Oh no the bridge is gone, but I'll still carry on

With the recent storms, a large quantity of debris including some pretty large Alder trunks have come down the river and collected at the bridge over the Avon as the Saxon Mill. So strong was the flood water that the stone support of the bridge has been broken. For safety, it has been closed meaning that my easy access to my patch has been changed to a much longer route. This means that I will be visiting my patch less often.

With the good weather today I got on my bike and ventured around and checked my camera. As I entered my patch I flushed a Woodcock (Scolopax rusticila) that lazily flew deeper into the bit of woodland. This was a portent of what was to come.

Thankfully my camera, at its new secret location, worked well and I got some great shots of Wood Mice, Badgers, Brown Rats, Magpies, Squirrels and Jays.The shots are so much better that I think I may be able to create a database of Badger faces and attempt to identify individuals.

Most excitingly was some footage of the Woodcock foraging for food.

Woodcock are secretive and well-camouflaged birds. I have never seen one on the ground stationary. I have always flushed them by accident, not knowing they were there or seen them flying at dusk. They have broad rounded wings that are very distinctive, forming deep beats as the bird flies.

In the clip you can see the Woodcock foraging. It uses its long straight beak to probe the leaf litter and soil for insects. They have very sensitive beak tips,

Mainly crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) they lie up during the day using their cryptic plumage to hide away from predators unless disturbed like I did when they quickly take flight. 

On a separate note, I have now begun to analyse the data from my hedgerow camera study and will be filtering in results as and when I make them. 

A winter visitor

After the rain and snow of late, a cold spell is now upon us and it has brought in an unusual and welcome bird to our garden - a pair of Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla).

I haven't seen a Brambling in years and even then it was a very fleeting glance, this time I got excellent views and time to photograph. Easily mistaken for a Chaffinch at a quick glance, this stunning little bird has so much more going on.

Diagnostically key is the black tipped yellow beak. A lovely peachy-red upper chest is complemented with the wing bars and primaries. Like many finches, there are hints of gold in the flight feathers.
The underside is white/buff with neat rows of black specks. On the back, an obvious white stripe down the back and the black and white shading at the neck are also diagnostic.

They are charming birds and in the cold had fluffed themselves up on occasion to look like round pop poms of feathers with little beaks sticking out.

Common in large flocks many Bramblings come to this country from northern Scandinavia in the winter. They breed in the birch forests of Norway and Sweden.

Most often recorded in gardens in March there are peaks in the years they appear. Previous good years for Brambling were 2008, 2011 and 2013. They are more commonly seen in flocks often with other ground feeding finches such as Chaffinch feeding on Beech Mast although checks on my patch around the beech trees revealed none.

A tasty treat

Following the theft of my trail camera in November I have been forced to call to a close my long-term monitoring project on the birds and mammals using a hedgerow. Although this has saddened me, I was hoping to amass 5 years of data, 3 and a half will have to do.

I now have a new camera with greater security and stronger fixings/locks and a new more discreet location to use. I have decided in this case I will still operate on an ongoing 24/7 basis recording where possible but this time I will bait the camera to see what species are attracted. This is something I have been wanting to do for awhile but would have skewed the data with the old survey.

I started running the project over New Year and have already started getting footage of Wood Mice, Brown Rats, Foxes, Grey Squirrels and Badgers. My first bait attempt was two Ham Bones bought from the supermarket designed for dogs.

Magpie picking at the bone

Brown Rat passing by

A Wood Mouse on the bone, tiny compared to the rat!

The most interested in the bones were the Magpies that spent a lot of time picking at them. Interestingly Wood Mice and Grey Squirrels were both recorded feeding on them.

Unusually the Foxes seemed interested but didn't partake this was due to their unfamiliarity of the setup. They are clever creatures and were well aware of the camera and were spooked enough by its presence to avoid it.

Lastly and most excitingly are the Badgers and boy are they showing evidence of behaviour, first of all, they solved the problem of continually visiting the bone - just take it with you.

Secondly, I manage to get two 10 sec clips which have been put together to show a badger foraging. You can see how it snuffles through the leaf litter using its powerful sense of smell to root out food. Given the large amount of rain and the nearby flooding it's no surprise that worms were abundant, The clip shows that the badger gets the scent of the worm and then dives in. The earthworm makes a bid for freedom trying to burrow away however once the worm is in the badger's jaws it expertly pulls it out and devours it.