I’ve not been blogging during the summer but I am still keeping up with the garden nature project, and also updating the website logs, records and information.
I’ve had a few Beech Marten sightings since the last blog and I’ve gathered enough info to create a more detailed records page. The conclusions of my initial, not very scientific analysis is that I think I can identify at least two different individuals visiting.
It all comes down to the tail tip, sometimes bushy and sometimes not.
29th June (Bushy Tail Tip) 
26th August (Straight Tail Tip)
For the full story check out the Beech Marten records and the analysis on the wesbite.
The summer has seen a bit of a drop off in hedgehog activity. Some nights I’ve not been getting any visits at all and the use of the hedgehog house stopped some weeks ago.
What I did see was a big increase in visits from the neighbourhood cats, to the point where it became impossible to leave any food out for the hedgehogs without the cats taking it. Therefore, a little bit of DIY later I’ve made up a hedgehog feeding which will hopefully keep the hedgehogs fully interested in the garden. For the DIY ambitious, the plans for the construction can be found here.
Apart from the regular visitors I do still keep finding nice surprises in the garden and the most recent is shown below.
Rather unfairly called the ‘Common’ frog this one was a rather nice example. There is no water in my garden, no pond, but these frogs actually spend most of their time away from water which they only really use for breeding. They hibernate in places such as garden undergrowth and woodpiles so keep an eye out if you see some leaves moving at the bottom of a hedge.
Chatou Nature Blog 