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down next to the fox about 2ft, away and waited for the
fox to finish his meal and he rather disapproved by a
growl. Also while this was going on a hedgehog jumped
and skipped around waiting for his pieces. They all
seemed the best of friends.
This Christmas I tracked a fox across the grounds of
Claybury Hospital on the wet and frosty ground
We have seen in our garden, and this was about 6 years
ago, a grass snake, weasel, woodpecker, in fact I often
hear the latter chipping away, even yesterday he was
going strong - perhaps on a dead elm.
This year we have had pheasants in our garden and
hear them honking away practically every day. As
regards hedgehogs, they are quite common visitors.
Three were in our garden together last autumn and a
baby one was quite busy rooting around the beehives
(Nov.73).
Goldfinches have increased definitely. I heard a
number twittering yesterday afternoon and last October
1973 the field beside the house was boiling with them.
There were hundreds of them feeding off the thistle
heads. Frogs and toads are about. The children catch
them but I rarely see them. Foxes have also been seen
along Woodford Avenue and even at Gants Hill.
Fred Clements, Clayhall, Ilford,
Mr. Clements enclosed several photographs of his fox
feeding, taken through his house window.
My Find - Geology Group, Weekend 1974.
After a disasterous start to our week's holiday on
the Isle of Wight (our car had broken down in a forest
in Hampshire at six o'clock in the morning) we event-
ually arrived on the Island absolutely worn out. This
was the weekend that the Geology group was spending
there. Because of our misfortune we missed Saturday's
meeting on Sandown Bay and we didn't join the group