It's been a really busy month, with lots going on in the garden so this is only part one!
First up was re-doing the front path. We managed to source some new 'stones' with a log slice design. While unfortunately they are still essentially concrete, at least these come with a 15 year guarantee of being able to cope with frost - so fingers crossed they last a bit longer! This time, we dug holes in the existing soil, then laying the stones on a bed of sand. It saved the hassle of moving the thyme [which is really thriving!] and has massively reduced the sand being washed off [like last time]. Special kudos to M, who had the patience to make sure they were actually level :)
The lovely warm weather has brought out all manner of wee beasties [see below], including cinnabar moths [presumably from last year's caterpillars], hawthorn shieldbugs, interesting variations of two-spot ladybirds and lots and lots of woodlice. The ants nest under the monoblock on the driveway appears to have re-opened - its pretty fascinating watching them work, lifting tiny grains of sand up and out of the brickwork!
Obviously its not been all sunshine...and the slug and snail population have come out in force. Apparently some of the hedgehogs in the street have been witnessed eating slugs, so I leave them some of the smaller ones; moving the huge red/black slugs on an all expenses paid holiday to the council depot via the garden waste bin.
Lots of very exciting hedgehog activity this month! One evening a small young hog was visiting the peanut feeder. In a vague attempt to wean them off peanuts [concerned about a choking hazard], I threw out a handfull of sunflower seeds [which were mostly ignored]. Suddenly a second hedgehog hurries into the garden, runs a short loop around the garden then runs straight out again.
A short time later it reappears, running a longer route round the garden whereupon it realises the first hog is on the patio step. By this time, the first hog has extracted itself from the peanut feeder and has left a large pile of fresh scat on top of the sunflower seeds. Second hog proceeds to run rings around the first hog [after firstly standing in the scat and properly trampling it into the sunflower seeds]. Second hog is about twice the size of first hog and is [uh] clearly male. Interestingly whichever way the male hog rotates around the female [first, small hog], she angles her prickles to whichever side he is on.
So the female hog tries to move away and down into the garden, but big hog hounds it constantly circling. Mating occurs near the wooden tunnel, then through the tunnel and half the way round the garden. Small hog tries to throw off big hog, but the latter is extremely persistent. Apparently this circling behaviour can last for hours!
I was very lucky to see the aurora one friday night [photos aren't great, but some things in life are for experiencing in the flesh, rather than stressing about trying to document them!] I was roused out of bed at about 11pm, as the street WhatsApp was constantly pinging! So,[risking tripping over hedgehogs] I stumbled out into the back garden in my PJs to see something that's been on my bucket list for ages! And to see it in my own back garden! Incredible experience.
I think the wildlife was pretty confused people were out and about in 'their' scheduled time, as hedgehogs were being sighted the next morning. The shorter nights in summer mean that they are more likely to been seen on either side of dawn and dusk as they continue to forage. I've heard if you see them after 9am - it is a cause for concern.
This [below] is a super cool find from the garden last month...can anyone guess what it is? [think you should be able to add comments to the blog post]
Finally, we've had a rather shy fox coming to visit. He's pretty uncertain about hedgehogs and 100% reminds me of Louie.
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