Birds are starting to claim territories for the forthcoming breeding season, now that the days are starting to get longer again. It’s quite incredible how birds can detect the smallest of change in the length of daylight hours, but now we are past the longest day, 22nd December, male birds are now starting to lay claim to their territory in Snape Wood.
If you watch and listen, you can already hear woodpigeons, collared doves, great tits, blackbirds, wrens and robins giving out the breeding calls. Blackbirds, wrens, dunnocks and robins are already engaging in battle with each other to get the best positions – you can witness many squabbles going on around you.
The wildlife is alive and kicking already !
Unfortunately, Barney the hedgehog’s broken leg had to be amputated, despite the best efforts of the team at Byron Veterinary Clinic to save it.
However, we are pleased to report he came through the operation with flying colours, is eating very well and is now back with Clayton, scuttling around as fast, if not faster, than a four-legged hedgehog !
He will be released to an enclosed garden in the Spring where he can live a semi-wild existence, but for now he has to concentrate on putting more weight on.
Barney the juvenile hog with a makeshift cast
This is Barney the hedgehog, an Autumn juvenile who crawled into Clayton’s garden on Tuesday. As well as being underweight, typical of so many Autumn babies, Barney also has a fractured left hind leg.
The wonderful Dennis Jones at Byron Veterinary Clinic has constructed an incredible makeshift cast for Barney, out of a 20ml syringe barrel, to keep his leg straight to add healing.
The cast will probably need to stay on for 4 weeks, but does not seem to be stopping Barney from trying to escape ! We’ll keep you posted with his progress. Thanks to Dennis for his time, patience and skill in helping Barney.
Watch out for Autumnwatch which starts on BBC2 at 9pm today – hedgehogs should feature heavily during the programme’s 8 week run.
It is with a heavy heart we have to report the death of a hedgehog following a dog attack in Snape Wood Nature Reserve.
The summer-born juvenile managed to crawl its way into my garden during daylight hours yesterday after the attack (always a bad sign as hogs are nocturnal), but a close inspection revealed the hog had been attacked a few days before and was infested with maggots. It also appeared to be suffering from ringworm, a fungal infection which results in the loss of spines.
Sadly it was necessary for the hedgehog to be put to sleep – thanks to Byron Veterinary Clinic, Nuthall Road, Nottingham for their prompt action, which they carried out free of charge.
If your dog picks up a hedgehog not only will it get a mouthful of prickles but, as happened in this instance, it can pierce the skin of the wild animal. If not treated with antibiotics immediately, infection will set in and flystrike (where flies lay eggs in the open wound) occurs. Once the maggots hatch it’s generally an irretrievable situation.
Please be responsible dog owners and seek urgent medical attention for hedgehogs in this situation – you can call Clayton on 0115 875 3516.
Juvenile hedgehogs may need our help
Now is the busiest time of the year for hedgehog carers, as the babies born late on in the year start their race against time to put on enough weight to hibernate safely.
Second litter hedgehogs, often called Autumn juveniles, have a big disadvantage over their cousins born earlier in the year in that they only have a limited amount of time to reach the perfect hibernation weight of 600g and above.
Now is a good time to see many of the juveniles out and about at night – they are essentially miniature versions of the adult hogs. Everyone can lend a helping hand by leaving out dog or cat food (white meat in jelly), or even dried mealworms, and a dish of water, to help fatten up all hedgehogs, not just the juveniles.
If you ever see a hedgehog out during the day it needs serious help and fast – please ring Clayton on 0115 875 3516.
If you see smaller hedgehogs out at night and you’re not sure what to do, you can call Clayton too so he can assess whether the hog needs to be brought in and fed up (with a view to releasing before late Autumn sets in). Pay particular attention to their body shape – long and thin is bad, round is good.
Volunteers from Experian will be on the Snape Wood site next Wednesday, and will be helping to build hedgehog houses which will be used to monitor the woodland’s population of hogs.
The first two long-tailed tits of the season have returned to Snape Wood after being absent during their breeding season over the Spring and Summer.
Back for the Autumn - prepare to be pillaged !
Expect to see the flock grow considerably, as these little ‘powder puffs’ meet up and then go on foraging raids together around the Wood, often joined by coal, blue and great tits during the colder months.
They are wonderfully pretty, cheeky and acrobatic birds who tend to swoop in on gardens, hit the feeders hard for a few minutes, then all fly off together – they never fail to bring a smile to my face !
The bullfinch and goldfinches are also still resident in the wood, making it a very colourful time of the year to watch our woodland birds go about their business, even more so when the leaves start to fall from the trees.
The highly secretive but very decorative bullfinch
Whilst the goldfinches, which arrived last week, are now regular visitors to Snape Wood a real bolt out of the blue arrived yesterday with the first recorded bullfinch in the Reserve.
It popped briefly into my garden but was unfortunately scared off by a passing cyclist before it had a chance to investigate the feeders.
These highly secretive birds were once ‘red listed’ by the RSPB meaning their population was reducing significantly – indeed, in a 25 year period their population crashed by 50%. Fortunately, in recent years, the numbers have increased to about 166,000 breeding pairs nationwide, and they are now ‘amber listed’.
Another wildlife coup for Snape Wood as a small ‘charm’ of goldfinches have relocated to our Nature Reserve in the past seven days.
Goldfinches have relocated to Snape Wood
The charm, the collective name for a flock of goldfinches, includes adults, juveniles and some very recently fledged chicks (‘fledged’ means they have left the nest). Goldfinches are incredibly pretty birds, with their red faces and bright gold flashes along the edges of their wings – completely unmissable !
These notoriously fussy eaters can be enticed into your garden by putting up a nyger seed feeder – nyger seed is very fine, and goldfinches have perfect beaks for extracting the seed from special feeders with very small holes. They will also eat sunflower hearts.
We also have one sighting of a chiff-chaff, possibly a lost bird from Sellers Wood, where they are known to reside.
The bird life in Snape Wood continues to throw up interesting new arrivals. Let’s see what the autumn brings (crosses fingers hopefully for waxwings).
Wildlife needs water when it's hot
If you think you’re hot at present, spare a thought for all the wildlife around you. Everyone can help the birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles during this heatwave by leaving out a bowl of fresh, clean water every day. It will get drunk, even if you’re not around to see the creatures taking advantage of your hospitality.
Hedgehogs, in particular, need a lot of water, and will drink lots every night (they are nocturnal, but do come out before sunset, at around 9pm at present). Please don’t leave out milk for them – most mammals, apart from humans, cannot cope with cows’ milk, and will suffer from tummy upsets, dehydration and possible death.
Do your bit – you may get rewarded with all sorts of wonderful visitors !
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To add your support for their scheme to promote wildlife activities in the heart of the City of Nottingham, please vote by visiting the National Lottery Good Causes website and clicking on the Vote Now button.
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