Gardenwatch: July

Gardenwatch: July

As my last Gardenwatch post was so popular, I decided to share some more videos with you.

The blackbirds love using the homemade birdbath (an old roasting tin!). While the blackbirds use the birdbath for bathing and drinking, I’ve noticed that the other garden birds only tend to use it for drinking. The squirrels enjoy using it too. Occasionally, they try to use it at the same time!

I moved the camera up to the top of the garden to see if I could catch where the hedgehog was coming through from next door. While I did capture a couple of short videos of the hedgehog, it seems that a magpie wasn’t too happy about the camera. Sound on for this one!

A couple of weeks ago, I moved the camera to the other end of the garden. I wasn’t sure what it would capture there. Neighbours’ cats often pass by, and this little beauty was interested in a hole in the garden. He was probably hoping a mouse would pop out!

Another neighbour’s cat passed through the garden one night and discovered a couple of hedgehogs. Thankfully, he left the hedgehogs alone and carried on through without bothering them.

I then discovered we had not two but three hedgehogs in the garden. One is obviously a little bit territorial!

One of the hedgehogs that visits the garden has quite distinctive markings, so its easy to distinguish from the other hedgehogs.

The squirrel is a regular visitor to the garden, often making its way here from the chestnut trees in the field behind the garden.

I love watching the hedgehogs in the garden, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the camera. The hedgehogs now tend to appear between midnight and 3.30am when the temperature is at its coolest.

This poor little hedgehog just wanted to be left alone. I’ve noticed the little one tends to rest a lot after having something to eat. Hedgehogs don’t have good eyesight, so I’m sure the larger hedgehog wasn’t trying to annoy the little one on purpose.

I’m so glad I got the wildlife camera. It’s been interesting finding out what goes on in the garden when I’m not looking. I’m thinking of moving the camera again, but I’ve got to work out where.

Have you got a wildlife camera in your garden?

30 comments

  1. Carol says:

    I would love to see hedge hogs in my garden – they look so cute. I’ve only seen them in photos of course as they don’t live in the USA.

  2. Jodie says:

    I love seeing all this nature in your yard! The hedgehogs are particularly fun to watch because we don’t them in our area. I’ve added a nature camera to my Christmas list!

  3. Kris P says:

    That was fun! We don’t have a wildlife camera but we have several security cameras that provide interesting input on occasion. We only check it when there are signs of wildlife (or human) intrusions we’d like to check, usually evidence that the raccoons have been fussing with the backyard fountain. Once my husband checked it to see if someone had made off with our newspaper, only to discover that the culprit was a coyote. We were able to follow him around the house from the time he picked it up in the driveway to when he dropped it along a path in the back garden.

  4. Several friends of ours have invested in wildlife cameras, with amazing results, so once subsidence repairs to our garden have been completed we have already ear-marked the place for ours to be sited.

    This year however, we haven’t needed a camera to see, and definitely hear, the action. The trees behind us have been literally taken over with crows, magpies and pigeons, in 33 years of living here, we have never seen so many. It’s like the dawn chorus all day long and much worse when the squirrels get a bit too close to the nests!!

    Fantastic clips! 🙂

  5. Becky says:

    WE don’t get hedgehogs sadly but we get so many birds and a mouse or too. I’ve always wondered what they might get up to during the night.

    • Nikki says:

      Oh, I’d definitely recommend getting one! The one I’ve got is solar so I don’t have to worry about the batteries running down fast.

  6. Angie says:

    Nikki – I absolutely adore hedgehogs and I am thrilled that you are seeing so many in your garden. I suspect the cat would have had its paws full if it had tried to take one on! I have a trail camera on our property but I only take still photos rather than video. Have a wonderful weekend!

  7. Kelly says:

    I almost missed this post! My blog reader has been down so I haven’t thought to check yours during the week (you normally post on Sundays!).

    I love all these clips and it’s so fun seeing the hedgehogs. We have a game camera, but don’t use it regularly. The visitors we see most often are deer, raccoons, wild hogs, armadillos, and possums.

    It’ll be fun to see where you set up next!

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