First light enters the south (smaller) skylight by 7.58am
Sky Light
Author Archives for Eggman
Other Homes: A Badger Sett
A slightly sunken lane parallels Smugglers Copse down to the river. My neighbour Nick tells me a custom house used to stand at the head of this path at its junction with Inchemery Lane, but all trace (except for a kink in the road) has been lost. Toward the middle of the lane around 100 metres from the river, badgers have made a home in the soft embankment. I could not find any latrines, but there were a few trails into nearby pasture that would provide earthworms for a healthy diet. A few shallow conical scrapes were also noted under the trees above the sett which may be related.
Dust Bath
Beside the eastern bank of the river some 200 yards south of the Egg, a fallen fir provides bathing facilities for some of the many partridge encountered on my walk with local birding expert Juliet. Five or six separate wriggle holes were evident in the fine dusty ground. Around the other side, an interesting looking bottle has somehow found its way under the upturned roots of the tree.
Pre Dawn
Pre dawn light, Exbury Egg looking south toward the Isle of Wight, 7.50am, Wednesday 11.12.13
Pigeon Post
A pair of wood pigeons perched in the blackthorn this morning, took flight just before I could produce a camera. The clay pigeon made by CCI International sometime after 1982 (and still in production today) was more obliging. Found in river mud beside the Egg, it had something of the appearance of a Romano British dish, until washing revealed its true more prosaic identity.
Live Mice
Small Mammal Allurement Centre No.1 was located in long grass beside the footpath in Blackberry Way last night, where two wood mice were enticed in by dried fruit and a small bowl of water. They were released very early this morning after a short photo session.
The Outer Limits
This carapace (top bit of the body) of a spider crab could have inspired the creation of an adversary for Doctor Who or a bit part character from a galaxy far away in Star Wars. I found it on an everyday shore line at N 50.46.960 W 001.23.916 on the extreme edge of the Outer Bank.
Sunrise
Sunrise, Exbury Egg looking South to the Isle of Wight, 7.56am, 7.12.13
Sun Power
As sunsets have got successively earlier during the last few weeks, it has been a struggle to manage the power of the sun sufficiently to enable the charging of batteries, WIFI and webcam operation. Following maintenance today, the WIFI is back on line and the BLOGs can recommence. In a few days time it will also be clear if there is sufficient energy to restart the cameras too. The solar array may need supplementing with extra panels or with a small wind turbine until the days begin to lengthen and I now also have the ability to recharge batteries using a portable petrol generator (allowing three gallons of fuel to use in emergencies).
Over the next few days new blogs will be interspersed with others prepared earlier but which were unable to be posted live.
Sunset, Thursday 5th December from the Exbury Egg.
The Lamp
I’m writing by the warm light of a paraffin lamp, which hung high inside the curve of the egg, casts long moving shadows in time with its slow rocking. It’s a live flame from a fluttering tongue of yellowish light. The coals in the heater and are spluttering into heat and the air is warming, but my breath is a still visible mist drifting on unseen currents, in and out of dim light and soft shade. Outside the river flows inexorably on.
The Exbury Egg 