Old friend Wilma Grey Wagtail appeared again this afternoon and stayed for hours; she had called in about a month ago when the painters were here but with all the work going on she didn't stay for longer than 15 mins. Nice to see her back and we had the biggest surprise after she disappeared and then returned an hour later and brought in another 3 or 4 Wagtails with her (to be honest I lost count and there could have been 5 of them at least, two on stone bench, two on waterfall and at one stage there was one on shed and one on garage roof so I couldn't keep up with them. As we were outside at the time most did not stay but two did for a while. Pity I couldn't get them on camera when they all returned together - my camera was outside on patio table but when I had to pass the pond to retrieve the camera 3 or 4 spooked leaving two Waggies.
Was a lovely sight and hope they all return tomorrow although weather looks pretty grim and rainy :(
Here's what I did get and I'm 99% certain that Wilma was the first one to arrive as she used the same behaviour and perched on her favourite pond light as she used to do !!
most photos taken through window but did manage a couple of pics when outside.
Here's Wilma with her best pose lol
and Wilma perched on her favourite pond light ............watching Cyril lol
she wasn't bothered one bit even when there were two squirrels.......
and these were taken outside ...... now I don't know who's who in Waggie-world ........
it was difficult to get even two of the Waggies in one pic as they were spread out all over the place ......
but here's two of them although not a great pic ...
different Waggie here .............
definitely Wilma next ............. she certainly looks bonnie lol nice to know she had a brood :)
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Regards, Hazel
Doesn't look good!!
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Thanks, Hazel, for the newest set of garden visitors. You are so lucky to have the Wagtail and they are so pretty! As for Hedgehogs, I hope you eventually have them. You might need to cut a hole in a fence or two to make sure they can get in. We haven't had any in many years, sadly (possibly due to increasing traffic locally), but we always knew if we had them long before we ever saw them because we sometimes heard them at night and often the very first clue was that we found their droppings in the garden. Of course, spotting their droppings was far easier for us in our small garden than it would be in your far larger garden. In fact, our Hedgehog visitors were thoughtful enough to leave their droppings on the patio stones in the back garden and occasionally right outside the front door!
Kind regards, Ann
Unknown said:In fact, our Hedgehog visitors were thoughtful enough to leave their droppings on the patio stones in the back garden and occasionally right outside the front door!
lol, Hazel, yes, they were very thoughtful but at least we knew they'd been visiting! But Hedgehogs are afraid of dogs, so perhaps they might not like foxes, either. Long ago we had a Hedgehog nest under a hedge between our garden and the neighbour's, and the mother Hedgehog abandoned the nest and her little ones were killed by the dogs next door when they wandered off in search of Mum. But now I'm reminded about the joke voted the best joke of the Edinburgh Fringe several years ago: 'Hedgehogs...why can't they share!'
lol Ann, and yes you could be right about the presence of the fox so not sure the hoggies will live in the garden across at the empty house 'cos the fox lives there ! I was told it had a badger too by someone who rented it last year.
Odds are you will be getting one or two Hazy what with the attraction of the water too, and an odd peanut dropped by the Nuthatch and Jays which they love to chomp on. You will have to get a camera set up down at the stumpery, that could prove interesting.
Lot to learn
Unknown said:I believe they like fruit and veg too from what I've read
Yes, if mixed with other food. You will also see them digging round the garden for earth worms. A bit of advice from the national fox association, mix some marmite in the food you offer. It's good for them, they love it and helps them fight mange!
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"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way." John Muir
Thanks Marina,
Unknown said: A bit of advice from the national fox association, mix some marmite in the food you offer. It's good for them, they love it and helps them fight mange!
I can officially confirm that last night it had a better dinner than we did, lol! Yes, the mothers are out with the cubs now, soon they will start the territorial disputes (I believe some of ours have already started, judging from the racket).
Good to see Wilma back and you've taken some lovely photos of her as well as the miffed Robin and the handsome Jay.
I've seen a Jay coming back to the garden recently but thew peanuts I put out are being scoffed by Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons before it gets a look in.
On the subject of foxes I always suspected they visited the garden at night and now I know for sure with my recently acquired trail camera.
Not the greatest quality but you can also see that hedgehogs can happily co-exist with foxes.
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Tony
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