We have been away from here for a week and things have moved on. Still no baby animals on the trap camera but we did have this:

We had presumed there must be more than one badger but this is the first hard evidence of it.

Secondly, as well as seeing that the foxes are now thankfully looking in good nick, we also captured this:

There are a lot of Jays here. Apparently they build a messy nest of twigs in a tree or shrub, lined with some softer fur and feathers. And they pair for life. I am not aware of ever having seen a Jays nest but there have to be some around here somewhere – probably on the cliff – and so I will try to watch Jay activity to see where they go.

Last weekend we laid 10 squares down around the place made out of felt roofing material which are used for amphibian and reptile sampling.

Under them is warm and protected and you never know what you will find basking in the heat. We looked under all ten of them as we walked around this afternoon and we found one heck of a lot of snails, an ants nest:

and, under one, one of the things we were hoping to find, a lizard:

 

Finally ( for now ) some of the lovely spring meadow flowers are starting to come up.

And, by the pond:

 

A cold north-easterly wind is blowing today and for the next couple of days which will slow any further burgeoning spring activity, but we will be around with eyes and ears open to see if anything interesting is going down.