Al Woods Photo

A nice surprise the other afternoon when I opened the blinds. This little fellow rambling across the lawn. I know our next door neighbour has hedge hogs and we quite often see them at night. He's obviously very young and I'm not sure how he got in the garden but he is welcome anytime!   Completely oblivious to our attentions, he carried on looking for food under the plants and bushes.

We went to take a look at  Luke Jerram's art installation at our local country park, Pennington Flash. Titled 'Floating Earth' it is meant to represent the view of Earth from outer space. I must say it's quite impressive. Even nicer to view at night time. So a brisk walk around the park to check out the wildlife in the area. Almost invisible in the reeds and grasses was this Reed Bunting with really nice plumage. This Grebe took several fish while we were observing it from a distance. You can just make out that the fish is a Perch with distinct dark stripes. The ubiquitous Swan. Majestic as ever.

  So carrying on from feeding the Jay, I wedged a nut in the fork of a tree stump and set up for video. Sure enough it was right on cue.

It's unusual to see these Jays in the garden, but I had seen them flying over. So I had to put some peanuts out to see if I could lure them in - and it worked. There is a pair of them that visit quite regularly now. Out walking you can really see the autumnal colours in the trees. But the lack of foliage on some trees offers no hiding place for this Heron. The birds are still gathering at the feeding areas in the park. In the woods the leaves continue to fall.