Nature News

Annie and Clarabel have scored points this week by spotting rabbits and a fox through the train window. And also a pheasanty-grousy-thing. There's also been wildlife spotted nearer home and a mystery's been solved.

For ages I've been woken up at night or early morning by a strange thudding noise, especially when it's cold. There was much speculation as to what it might be, from someone bouncing a ball on a patio, to a neighbour digging up a patio to dispose of a body, to a fox trying to move something to get at food, and the something falling back in place with a thud. The fox theory was favourite as the noise would stop when I opened the window and sometimes I could then hear a louder thud as (s)he jumped the fence. T'other night I tried looking out of a different window and sure enough saw Reynard himself running through our garden away from next door. But the noise continued from the direction of next door's rabbit hutch. Oh no, I thought, there's another fox there, still having a go at the rabbit. They're ganging up on it, poor little thing, thinking it's some kind of foxy convenience meal. So I shouted a bit to scare off the other fox, but nothing happened. Surely I didn't have to go out there in the cold and chase it off with a big stick? I looked a bit more closely at the rabbit and found out it wasn't a fox at all making the noise, it was the rabbit thumping its feet against the hutch in alarm. Just like Thumper in Bambi. Must tell the neighbours to make sure the hutch is really secure.

Paula at work has foxes and badgers in her garden, but she lives in Derbyshire. There was mention of this when she bought six Buff Orpington chicken eggs and an incubator to grow her own chickens, but she said the hens would be in a safe place when they hatched. Perhaps she could then start her own blog like Johnny B. I was very excited when she told us that the eggs moved from time to time, as I didn't realise they could do this by themselves, but Paula said no, the incubator turned them automatically every so often. She only had hopes of two of them hatching, as apparently you can tell by holding them up to a candle or something. She had Friday off work, as that was the date they should hatch, but she didn't text anyone with the happy news. I wonder if she'll be on maternity leave on Monday.