Our low light pollution lighting and incredibly low pollution levels mean you get an amazing night sky. 2011 is finishing with the last big meteor shower of the year. The Geminids, which show up to 120 meteors per hour, will give a fantastic show on 13th and 14th of December. The question is how to watch them, from site or huddled in a blanket on the beach, watching over the ocean. Some choices are just too difficult.

With Autumn well under way our hedgehogs are going about their business of feeding up for the colder months. Sometimes the changeable weather catches them out and they can need a bit of help. 'Spike' was low on energy and needed a good feed to get him going again. If you find a hedgehog in need, eg out in daylight, slow moving, not curling up, or running,  when approached, - try these simple things, they could make the difference.

• A box in a warm dry place, with a towel, so they can burrow and keep cozy
• A small dish of 'wet' type cat or dog food - not biscuits
• Build a cozy hedgehog house, filled with straw and leaves for their release after a few days
• check with your local vet if not sure, they are usually very good with advice

Take a look at these tracks, any ideas. Tell us if you think you've guessed it.

Good luck

Slow worms are legless lizards, they have eyelids which snakes don't have. so if it winks at you, or blinks it's a slow worm.

A slug has a better sense of smell than humans, it has 4 noses, or sensors. My daughter told me this fact, we checked it on a google search and it's right. Another usefull ??? bit of information.

OK the obvious answer is a tree. BUT this is wrong. A banana tree isn't a tree, it's a herb. I wish my parsley grew that big! The banana trees in our enterance flower bed do really well with our mild winters, every year they die back to nothing then re-emerge in the spring and start all over again.

We work hard to keep the site a beautiful blend of natural and managed. It creates an unique setting and atmosphere that bring visitors back time and again.

You've guessed it, we have another resident on the park. We've spotted him or her a few times lately.

So how do you tell the difference between a stoat and a weasel?

It's easy really, a weasel is smaller and has a black tip to the tail

AND

A stoat is stoately different.

Sorry!

Our first sighting of dippers on our stream. Newly arrived guests called me over to see the dippers in the pool by the bridge at our entrance. It is one of those wonderful views that most people can recall - where I last saw a dipper. For me it was probably about twenty years ago in Northumberland. David, our groundsman saw one on the Red River about 4 years ago. Not a frequently sighted bird, but a glimpse of one of our native wildlife that depends on clear water. When did you last see one?

A lovely family from Germany have just left and had a great time. They had a few BBQs but the best smelling was the fresh Cornish fish from the fish man at Chapel Porth. This was covered in great BBQ style with olive oil, fresh rosemary from one of our herb hedge (they did ask first) and bay and sea salt. Lovely