Here comes the data

In the last part of  my camera sightings series of posts I show you some of the preliminary data analysis I have begun.

I hope to run the survey for a year in the current location before relocating to try and confirm the presence of Otter on the river.

So far only some very simple graphs have been produced. These following graphs show the number of camera activation s in each week.

Muntjac presence seems to fluctuate. This seems to support my idea that they are not resident on the site but move through it. I m unsure whether they are the same individuals moving in and out of the site in a larger territory or the different individuals representing a wider mobile population.

The high peak of activations at the start of the graph correlate with the arrival of the Fox cub. this continues into autumn when only one individual is ever seen.

 The Grey Squirrel graph is particularly interesting as it shows a massive peak between weeks 37-44. This coincides with the beech mast drop. The camera is attached to a beech tree and in this period the squirrel was very active collecting and burying the nuts.

Badger activity is periodic like that of the muntjac however I know that these are a resident population. This seems to suggest that this pathway is not one used on foraging trips. It is my assumption at present that the path that takes them past the camera leads to the edge of the setts territory and that periodically individuals use the path to mark the boundary. This is partially supported by the fact that most sightings are of large males that seem to regularly mark their path.

The Wood Mouse shows peaks of activity. Interestingly there were no mice recorded in the start of the survey period which corresponded to late spring and early summer. There is then a peak in early Autumn with a decline into Winter. As yet I have not discerned a reason for this patter.

I will update these data as I make more progress.