Another good day for bird watching, including several sparrowhawks, a female blackbird, jackdaws, a kestrel and even a glimpse of the woodpecker. But it was while we were out fox watching (with minor success) that the real star of today showed up.
The hedgehog was back, a true gardener's friend. We were able to watch it go about its business for about 20 minutes but it was determined to make my life difficult. Most of the time it stayed firmly in the cover of the undergrowth so I just watched. But even a hedgehog can't remain hidden all the time and I was able to gather about five shots worth keeping.
Do check out the rest in the Hedgehog album.
Edit: Oh my god!!! A badger just wandered through the garden. Gone before I could get a photo. But I don't care. It was a badger!!! Time: 01.13.
Camera note: Hedgehog photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
Vulpes vulpes
16 Apr 2008… A **BADGER**…:eyes:
The foxes are bringing all their friends out to play these days.
Vulpes vulpes
16 Apr 2008Cute! :love:
cakkleberrylane
16 Apr 2008That is one cute little guy!
FrogBoots
16 Apr 2008Wonderful photos of a very cute hedgehog! 🙂
musickna
16 Apr 2008Very cute indeed. Lovely photo! 🙂
gdare
16 Apr 2008Yes, your garden is going to be some kind of local zoo 😀
Words
16 Apr 2008Thanks. No apologies for the cuteness factor in those shots. It was nice to get shots of the hedghog looking up. The small brances were a pain, but I guess it's going to be more relaxed when it feels safe like that. As for seeing a badger…. I'm still in shock. That's the first close sighting I've ever had. It was through the back window from about 8 feet. Makes note never not to have a camera ready!
UrbanExtension
16 Apr 2008There you were telling me the other day you wished you had a badger… and you had one all the time! We had lived here for 4 years before I saw ours, and the old bloke who lived here before us had never seen one in 40 years. It's just the anti-social times they show up that keep them so "hidden" from us. I'm so glad for you! Believe me I know how exciting it is to know that they come through your garden. I can hear the excitement in your last sentence. You will have to get a CCTV camera and film them now – either that or you're going to have to stay up all night in the garden! Jane
SittingFox
16 Apr 2008Woohoo, badger! :hat: Congratulations! Who knows, perhaps he'll become a regular! I usually find that badger sightings around here peak in April. I found some tracks down the lane this morning but their creator was no doubt dozing underground somewhere…
And the hedgehog is marvellous, of course! 🙂
Flying Red Fox Blog
16 Apr 2008Yay! Cute little thing 😀 I think you nearly have the full set of real life Animals Of Farthing Wood in your garden! 😆
SittingFox
16 Apr 2008@Mark – true enough, but if Words gets a herd of white fallow deer in his garden he'll have to get pictures to put on his blog 😆
Flying Red Fox Blog
16 Apr 2008That could be arranged or with some clever photography tricks he could do it 😛
Tht was my favourite cartoon animal series and still is, can you guess who my favourite character is? 😀
SittingFox
16 Apr 2008Hmm. Either Squirrel or the Farthing Wood Fox. Toad was cool 😉 When I was at university, one of my friends brought her little daughter along during school holidays and she was usually deep in a Farthing Wood book. One of those series which goes on and on in popularity!
Flying Red Fox Blog
16 Apr 2008Yes Fox is my favourite character 😀 Squirrel and Weasel are close favourites hehe.
Words
16 Apr 2008Adele, I suspect it may be the one from the 'other side of the road' expanding territory. We have heard some loud noises at night lately as something passes through the gate. On one occasion it was a pair of foxes racing away, on another it was a cat. Wouldn't be surprised if the badger hasn't contributed as well.
The hedgehog was great fun, and I was pleased it looked up into the camera. Such cute faces. Very dog-like.
Words
16 Apr 2008Jane, yes you're right about the excitement here. I can see some late nights ahead waiting to see if it will return, though it's got me thinking about cams or camera traps.
Words
16 Apr 2008Mark, it's certainly getting crowded here, but I'm not sure we could cope with a herd of fallow deer! What would the neighbours think!
anonymous
20 Apr 2008Ivywall writes:
A hedgehog! And he/she hung about.
The last time we saw one was last year – we were clearing out an outbuilding that was full of slugs. As I said 'What are we going to do with all these?' a hedgehog appearde in the garden. We picked him up and left him to it and went out. He must have had a real feast and staggered off with a full tum!!
Lovely animals – and lovely photos too! Thankyou.
Pat
Words
20 Apr 2008Pat, s/he seems to be becoming a regular part of the garden menagerie. I've seen it several times now. I'm always surprised at how quickly they can move it they want to.