishing lake in the country park and a couple of ducks. It always looks such an enticing hideaway but I'm not a fisherman/woman so we only stop for a brief look on our walks.

This is the central tree lined path which is also covered by a multitude of daffodils in the spring. On the left you can kind of make out the last remains of the old country house.

The views were wonderful and as the sun was rising we could just see the frost melting away ever so slowly as the temperature reaches a balmy 1ºC.

Hedgehog news

A while ago we had an encounter with a poorly deer and phoned the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( SSPCA) for some help. You may remember that I wrote about it here. Well, the visit from the SSPCA was really helpful and the lady asked us if we were interested in re-homing some animals. Unfortunately there are many we wouldn't be able to re-home, especially cats as Jess and Finn are not fond of the feline variety and will chase them and generally make their lives unbearable. However, she did mention hedgehogs and as we have an abundance of slugs and snails we thought this would be ideal.

Fast forward a few months and we have been in touch with Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue and offered our land as a release site for their hedgehogs. They said yes, and we are very very excited. So apparently we just need to make sure we have some suitable hedgehog houses in place and the night time temperature needs to be above 8ºC. The former we can get started on but the latter is out of our hands and we may have to wait a few weeks at least for the frosts to abate.

So M has scoured the Internet for hedgehog accommodation plans and has been dispatched to the barn and byre in search of appropriate building materials. I have a feeling he may get carried away and the result will be deluxe hotel accommodation for our new arrivals. He also mentioned the beginnings of a duck house so it could prove to be a very productive day.

This is a little sneak preview of model no.1 in progress.

And, tah-dah, the finished product.

With removable lid just in case we need access.

Keeping Warm Inside

It is definitely a day for homemade tomato and chorizo soup with posh (shop bought) olive bread - mmmmmmmm.

In the meantime I am trying to keep warm inside as it is ever so cold today and attempting to finish my Venice cross stitch before I contemplate any other projects. At least I can see some progress since I first posted about it here. It's a shame the colours are so poor in the photo as there's lots more detail in the sky and water then is visible here.

I am also taking time to read my latest Simply Crochet magazine and my new Crafternoon magazine which has been produced in support of Red Nose Day. There are so many things I want to try and make but I really must finish something first before embarking on anything else. I can almost hear my crochet hooks calling to me, oh and my knitting needles too - I just can't wait to try Christine's Sockalong.