Summerwatch at the Hermitage - wildlife babies!

It's too late to be Springwatch, and I have neither the skills nor the kit of a BBC wildlife camera-person. But I have recently been entertained and enthralled by a juvenile muntjac, a young crow and his magpie mates, and a fledgeling blackbird (who also made me rather anxious by first flying into my living room window and then the greenhouse glass).

So let me introduce you to these residents of the Hermitage Wildife Park:

- Munty Minor, gambolling like a lamb, playfighting with mum, and then tripping and rolling head over heels into the shrub border and making a superb recovery. The video improves after the first few seconds, I promise! And yes, you do hear my cat's bell and miaow in the background :-) .

- Cool Crow Jr, made extra cool by having white markings on tail and edges of wings, even though both parents are entirely black, and enjoying using the bench as a climbing frame, chasing the young magpies, and investigating sticks, leaves, and an old walnut shell on the ground. One magpie is also seen proudly carrying a feather - good object play from both of them. (And should you decide that Cool is in fact a raven, jackdaw or rook, feel free to let me know - I've never quite managed to grasp the differences!)

- Bumbling Blackbird, not long fledged and very clumsy in flight, who somehow made it from where his parents and siblings were in the front garden, right round the house to the back garden and the living room window. S/he then took up residence in the corner of the garden at the end of the house, calling loudly for mum and dad, and mum duly appeared on top of the high wall and talked back, and seemed to decide that Bumbling would be okay if checked occasionally.

Please excuse the wobbly video moments...