Nature on your farm.

programme just started on BBC 2 with Colin Stafford-Johnson converting his 1 acre childhood garden to a wildlife haven

Set trailcamera to find what was digging the fields. I have a den of foxes so presumed it was them but few of my neighbours said badgers are about.

I saw jackdaws mating last week and I noticed earlier today that some are starting to make nests in one of the old sheds.

Spotted this cadaver as the cows were coming in for milking.

Field mouse.

Twice the size of your house mouse.

I came across a large lethargic bumblebee on the driveway around the house earlier this morning after letting the pup out to do a pee. I was keeping an eye the pup picking up/eating untoward stuff like ****/shite but in fairness the little fecker sniffed out the bumblebee . Anyway I got the bee scooped up on a piece of paper towel and I put her (I presume she's a young Queen) on the South facing windowsill in the garage with a drop of sugar/water in a saucer. Unfortunately I didn't take a pic as I trying to keep the pup settled.

Foken trolls 😝

Thats well early - usually the bulk don't arrive till next month. Probably a reflection of the benign conditions and SE airlflow in recent weeks. Clocked a few Chiffchaffs and a pair of Wheaters back home in Kildare last week.

Big surge in swallows and other summer migrants in recent days - always nice to see back🙂

Some of the swallows returned yesterday to the garage and yard. No sign of the house martins yet.

We have an owl around the farm this year - never noticed one before. It's a long eared owl from what I can tell. A pair of merlins have been spotted nearby too which are also new to the area and there's a few buzzards around the last few years which would never previously have been around also.

I went back home for a camera when I saw a fox yesterday morning, not expecting it to be there when I returned. To my surprise there was a juvenile pheasant there too. Amazingly they seemed to be ignoring one another, the pheasant clearly didn't see the danger. I managed to photograph them for 6 minutes until the silly pheasant looked his time was coming to an end.The fox took off when I made my presence felt.

Our friend is back after a years hiatus.

doing fair screeching the other night.

When I looked back at the photos taken, she seems to be circling around the fox. A smallish bird, hence me thinking that it was young male.

Amazing photo. Would love to see one in the wild

I've one on farm now, delighted to see him.

We are delighted with them. Great to pop out with binoculars at dusk.

Deliberately don’t use any bait for fear of poisoning them.

very little neighbours around that use it either.

we have a neighbour that breeds birds of prey and he owns an eagle owl. I reckon that might be why they were missing last year. The screech is supposed to scare away barn owls even though it is fully controlled and not let out loose.

that old house is where I was gardening too but left it alone once they arrived.

Between them, the hares and pheasants on the lawn and normal small birds around our young lads are definitely loving the countryside.

Had a good week here on the wildlife front. Saw a mink, long-eared owl, 2 buzzards and an otter in the river all in one day. Had seen the otter tracks for the last few years but never one in the flesh. Don't think the buzzards are very local because I hadn't seen them before. Circling low enough that I could make out the feather colours. Crows fought them off fairly lively from the silage ground though. OH says she saw a hare as big as a dog during the week too but he's yet to cross my path

First time I'd seen a live one. Seen a few the last few years dead on the road. OH saw 2 one night walking along the footpath in one of the neighbouring villages which runs parallel to the river she thought they were beavers though

I think the swallows have departed for their holidays. There was an awful commotion yesterday with them flying around the house and yard chirping and calling. I don't see any in the sheds so they must be on their way. The single house martin nest on the eave of the house is still occupied but they didn't arrive for a couple of weeks after the swallows.

Spotted a couple of red admirals this morning. Haven’t seen them in a while

What's with the spiders the last week or so. Feel like Indiana Jones walking through webs the first time into the shed or up onto the tractor every morning

Set up a trail camera to see can I grab a photo and video or two of our barn owls. Quality not perfect but not bad either.

I see the Whooper swans have arrived on a neighbours land - I counted 20 or so earlier on today grazing but I expect to see a lot more over the coming days.

What kind of damage would swans or geese do?