Wanderer returns

As the evenings get lighter the sightings improve and we've now seen a solitary badger hoovering up the peanuts around 21:30 on two consecutive nights. We're not convinced it is one of the gang from last year because it has a very grey coat and some quite distinctive stripes. The guess is it's a male as it has a very large tail, but either way he does not hang around. Although we've not seen him turning up yet, so we do not know if he's coming from down the side of the playhouse but he certainly left by way of the hole in the fence and out into the field. The hope had been that by the end of May we'd have seen a mother and cubs so fingers crossed.

The Siskins or rather a Siskin turned up last weekend to help demolish the nijer seeds but has not been seen since unfortunately.

Hissing badger

The badger(s) are coming around 22:00 these days but our sightings have only been sporadic. I stumbled across one the other night whilst coming in the back door, and was within two feet when it took a couple of steps forward, hissed loudly and then bolted down the side of the playhouse. We were both a little startled.

In other news, the Goldfinches are regulars on the front bird feeders but have rejected those in the back garden and are not using one feeder, perhaps because it bears more of a resemblance to a bird maximum security prison than a delightful seed feeder. Here's hoping the Siskins make a return as well. And then a few Common Tern sightings whilst out paddling-boarding last week. The distinctive cry made me look up, my balance went and it was all downhill from there.