Around Appleton - Footpath To Eaton

We quite often take the dogs for a walk on the path to Eaton. 

This time it was about midday so there were no animals out.

Burdock with butterflies

 The footpath is inline with air craft training, so we often see aeroplanes and helicopters

Chinook

View across to Brize Norton

Damsons

The Local Rookery

Harrowdown Hill

Underneath these trees there is a rabbit warren

The Burrowers

Did anyone see The Burrowers on TV?
 I watched it yesterday on the computer.
I liked the idea that they could see underground and that made me want to go and see my local Badger sett.

 We are very careful not to disturb the badgers and we sit up in a tree.
If we are every still and quiet the badgers don't notice us.

 The young badgers aren't as wary as the adults.

 They were very playful last night and made lots of noise.

Deers and Fungi

These photos are of a male and female Roe Deer. 

We normally see them on their own or a female and her babies. 

The deers are around in pairs because late July and August is mating season.

This type of fungi is an Oyster Mushroom.
It is edible, but I would not eat it unless I am totally sure it is safe.

It's a badger parade

The badgers were out earlier last night because it got darker earlier as it was cloudy. The rain makes them come out earlier as well.

These video's are of a mum, some of this years babies and another couple of adults.

Badgers can live in groups of around 14 adults.

Badgers love unsalted peanuts and mealworms.

Badgers live in setts that can be their family home for over 100 of years. They also use paths that their older family members used years before.
They have a special toilet area away from their sett called a latrine.

Evening walk - Badgers, mice and blackberries

On our evening walk we noticed that the first Blackberrys are out.

 In the wood there is a discarded piece of corrugrated metal, each time we lift it up we see a group of little bank voles (as pointed out by RB. Thank you)
I can see now that it is a bank vole as it has small ears..

We went to visit the badgers. It has been a few weeks since we have seen them. They have been busy digging new holes.

After the film stopped the badger went around the back and tried to scratch the camera off the tree. The badger was very interested in sniffing where my mum had been standing. A Badgers sense of smell is 700 times better than a humans .

Pigeons And Bears

The Wood Pigeons nest in our garden now has two eggs in it. It takes 18 days for a wood pigeons eggs to hatch.

The Wood Pigeons are found anywhere in the UKand they stay all year round.
The latin name for a Wood pigeon is Columba palumbus

Here are some photos of the American Black Bear that destroyed the birdfeeders in my Uncle's back garden.

Ladybirds and bears

Ladybird, Ladybird fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one
And her name is Ann
And she hid under the baking pan

 There were superstitious beliefs that it was unlucky to kill a ladybird and this verse would make them fly away.
Another superstition says that you should chant the verse if a ladybird lands on you, if it then flies away again your wish will come true.

Bears in the USA - My Uncle showed me this photo he took after a bear came in his garden and destroyed his bird feeders. The bears are eating lots of food at the moment because they are starting to fatten themselves up for hibernation.