Autumn already?

 As I type, there are heavy grey clouds scuttling across the sky pushed by a Southerly airflow, gusting 40 mph at times. Summer 2024, it would seem, has followed a similar path to that of the Tories! It's been ages since I last picked up a fishing rod, but the requirement to get our bedroom ship shape in order for the wardrobe fitters to ply their magic, meant that freetime has been a very precious commodity recently. I would like to thank Ric F for his assistance in solving the id of the skull I'd picked up on the island of Corfu. The conclusion being that the animal involved is a Stone Marten (Martes foina) also known as Beech Marten. My own "Rock Marten" id, stemmed from a conversation with a shopkeeper on Kefalonia and is probably the erroneous translation of "stone" into "rock" which caused this.

An image taken from Wikipedia.
This skull is exhibited in a museum in North America where there is a thriving,
feral, population of these animals

The garden moth trap continues to provide interest, yet very little evidence of insect migration, with odd individuals of Light Arches and The Herald being rather unexpected. One single egg tray produced The Miller, Poplar Grey and Sycamore next to each other which is exactly the order they appear in my field guide illustrations. One or two Box-tree Moths are starting to appear, yet not a single Tiger Moth sp. has been recorded thus far. One positive has to be the good number of Elephant Hawk-moths which are being attracted. It's not unusual to have half a dozen inside the trap when I examine the contents of the previous night's effort.

Sycamore

Poplar Grey

Thankfully, the garden Hedgehogs are very cooperative and active. My best guess is at least five individuals are regularly visiting the feeding station. Although I've not seen any myself, my neighbours are reporting a number of "hoglets", attending their feeding bowls, in the company of adults. Things are certainly looking good for the local population of these special garden visitors.

 A parasitic tick is obvious behind this animal's right ear.

I feed it less than once a fortnight yet, there is no getting away from the fact
that Hedgehogs absolutely love cheese!

That individual with the "tick", behind its' right ear, doesn't seem to be experiencing any type of health problems, but I am going to do a little research and will certainly remove it if there is evidence that it would be a benefit for the animal involved. Hopefully, some type of normality will return next week and I'll be able to cast a baited rig again? Fortunately, my old mate Gazza is doing a bit of time out on Black Dyke and has been able to point me in the direction of a couple of spots where the effort involved to get there won't cause any major issues with my aging body!

A recent sunset, as seen from the back garden - farewell Summer?