Hedgehog

Not having turned out today but regular checks out the window at the comings and goings of the various birds dropping into the pool for a drink or bathe , I was surprised to see a Hedgehog waddling up the garden  so I grabbed the camera for a quick shot before getting the garden gloves to grab hold of it and check it out , but it had disappeared under the  bushes beneath a large pine tree so I carefully lifted the long strands of a sort of ivy  and was surprised to find a pile of grass and leaves and just the hogs little backside sticking out , well go figure never knew I had it hibernating in the garden , have seen them on numerous occasions over the years , looked carefully again and it was right inside it's cosy little nest well sheltered from rain and snow by the tree overhang . So I will just keep an eye out for it  perhaps get a pouch of dog food and leave a morsel for it at night.
So be careful in your coming garden tidy ups ,check the hedge or whatever your sorting out, it may just be a hogs heaven !!!!!  

Hog heads back to bed after a stroll around the grounds , he did try  out the snail shell on the left so he may be hungry , I,m heading off for some dog food

St Mary's Island 29-7-11

Friday a trip along to St Mary's to look out for Roseate Terns ,the tide dropping plenty of Common Terns around and a few Sandwich, picked out a Med Gull on the north shore it had a colour ring  so I set about trying to get some shots using a different camera  than usual it was much harder to use but hoping the quality will be better when I get used to it. About 10 mins later located another Adult Med this one unringed , there was a frenzy on the beach with Redshank, Turnstone   & Black-headed Gulls all feeding as the tide rapidly dropped then they all spent time on the now exposed rocks  preening , good little session  

 Adult Mediterranean Gull

 Not sure if this is a full Adult yet thought I saw a trace of Grey/Black in the wing tips green ring with AHJH edit: checking the NTBC website (link on the side) this bird was ringed as a nestling 7/7/08 Germany and last seen Newbiggin 30/7/09

AHJH ring clearly shown is this shot

 Found this small Hedgehog in the garden one morning seemed OK so I put it in a box for the day with some food and water, which it had ate by evening and released it back in the garden.

Found this redish Spider amongst the wood chippings