Any time now, if the warmer weather holds, we should see if there are any stag beetles still around in the area. From a whopping 30 or so ten years back, there has been a dramatic decline. Last year we only saw about 9 beetles and I think the wet spring weather of the last few years has been largely to blame, though next door's four highly active and omniverous Bengal cats put paid to a few, unfortunately. They also murdered several frogs and this year, for the first time, there were no pairs mating in the pond.
The birds are doing well, though. There are three nests in the garden, blackbirds, robins and wrens. When the cat is out, I do my best to keep watch, ready to scare off any feathered creature on the lawn if I see a tail twitching in the shrubbery. Unfortunately, he hasn't got the skill to catch a magpie, the chattering of which outside the bedroom window is the bane of my life at present!
The vixen has at least two cubs, the boldest of which has been waddling onto the lawn all by himself. He is a curious little soul, in all senses of the word. The other day he sat beneath the hedge watching me, his head cocked on one side. I have ginger hair. Did he think I was a two-legged fox?
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