What is WildlifeByBilly?!

WildlifeByBilly is my YouTube channel which I have been developing over the last year or so!

I thought it would be a good idea to create a video showing some clips of the best footage I have captured over the last 18 months. I thought that it would be great for new viewers of my blog!

Here is my youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMvjL6taQn4

Also, here are some stills that I didn't include in the video, but I would love to share with you!

I love the picture above because of the ripples and the simplicity of the colours. I took this picture in Derbyshire!

I also love this picture because of the 'v' shaped ripple effect trailing behind the Mallard duck!

Please carry on watching my blog!

If your thinking you have seen this post before, your right! I'm going to occasionally upload it so new visitors to my blog can see what its all about.

VEGAN RECIPES AND WILDLIFE UPDATE!

This summer my plan is to experiment with different vegetarian and vegan recipes! 

I will add them to my recipe notepad along with illustrations. Hopefully it will make vegan/vegetarian cooking easier in the future! The first thing I made was a vegan burger when we were having a BBQ in the garden. It was easy to prepare and cook and was undoubtedly as good as meat! I would recommend it to others.

Also, as the badger culling become more serious I made some posters and pinned them up all around my village advising them to contact there local MP and sign the anti-cull epetition! Education is vital to make a difference so I added some facts and statistics about why culling badgers is not the solution.

I took this photo while sitting under our apple tree. This little bluetit chick was looking down at me not quite knowing what to do! I thought that it was a interesting angle so I popped out my camera and took a few shots!

My wildlife garden is gradually getting better! I've finally got a working pump in (which is solar powered!) and the pond plants really improve the atmosphere! Also, I have noticed frogs visiting the pond and using my wildlife ladder already which I am really happy about!

I am going to plant some shrubs around the border of the pond which will hopefully cover the black pond liner, making the area look more natural.

I've got plants running along the path and a few solar powered lights which give it a great feeling at night.

At the side of my wildlife garden I've planted some different coloured heather too!

The sweet peas are looking great!

I picked my blackcurrant and I've have made a cordial which is very refreshing in the heat! 

The grapes on my grape vine are growing but I'm not quite sure if they will be ready to pick this year.

Fingers crossed!

Bats in Derby!

I stayed at my grandparents house over the weekend

 and was lucky enough to watch (and film!) the bats that roost in their house.They were extremely quick so they were a challenge to film but they were brilliant to watch out of my grandparents window! 

I also filmed a short interview with my Grandad which I placed along side with the footage I got. 

I think that they were long-eared bats but I not entirely sure! 

I hope to stay at their house over the holidays so I can gather some more footage. Here is the link to the youtube video I made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUKrACRP7-w

Chicken Health Checks!

Every so often I like to do a general check of the chickens to keep them happy and healthy! I weigh them, measure them, and do lots more checks to ensure that they are the best that they can be.

 I keep profiles of them which have ALL their information in, such as their date/time of hatch and their characters. We have three chickens now but below is a record of the chickens we have had in the past.

• First we had Polly (Female Light Sussex), Flossy (Female Light Sussex) and Sid (Male Light Sussex)
• Sid was too noisy so we gave him to a friend and bought Sandy (Female Gold top).
• Sadly, Polly died.

• We Incubated 12 bantam eggs, and kept 3 female chicks.
• So, we had Flossy, Sandy and the three new hens: Octavia (Female Silkie), Gin and Tonic (Female Light Sussex)
• Flossy and Sandy attacked the three new hens continuously for months so we gave them to a family friend.
• And now we just have Octavia, Gin and Tonic!

Flossy and Sandy are very healthy and happy and I think Sid is well too!

Here are Octavia, Gin and Tonic!

 Gin (Above)

Ocatavia (Above)

Tonic (Below)

All well so far so lets hope it stays like that!