My Patch – June 2018

So June’s blog is a little late! July’s will probably be a little later still! 

I have to say that I have spent a lot more time in the garden than I have out in the field because 1) the edge of the field was over grown and extremely difficult to walk around 2) the garden needed lots done to it 3) I’ve been working long hours at work and 4) 30 Days Wild happened 🙂

June 6th – I saw a Jay in the garden for the first time, it was a very fleeting visit but it was nice to see.  There are lots of fledgling birds about at the moment.  Starlings, great spotted woodpeckers, rooks and this evening I watched the house sparrows leaving their nest from under the roof tiles.  

June 11th – I heard the cuckoo again so he’s still here at the moment 🙂

June 12th – Seeing the slugs and snails have been making a meal out of the seedlings in the garden I decided they would be moving home, into the field! I found a brown garden snail and what I think is a white-lipped banded snail and a grey field slug – happy to be corrected if I’m wrong as I’ve not identified snails and slugs before! 

June 13th – I put the camera out last night to see how the fox is getting on in the field.  She’s still about and takes full advantage of any food that is put out for her 🙂

June 18th – For 30 Days Wild today I went out into the field to see what flowers were about, I found; Soft-brome grass, Corn Chamomile, Curled dock, Field Forget-me-not and of course Stinging nettles. 

June 25th – there was a Roe deer in the field first thing, a male.  I didn’t get a photo as only his antlers were visible in the rape!

June 26th – The cat showed his colours today – two dead birds, one juvenile robin and a blue tit.  There hasn’t been a ‘kill’ left on the doorstep for a while so not sure why its happened today.  

June 28th – Today I found my first Tiger Cranefly (Nephrotoma flavescens), I was looking at the plants in the raised beds and it caught my eye.  

June 29th – I was stood in the front garden and ‘something’ landed on a nearby tree – a Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).  

I do seem to be writing about more insects this month; 30 Days Wild has started me looking for the smaller creatures in my patch and as I mentioned the field was a little difficult to get around so my attention diverted to what I could easily get too 🙂

I hadn’t heard the cuckoo since the 11th so I can only assume he’s left again for another year – safe travels little chap, hope to hear you again (and maybe see you!) next year…

Foxes in the garden

A friend has fox cubs that have started to visit their garden; so of course I HAD to go and see them.  I was told they turn up at dusk, so I made sure I was there by 20:30 and settled into a garden chair.  I was slightly surprised when a face appeared out of the hedgerow at 21:26.  This was quite a bit earlier than expected.  Initially there was only one cub, who stayed close to the hedgerow. 

He disappeared for a while and then I saw him sprint across the bottom of the garden, he worked his way round the back of the garage and was later spotted using the cat flap to get to the cat food in the shed!  The owner is now fully aware that it’s not the cat eating the cat food!!!

Another cub stuck his nose out, and then a second joined him, after a few minutes they ran off; there was some quiet barking from behind the hedgerow.  What we believe was the vixen wandered into the garden followed by one of the cubs, they moved off and out of the bottom of the garden.  In total there are three cubs and both parents.

I went back again a couple of days later – they are only cubs for a short while and I wanted to see them again before they go their separate ways.  They were a lot more wary tonight, I’m not sure why as I did exactly the same as the night before, the only difference being the cat that was wandering around a bit.  They did come out of the hedge but only slightly and didn’t hang around.  I retreated into the house and sat just inside the back door; they then ventured out further into the garden but didn’t stay about for long. 

I went back again the following night.  They were out in the field at the bottom of the garden.  There are often rabbits in the field so I guess it is a good hunting ground for them.  A dog fox walked across the field, we don’t think this is the father of the cubs, but what I did notice is that he doesn’t look quite right, his snout looks short? 

I guess he must be doing okay as he looks quite healthy but I’m not sure what would have caused it, I guess he could have been born like it. There were a lot of people out in their gardens which didn’t seem to bother them while they were in the field, but they didn’t come very far into the garden until it was dusk and I had retreated to the kitchen.  I guess it’s a good thing that they are wary of people as it will help them survive longer.  I don’t believe there are any hunts in the area thankfully and the parent foxes have been visiting this garden for a couple of years now and this is their second litter of cubs that we know of.