Adrian Drummond-Hill wrote:

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 Tony, I've still got three visiting. They're about two months old and are eating like mad to gain enough weight to hibernate. Getting water is a problem as the water bowls keep freezing up. I got two heat pads from Amazon which help. I recently put together a short video of one of the new ones with their mother. It's at the link.

https://youtu.be/nVj1FyBkfPI?si=U1Gn3eG1D4QdF-2m

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 These little spiky visitors are a real treasure.

In our Stockport garden we have had Hedgehog virtually every night from 16th April until 25th October on occasions at least two. 

Large Skipper was a first for our garden today. Dukinfield near Gorse Hall.  

For years we have been waiting for a hedgehog in our garden....many houses...many years...but tonight we had a visitor 

Three hedgehogs in our garden last night.

Harwood, Bolton.

Another good year for our garden Hedgehogs with up to three some nights but two being the norm but no hoglets observed, they have now disappeared with the last sighting being the 20th September. 

Two noctule bats doing circuits of the field behind my Astley house again this evening from 20:05-20:20. I know very little about bats so it was amazing to see how large they looked and watch them so high in the air. Through the bins their flight occasionally reminded me of a Common Sandpiper (!) but their straight line flight and then terrific aerial acrobatics chasing prey was great to watch.

The 'squirrel buster' feeders are no longer effective as they've developed a manoeuvre to access the peanuts by hanging upside down - quite comical as they look like they've been hung out to dry! (see pic)

Also in garden today :- Red Admiral;  Toadlet  &  Grasshopper.

We have been lucky with a hedgehog returning nearly every evening/night and at least on one occasion Cath observed two.

The cat biscuits I put out every night are always gone in the morning with the tray upturned & the visitor isn't a cat either - but the local hedgehog which has grown quite big now with its guaranteed nightly take-away! - picture was taken with the security light on & not in the sunshine.

A Hedgehog turned up in our Stockport garden at 20.49 on Thursday, lets hope they continue to visit like in 2022 and that the Badgers stay away.

Adrian Drummond-Hill wrote:

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Tony,

Badgers are bad news for hedgehogs. They've found a way to combat the spines, they flip the hedgehog on its back and attack the soft belly. I found one on the road, half a mile from my house. At first I thought it had been killed by a car but on closer examination there was just the outer covering left. A badger had eaten the insides and left the carcass. 

I hope you get some back soon and the badgers move on.

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 Adrian,

Thank you for you reply.

Having spoken to several organisations it was clear they didn't want to admit to predation.

I also found a carcass whilst working on a garden not too far away from home exactly as you have described, just the outer covering. All very interesting as nature is.

A little summary for 2022 from our Stockport garden, we were delighted to have hedgehogs from March onwards with at least four on several occasions. We went away in September and on our return we sat patiently, dusk came and went with no sign of them, all of a sudden a badger (our first) turned up and this was the end of our hedgehog sightings. Where did they go, predation perhaps ?

Foxes are still regular visitors as are Grey Squirrels and field mice are often seen.  

Common Frog and Toad are seen on a regular basis and in fact are in the compost corner at the moment.

During June I received a moth trap as a birthday present this produced a Poplar Hawk Moth during August plus lots of others that I was never familiar with.

Our New Year wish is that Hedgehogs return.     

'Grey Dagger' moth that spent several hours on our front window today.

Karen Foulkes wrote:

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A Hedgehog visited the garden last night, my first in the garden for many years!

Over the last week two Pipistrelles have been flying over the garden and a large frog was on the patio on Thursday night.

Large White, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral have been in the garden over the past few days alongside many pollinators which have also been present.

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 Karen,

If you have hedgehogs visiting, please put out a shallow bowl of water. They suffer in this dry weather and many get dehydrated. 

Lez Fairclough wrote:

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My next door neighbour is having new fencing built so there are a few 3 foot deep holes awaiting posts & concrete.  Anyway my 8 year old grand daughter Scarlett was inquisitively checking the holes out when she suddenly shouted "Grandad there's a hedgehog in one of the holes & quite rightly there was - it must have fallen down during the night. We got some cat food for it which it demolished (poor thing it must have been starving & could have been stuck down there a couple of days as I had not seen it recently as it always visits our garden at night). After its feed & sporting gardening gloves I easily lifted it to safety & placed it in a safe area nearby & my neighbour kindly covered up all the holes to prevent a reoccurrence - a very fortunate & happy ending for this endangered animal.     

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 Great result Lez. Hedgehogs need all the help they can get, especially in dry periods, when rain is infrequent. A bowl of water in the garden will be very beneficial. We are lucky enough to get lots in our garden and have five camera traps around the house to monitor them. Two nights ago we released Tim, who we took to a rescue centre a few weeks ago as he was covered in ticks. They found he had lungworm and roundworm so they removed the ticks and treated him for the worms. He was back in the garden last night so hopefully he'll be OK. The picture of him was taken in the evening, a few hours before he was released.