A Warm Autumn Day Bringing Changes

During the past two months I seem to have spent much time gazing out of the windows. From my seat in the lounge I have watched both foxes and badgers feed at night.

This morning the warmth of the sun has brought many beautiful butterflies and dragonflies to the garden, with dozens of ladybirds, both British and European, climbing up or resting on the sun warmed surface of the bungalow outer walls.

A small green caterpillar slowly making its way down the patio window, became lunch for a tit. Dozens of bees and wasps have banged into the patio windows. The hornets have left the garage, the bees have moved on from their nest in the bedroom wall, (the noise they made at night keeping the nest at the right temperature was amazing, of course it was the same during the day, but much less noticeable).

Fox, Great Tits and an Angry Robin

The garden has become very overgrown during the last few months. The fox continues to call for food every evening, but sadly there will be no youngsters this autumn. A few months ago the fox den was discovered by some youngsters, who tried to dig it out, despite my catching them, they returned on two further occasions. This was enough to make the fox leave her den. It is September now and although she does still turn up for food sadly there is no sign of any young.

This morning I spent a very happy half an hour watching a small flock of great tits in and around the pond area. They searched all over nearby plants and shrubs for food and both drank and bathed in the pond. One area of the pond is quite overgrown and I noticed any tits venturing into that area soon came out. I couldn't understand this until the quick exit of a great tit was followed even more quickly by a robin shooting out. The robin took up position on a nearby plant and thereafter defied any great tits to come near that area. I think he/she must have a home there.

Badgers and Plums

A trip down the garden resulted in finding the plums both ripe and over ripe on the tree, glancing down to the border beneath, I saw it was totally flattened and there were no windfall plums, I also became aware of a very strong smell. I think the flattening of the area and the lack of windfalls together with the strong smell, leads me to think of a badger. It pleases me to think the badger must be having a feast nightly. The reason I think it is a badger not a fox is because the strong smell is definitely not fox and therefore must be badger.

The Spider Living in the Mallow.

Directly outside the patio window a mallow has self seeded and grown, we have left it there because it has beautiful purple flowers and attracts many bees and other insects, it now has an added interest because a spider has made this plant its home, and over the last few weeks it has feasted well, catching many and varied flies and other insects in its web. The only creatures to escape are wasps and bees, who are much stronger than the others, they are often caught but able to free themselves by just struggling, however I have noticed they always tear the web in leaving. This presents no problem to the spider who always has it repaired in a very short time.

I noticed on the plant, one of the leaves was pulled down and the edges drawn slightly together, watching I realised that the spider sits and waits underneath this leaf, and it is from here that he is able to rush out and quickly deal with any disturbance of his web.

Muntjac Deer

I felt privileged to watch the muntjac deer on the bank this afternoon, he was very busy cropping the lower branches of an apple tree and munching on the plants.

Many people find these creatures a nuisance, but I enjoy every moment while watching them in the garden. They are sturdy little deer just fifteen to eighteen inches at the shoulder when fully grown. they are also known as barking deer because of the noise they make --- a little like a small dog!

During summer they are a reddish brown in colour and in winter a greyish brown, with darker markings on their face, a vee shape in the male and a diamond shape in the female.The males have short straight horns on top of their pedicules. They have no set  breeding time but like us are able to reproduce all year round. The fawns are very pretty and very tiny,they are born after a seven month gestation and have rows of white spots along their back for their first two months.

Muntjac are not native to this country having been introduced to our parks in the early twentieth century, they originate from south-east China and Taiwan. Many escaped from these parks and set up wild populations in our countryside, they are now frequently seen in our gardens.