Still they come

 Most evenings see me sat in my study, camera kit at the ready, awaiting the arrival of hedgehogs to our garden feeding station. Sometimes it might be as early as 19.30 hrs, whilst other nights I might not see one until after 22.00 hrs. I really don't have any preference, so long as these wonderful animals continue to thrive in our locality. With the onset of the Autumn period and the increased likelihood of overnight rain, I have taken to placing a shelter over the dry food bowl, basically to stop it getting wet and going mushy! Nothing particularly technical, just a piece of plywood placed on top of an upturned plastic container,  held in place by a paving slab and supported at the opposite end by a couple of old rod rests! It ain't pretty but it's certainly effective.

I'm still attempting to put together a gallery of the individual hedgehogs which I've been lucky enough to photograph at the feeding station. My guess is that around a dozen different individuals have been involved since we started the project back in April. Because they are so close to my study doorway, I'm at the absolute minimum focal length for the Sigma 170 - 500 mm lens and due to using manual focus, quite often the depth of field isn't adequate to keep the entire animal in focus, especially when they're head on! Let's be fair, if that's my only problem then I ain't got one! 

I remain fascinated by the interaction between the animals as they meet up at the feeding station. The noise, the posturing and, if all else fails, out and out violence that I have watched is far removed from the genteel creature Beatrix Potter portrays in her Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. It might just be a direct result of using the larger bowl but, I do feel that the hedgehogs are eating far more than earlier in the year, almost certainly in preparation for hibernation. After speaking with Gary Pearse, I have every intention of keeping food going out right into December, possibly beyond, if the weather remains relatively mild.