tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43822253795974139052024-03-17T14:25:14.557-07:00Musings on the WildA blog of contemplation and thoughts on the natural world.Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-12034005230820429492024-03-17T14:24:00.000-07:002024-03-17T14:24:41.034-07:00Dead Duck - Food for someone<p> <span style="text-align: justify;">When you are an avid patch worker
you might assume that things become stale, but the reverse is true. I have been
visiting and recording wildlife on my patch since 2002 and recording them on
Trail Cameras since 2016. Ecosystems are dynamic places constantly changing and
all the hours I have spent down there have barely scratched the surface of
animal behaviour.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Whilst out changing out my memory
cards on Friday morning I came across the carcass of a bird. It was close to
the bird feeding station and not far from the backwater. At first, I thought it
was a crow but as I got closer, I could see it was a duck, one of the domestic hybrid
Mallard that frequents the river. On closer examination, I could see that it
was lying on its back. The head seemed to be missing and the breast muscles had
been eaten away on either side revealing the keel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was very little blood suggesting that it
had been dragged to this location and the remaining meat was still fresh and
red, there was little smell and no decomposition. There was a general carpet of
some down and feathers that looked pulled rather than plucked. I reckoned it
had been killed that night or early in the morning.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAPUBrArDVSdTdC6YmgR21mugs9N6IT7rmZWHOUs8RXaMPjkSPPJZjtEDFa_cDH5nElc_pd9AkJTnDgnNyN8dgKNLpP8FDrAdGCFYW2CLN-VUXzs93V5JjfTPqhNQ8S4OEh1Z8lQTr6lYLEijkqDHmFHh2q3gMbRn9m8URIdjMpPJhWcd6yTopGIMQV3S/s3024/IMG_2267a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="3024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAPUBrArDVSdTdC6YmgR21mugs9N6IT7rmZWHOUs8RXaMPjkSPPJZjtEDFa_cDH5nElc_pd9AkJTnDgnNyN8dgKNLpP8FDrAdGCFYW2CLN-VUXzs93V5JjfTPqhNQ8S4OEh1Z8lQTr6lYLEijkqDHmFHh2q3gMbRn9m8URIdjMpPJhWcd6yTopGIMQV3S/w640-h426/IMG_2267a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Who was the culprit? I had two
animals in mind straight away. The way the bird had been eaten so neatly
suggested a mammal predator. Avian predators such as buzzards would hold the prey
down with their talons and rip the meat free from the carcass creating jagged
tears, additionally, they tend to pluck birds leaving discarded feathers with
intact shafts, foxes by comparison bite through the feathers. My number one
suspect was an otter. It could easily have taken a duck sleeping on the backwater
or from the undergrowth and then dropped it here.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I knew that my Mostela camera
wasn’t catching much footage so I relocated this camera to watch the carcass to
see what appeared later. I left the camera in place until today (Sunday) and
returned to collect it. The duck was gone, and I had 839 photos and videos to
examine.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">To my delight, my suspicion was
confirmed. The first interest in the carcass was an otter arriving at 21:06
(The mostela camera was 1 hour ahead). It went directly to the carcass and
began feeding. It sat comfortably pulling chunks off and gulping it down with
slappy chops for initially 8 minutes before something spooked it and it dashed
away. It almost immediately returned settling in to feast for a further 4
minutes before slinking off. It returned at 23:58 and spent a further 4 minutes
eating. This meant that it spent in total, 16 minutes eating and seemingly
enjoying its meal.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxsLq_Lbblsuu9eyR8V1zEHgaVsTMkI3-jJbl1yYwrhQ0ZcD4rj_XfLQWxJrL5a-1f7rgv1wtGwBFxLkdAprA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br /></div>To see a full 11 minute video<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRmGw-59oZY" target="_blank"> click here</a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">With the otter gone a wood mouse
appeared (3:25 am) and pottered about for 8 minutes.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Daytime on the 16<sup>th</sup> of
March brought a woodpigeon and blackbird that seemed unfussed by the carcass.
At 19:15 a fox appears and casually starts to feed. It feeds on the main carcass
and around it until 19:21, at this point, it picks up the remains and drags it
off. I suspect it took the remains to cache it somewhere. I doubt the carcass
was picked clean and so there was still food available that it could access
later. This suspicion is validified somewhat by its return 10 minutes later whereupon
it continues to scavenge any and all scraps still available. It did this
sporadically leaving and returning until 20:41 and then again in the early
hours of the 17<sup>th</sup>.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyQWPjFFFdYIWeB-bfMCxNgZK-ypnd0a-172eIOZ6ACtmSBgqMfOcgxv1yE-4PpApeI2izzlxnWT8wxUtTb3A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">For a full video of the fox <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99gBJe5_XSE" target="_blank">click here</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I want to go over the footage in more detail to make sure it's the same individuals and comment a little more in the eating habits of the two species. As you can see the otter tends to settle down comfortably to eat. It rips chunks from the carcass and devours them with large bites. The fox however acts more like the scavenger it is. It doesn't seem to settle as well, preferring to stand and feed. It keeps a wary eye out and varies its feeding from the caracss to remains scattered across the site.</p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-6288652898468706722024-03-09T08:29:00.000-08:002024-03-09T08:29:38.199-08:00GardePro Wildlife Cameras - Are they any good?<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">This winter’s heavy rain and inevitable flooding have proved
costly to my wallet and my camera-trapping project. The once-in-a-25-year
flooding took out 3 of my good trail cameras. Cameras I believed would never be
touched succumbed to the deluge, the one in the mostela actually floated off
and into some undergrowth.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In all my years I have been camera trapping I have always
invested in Bushnell Cameras, which I have found to be the most reliable for
long-term studies. They are not overly battery-hungry and have great
resolution. The electronics work well, and they have few malfunctions. As a
backup, I have trusted Browning, which are solid and reliable and within the
same price bracket as the Bushnell’s. I have experimented with LTL Acorns,
which are on the lower end of the price range but found them not worth the
price. Their electronics were temperamental, and the image quality was not as
good as the Bushnell’s or Browning’s.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8flIDpTpuFrls5M9fbqDjMphymkmNBxJJt4Zvi_y7CWq4gi-k5fkmZWFtrSUGQmouaVfGR-GzVjQhE9WdPGrpBI3TnYWB4scUbxbmQrE20hPGx4o4e8eljgVisDMHR4TLbTpVC2r6HTsXnsN38MpsuYskmyQtCfixlH0u41lhs2G4eGjEMwwcvGEX5lxp/s2000/GardeProTrailCameraA3S_c0646c47-5700-4a9b-a200-ce1201845297.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8flIDpTpuFrls5M9fbqDjMphymkmNBxJJt4Zvi_y7CWq4gi-k5fkmZWFtrSUGQmouaVfGR-GzVjQhE9WdPGrpBI3TnYWB4scUbxbmQrE20hPGx4o4e8eljgVisDMHR4TLbTpVC2r6HTsXnsN38MpsuYskmyQtCfixlH0u41lhs2G4eGjEMwwcvGEX5lxp/s320/GardeProTrailCameraA3S_c0646c47-5700-4a9b-a200-ce1201845297.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Replacing my damaged cameras was going to prove costly and
unfortunately, repair was not an option. River water damage by direct immersion
is not great for circuit board survival and the repair shop I sent it to was
unable to save either of the two I sent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eventually, I decided to go against my instincts and have a
look at some of the low-end mass-market models from less well-known
manufacturers. After a bit of searching on Amazon I landed on a make called
GardePro and in particular the A3S model. This camera costs as little as £80.
It was a gamble, surely something so cheap couldn’t match the Bushnell’s.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The A3S model takes 32-megapixel images and 1296p video,
with up to 100 foot no glow Night vision and 0.1s motion detection. In
comparison the Bushnell’s I normally use take 30-megapixel images and 1080P at
60 fps with 80-foot no glow night vision and 0.2s motion detection. Both
operate on 8 AA batteries and take standard SDHC memory cards.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcbMtPRfuddvborP0-bUQLUxnlM6IU64cTqNBmP-Onc8dYs5wceIwKvEPshTXVBGSdORo3AqtnF4nMrUbOGXG29enpt-GGu1JhSS46UYDSMR3LuhmNbYy45qsbdXaYBHi5QBgpPXxjdEx1dlOIez2SHCsCcD_0kkiTxOjlot318btEImokpgbmzQ7FQei/s350/61GBRVkJYgL._AC_UF350,350_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="350" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcbMtPRfuddvborP0-bUQLUxnlM6IU64cTqNBmP-Onc8dYs5wceIwKvEPshTXVBGSdORo3AqtnF4nMrUbOGXG29enpt-GGu1JhSS46UYDSMR3LuhmNbYy45qsbdXaYBHi5QBgpPXxjdEx1dlOIez2SHCsCcD_0kkiTxOjlot318btEImokpgbmzQ7FQei/s320/61GBRVkJYgL._AC_UF350,350_QL80_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">So, after 2 weeks in the field, how does this model hold up?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not bad. I am quietly impressed so far by this brand. The
boxing is simple and functional, and the instructions are on par with what is usually
shipped these days. On first impression, the build quality does feel cheap, something
about the feel of the plastic and its strength. The buttons are large and the
feel of the interface again seems cheap however one cannot fault its
performance so far.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What makes GardePro better than Bushnell is the inclusion of
a playback function on the screen, this enables me to check in the field very
easily the operation and placement of the camera. I would not say that the
battery life is much different from the other models and the image quality is
excellent, as is its detection abilities.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You can see from the footage here that the images are crisp
and the videos clear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Daytime:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_V0cLNYT2AztRzHJundbJQVAqKRf7MOXmPhTctnkOQbexOcaZmjepcfUtUP24gu3JGLmE71y3ye2TLGyDaAeAOwwRK2PelCDaKPIOhRzeUaI6fzY1g57psau_IIPdL2WX4j8WxK7jqB-cUOc_7y4yTexSQCHTYwdIWDtpy36ihAh09Ooxe3EOWnbU7lL/s7680/DSCF0057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4320" data-original-width="7680" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_V0cLNYT2AztRzHJundbJQVAqKRf7MOXmPhTctnkOQbexOcaZmjepcfUtUP24gu3JGLmE71y3ye2TLGyDaAeAOwwRK2PelCDaKPIOhRzeUaI6fzY1g57psau_IIPdL2WX4j8WxK7jqB-cUOc_7y4yTexSQCHTYwdIWDtpy36ihAh09Ooxe3EOWnbU7lL/w640-h360/DSCF0057.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyRWzTMPWrN0XkZq3dsp6OrKpVu6lNnbWHF7KGkCB4hSYa54VpSFUyRWTDuTnFabUp6rNaO2P9j_l2HYRA6qw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Night Time:<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mmHil5DuSlUEnHT7tphMUvQGNda7RvyNRQ98eWOOzLz61K2V0NVbAEOoHYpU_Fn-7AWEUDl1urBuPJQB7yvvb8OJXzVtapHPeaEUpAptfScTJ3gYAlZttHE1KGumMIXK-hfv4agsKWwmnrauFlZDH83lCQlrgdKnEYCV0dFD8C7Aw6vAlO6aBMZj2H84/s7680/DSCF0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4320" data-original-width="7680" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2mmHil5DuSlUEnHT7tphMUvQGNda7RvyNRQ98eWOOzLz61K2V0NVbAEOoHYpU_Fn-7AWEUDl1urBuPJQB7yvvb8OJXzVtapHPeaEUpAptfScTJ3gYAlZttHE1KGumMIXK-hfv4agsKWwmnrauFlZDH83lCQlrgdKnEYCV0dFD8C7Aw6vAlO6aBMZj2H84/w640-h360/DSCF0101.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzyuMg1FCIum1k8goIR7HVqxu7FAo8oStp9uEnptUGwgrPIn77FxvUrQfesX2PxZ04rQuUzLcEq6R9MVRB69A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I am very impressed by this new manufacturer, it's early
days as to their long use, but GardePro has certainly got me out of a hole and
allowed my project to continue with minimal financial impact. This is a brand
to watch.</p><p class="MsoNormal">GardePro - <a href="https://gardeproshop.com/en-gb/collections/trail-camera-with-sony-sensor/products/gardepro-trail-camera-a3s" target="_blank">Website</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">Buy from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09XR4144R?ref=emc_s_m_5_i_n" target="_blank">Amazon</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-5818364410254978482024-02-05T12:48:00.000-08:002024-02-05T12:48:32.502-08:00Gorillas and Deer - Habituation as a tool for conservation<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_twDh93DJETMNL5U6SDV1V0nDRcfPoy01WjHIMeh12dFkKQs9ehyVnv_mu_3NKEo1zT1iCEAOV8z4O4YW6VT3ZykyEMmPlLw9XnwOGWq23QdohuYXQxq-HBTweXsD_NuHDY9v08LdSg3sIuHFM4FDIxr7E7ebntoYHhvHwLRtsZSuc7RNHXnD-_PsQK9/s251/silverback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="201" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_twDh93DJETMNL5U6SDV1V0nDRcfPoy01WjHIMeh12dFkKQs9ehyVnv_mu_3NKEo1zT1iCEAOV8z4O4YW6VT3ZykyEMmPlLw9XnwOGWq23QdohuYXQxq-HBTweXsD_NuHDY9v08LdSg3sIuHFM4FDIxr7E7ebntoYHhvHwLRtsZSuc7RNHXnD-_PsQK9/s1600/silverback.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> This post is an amalgamation of two previous posts one on
habituation and one on <a href="https://musingsonthewild.blogspot.com/search?q=virunga" target="_blank">Virunga</a>. Virunga was a powerful 2014 British documentary
directed by Orlando Von Einsiedel that focused on the work of park rangers in
Congos Virunga National Park and in particular the struggle to protect mountain
gorillas. The<a href="https://musingsonthewild.blogspot.com/search?q=habituation" target="_blank"> habituation</a> post related to my gradual acceptance of my present
by the resident Doe and her two young females that have developed this year. Today
I had my most intimate and relaxed encounter with them. They allowed me to sit
some 40 metres away and grazed naturally mostly at ease, exhibiting natural
behaviour. These two disparate things coalesce when considering another recent documentary, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001v653/silverback" target="_blank">Silverback</a>.</div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Silverback is a documentary by wildlife cameraman, Vianet
Djenguet. The explores the themes surrounding the work of conservationists in
the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Congo and their aim to habituate eastern
lowland gorillas for tourism.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Through Vianet we are introduced to the dedicated rangers on
the ground, the scientist managers, and the gorillas themselves. Conservation
in Africa is difficult and complex, no one can deny the pressures on the local Congolese
people living in a war-torn country and often this brings them into conflict
with the local wildlife, poaching, and the bush meat trade are particularly
disturbing but as a country develops most damaging is the loss of primary forest
to make way for cattle, crops and development. The plan, which is already in
action, is to habituate gorilla families so that tourists can safely be taken
to view them. This tourist trade would provide valuable revenue to fund
conservation measures like protecting land and show the local people the value of
conserving wildlife around them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Vianet joins the rangers for 3 months, during which they
spent each day with a family of gorillas led by a Silverback called Mpungwe.
Vianet started off wholly engaged in the project but slowly came to doubt the
merits of the initiative as the knowing doubt that was in the back of my mind
the whole time came to the fore.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There is considerable merit in the concept of involving
local people in the management of their natural resources and given that all
the people shown were from Congo exemplified this and removed any suggestion of
the ‘white west’ dictating what the former colonies now do in their own
country, but that is a whole other kettle of fish and a debate best saved for another
time and place. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Mpungwe was a somewhat aggressive gorilla, but perhaps no
more so than would be expected from someone who had lost his parents violently
and is disturbed each day by a camera crew, and, here is the crux of habituation,
the individual needs to be receptive and have the correct temperament. Mpungwe
was not the first gorilla to be habituated, there had been successes elsewhere in
the Congo but he seemed wholly unpredictable and unsettled by the whole affair
for the techniques to be effective. Whilst there did seem to be some progress,
a begrudging tolerance perhaps, Mpungwe seemed unable or perhaps more accurately unwilling to totally accept the presence of humans around his family.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">To persevere with the attempts at habituation, which is where the programme left us, risks causing Mpungwe more stress. Doctors live by the Hippocratic Oath, to first do no harm something that Ecologists and scientists should also live by even if it isn't codified in the same way.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Towards the end of the film Vianet seemed to be having second doubts, he acknowledged Mpungwe's discomfort and wondered if this was too high a price to pay. It's a valid point just as the technique of habituation is for tourism, but there is certainly an ethical line that needs to be explored. All of us need to rationalise how far we should go to safeguard a species. How far is too far and who decides?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I am uncomfortable with the concept of habituation, for me, it leads to a change in natural behaviour and desensitising a creature to man can be dangerous, this is less of a problem in this country with my deer per se but where active hunting is a problem then it could be deadly. For my deer I want them to remain wild, and whilst some habituation makes it possible for me to observe them closer and get some great pictures anymore would be unjust and unfair, for Mpungwe it is much more complex, the rangers of Kahuzi-Beiga are trying to save a species and in the modern world that requires compromise. </p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-2368276117813393732024-02-03T10:56:00.000-08:002024-02-03T10:56:45.905-08:00Pelagic Publishing - A Book ReviewIt's been a while since I have done a book review and so when I got a new wildlife book for Christmas and then decided to get a few more I thought I would like to look at Pelagic Publishing’s Data in the Wild Series. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirb6kI9xBrJD9oBvqdtNIUPqcJ_ksv7uSP2higW1Hz2XDVoClnqAP0IZ5CybDZ2S1tvDburPYuhUXCqPa6dYgNhXeNPA4XrjIWCcu_-qTWu89wJyEK_ef4gBT5u1IldRTNgzqqTTHFFKNOyOq3fsnmcSReVR6YX9BgcWvu9gLfyZSLScrltk8bAcp39YL4/s4032/IMG_2226%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirb6kI9xBrJD9oBvqdtNIUPqcJ_ksv7uSP2higW1Hz2XDVoClnqAP0IZ5CybDZ2S1tvDburPYuhUXCqPa6dYgNhXeNPA4XrjIWCcu_-qTWu89wJyEK_ef4gBT5u1IldRTNgzqqTTHFFKNOyOq3fsnmcSReVR6YX9BgcWvu9gLfyZSLScrltk8bAcp39YL4/w480-h640/IMG_2226%5B1%5D.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div> Pelagic Publishing is fast becoming one of my favourite conservation publishers. It was founded in 2010 and has a steady output of conservation-focused texts that lean towards the practical application of ecology. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wheOqYj9xHmsusJSG1K9ekPF5-CrE1PLUyelv7BVvZfDQvQ9ivKiuCs3u3Or-XAcd8ggxqMO543cFu58IyyLLZqTQ_gDC2HkEhRaXYunrhfhhJE1ffOoSMQXaU21nNFQtSe5VP9T4MbNItUeKIXxCjkDejFRPF4O2JFi19uZDyzJHJRjmhUYNEGI0n-M/s4032/IMG_2238%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wheOqYj9xHmsusJSG1K9ekPF5-CrE1PLUyelv7BVvZfDQvQ9ivKiuCs3u3Or-XAcd8ggxqMO543cFu58IyyLLZqTQ_gDC2HkEhRaXYunrhfhhJE1ffOoSMQXaU21nNFQtSe5VP9T4MbNItUeKIXxCjkDejFRPF4O2JFi19uZDyzJHJRjmhUYNEGI0n-M/s320/IMG_2238%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> The internet provides us with a wealth of up-to-date information but nothing beats the ability to hold a book in your hands and browse the information. Statistics for Ecologists Using R and Excel and Community Ecology – Analytical Methods using R and Excel are two books that benefit from having a physical quality. When learning new software or manipulating your data in a spreadsheet it is so much easier to refer to a textbook than to constantly flick between a bewildering number of windows containing webpages, adverts, and YouTube clips to achieve your aims.
Both these books explore simple and complex ecological themes providing step-by-step ways in which R or Excel can be used in analysis. Just from using these books I have managed to get a grip on R and can generate several statistical tests and output graphical representations. The books are backed up by trail data sets and web links marrying the physical with the virtual. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div> The other two books I have in the series are Measuring Abundance and Camera Trapping for Wildlife Research. The latter, I got a while ago and have helped shape and develop my ongoing camera-trapping project. Both books collate up-to-date information on their topics with relevant case studies and useful coding for use in R.
In terms of level, the books are certainly not for the novice reader, you need an understanding of ecological theory and knowledge of mathematical notation and application. The books assume that you have this background and do not go far to explain in depth what the measures they are describing merely how to calculate them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Data in the Wild is an indispensable series for practical ecologists who are engaging in research. It helps focus on how projects are set up and aids in the analysis of data collected and presented.
Pelagic Conservation Handbooks are a welcome addition to wildlife management and are a concise guide to habitat assessment and practical methods of management. I currently own the Woodland Survey Book which has helped me analyse and survey the woodland on my patch and as an extensive user of QGIS I am waiting with bated breath for their upcoming title, QGIS for Ecologists due this June.
</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-66643489124376933232024-01-05T09:01:00.000-08:002024-01-05T09:01:19.516-08:00Water Water Everywhere!<p> As was alluded to in the last post there has been a degree of flooding, and by degree, I mean a lot. There is always some winter flooding in January and December but this New Year it was exceptional. Floods and storm events can often characterised by their frequency the last time the river rose this much was in perhaps 1998, making this a once-in-25-year flood event.</p><p>This therefore is the largest flood in the time that I have been managing my patch. Flood water before New Year had already brought down a holly-weakened Alder and flattened my northern fence. This time the extent was much worse. </p><p>I haven't been able to check on Otter Cam there is no way I can get anywhere near its location and given the height, the river rose to I am fairly sure the camera is no more. It rose so far that even the main cam was interrupted, it stopped recording on the 2nd January when the deluge reached its peak. You can see how the river rose in the following time-lapse video below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwq5Hg6hurESGEpuih0m3OoAEDTs9YR5UzoTC52wtxQsghkotq77l7XrYld8TJxk48jUkXh8yq0nFd0eMxyuw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSa_Ft_-02VEX92ZrjU6F6vqOTIhHYEOKwTputI8zGYBQVF3vYdj36lpaz-ZTjswli3npjjmQ0er6FPsw1dQfrtDcF3UgQXAGDAq1NnpRM9vP842GRnvnClA-rzpHZVdJ6VK8RkkVJdWZzycFNTgkFaQhB2ixPEEnosQiJCxWbUrccxZpc4rEoxryBYxU/s4032/IMG_2211%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSa_Ft_-02VEX92ZrjU6F6vqOTIhHYEOKwTputI8zGYBQVF3vYdj36lpaz-ZTjswli3npjjmQ0er6FPsw1dQfrtDcF3UgQXAGDAq1NnpRM9vP842GRnvnClA-rzpHZVdJ6VK8RkkVJdWZzycFNTgkFaQhB2ixPEEnosQiJCxWbUrccxZpc4rEoxryBYxU/w480-h640/IMG_2211%5B1%5D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main Camera location showing much of the top soil stripped off revealing the stony base and the debris left by the floodwater.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />To put it in context the camera is located over 80 metres from the main river channel. To look at the situation in more detail I did a little analysis on QGIS starting with a Digital Elevation Model of the area. This shows the height of the terrain from sea-level in meters. I would have preferred a more fine-grained set of data, perhaps height in 25 centimeters but beggars can't be choosers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1WCpsJ6VFLgadm5rj3IGPsdRm7X98PTct35xgyP8R10b01xOfBD6YXLD-SO3qpGz-SaVYN2bpiepmBvI9KrlXgJaXa7bdfu9lbuyy_8zRB1a4tBZsOpKgyovX4b4V59w6L4XsKF65kUnzQOZZiyahU7Eb06SVclwnvNcCAigl3e8iDDTAxXOu3tHpszD/s737/land.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="477" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw1WCpsJ6VFLgadm5rj3IGPsdRm7X98PTct35xgyP8R10b01xOfBD6YXLD-SO3qpGz-SaVYN2bpiepmBvI9KrlXgJaXa7bdfu9lbuyy_8zRB1a4tBZsOpKgyovX4b4V59w6L4XsKF65kUnzQOZZiyahU7Eb06SVclwnvNcCAigl3e8iDDTAxXOu3tHpszD/w414-h640/land.png" width="414" /></a></div><br /><p>My patch runs along the main river channel which I believe is deeper than is shown here. It was canalised and actually runs higher than the backwater shown. The backwater is I think the original river channel that was diverted to feed the mill. Normally flooding barely reaches the hedgeline where the Main Cam is. Otter Cam whilst closer to the backwater and river is actually on a tree at least 1.5 metres up, unfortunately I think the river rose more.</p><p>I used the DEM to create a profile across the river showing the normal water level and what looks like to be the height of the flood water on the 2nd January.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItb8bgcjz5-RMwPu1usVFGZ9tH4LhG9vrWv6gqjXtryqoJqZ9IgOg3seWFN3ucipdhrMWadmg9oyOQWj-hMUHPJaybjZL0gyVPtc0mFIfHlDqGpOrc4Ii4epG1awmzxbCzQ79jEZeMImgOV-vPzwE_yQpY5pkWDZH01bMFiFv7lNfWmXgK16Vn4JIhfAw/s3355/PROFILEbefore.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2193" data-original-width="3355" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItb8bgcjz5-RMwPu1usVFGZ9tH4LhG9vrWv6gqjXtryqoJqZ9IgOg3seWFN3ucipdhrMWadmg9oyOQWj-hMUHPJaybjZL0gyVPtc0mFIfHlDqGpOrc4Ii4epG1awmzxbCzQ79jEZeMImgOV-vPzwE_yQpY5pkWDZH01bMFiFv7lNfWmXgK16Vn4JIhfAw/w640-h418/PROFILEbefore.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patch Profile over 140m - Showing normal water height in the river (far left) and back water (centre). The hedgeline with the main camera is on the far right.</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVb87SDqw2aMEkH1sTgYEdvNoBSGJlfo8d322INYzrtPaESB-eC8RVqI8-z2C6frzfZA8DR7Ec4jufIpUSnN0EPjT2nruIrptvwZK1NCwZYrvqiBYGCKi6ORcLd0PhKOJXn_9DYr_OocRxsYJyNBgElVIHijaR1E4S17lb6ntnuym-zFPS9EPPdwpSVKuj/s3355/PROFILEafter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2193" data-original-width="3355" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVb87SDqw2aMEkH1sTgYEdvNoBSGJlfo8d322INYzrtPaESB-eC8RVqI8-z2C6frzfZA8DR7Ec4jufIpUSnN0EPjT2nruIrptvwZK1NCwZYrvqiBYGCKi6ORcLd0PhKOJXn_9DYr_OocRxsYJyNBgElVIHijaR1E4S17lb6ntnuym-zFPS9EPPdwpSVKuj/w640-h418/PROFILEafter.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Estimated Flood Level - 140m cross section</td></tr></tbody></table><br />So what does this mean for the wildlife? Well, it has thrown up one interesting fact. Normally the dominant rodent recorded on the camera is the Wood Mouse with the very rare sighting of a Field Vole. This is because the vole prefers more undergrowth than is present where the camera is, but when the water rose more voles were recorded as the water drove them from the vegetation and up the bankside.<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.65pt;" valign="top" width="140">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Date<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Number of
Wood Mice Recorded<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Number of Field
Voles Recorded<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">28<sup>th</sup>
December 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">14<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">0<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">29<sup>th</sup>
December 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">29<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">3<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">30<sup>th</sup>
December 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.65pt;" valign="top" width="140">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">31<sup>st</sup>
December 2023<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">4<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">0<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.65pt;" valign="top" width="140">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">1<sup>st</sup>
January 2024<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">6<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">1<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
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<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 104.65pt;" valign="top" width="140">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">2<sup>nd</sup>
January 2024<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.15pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">3<o:p></o:p></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 92.1pt;" valign="top" width="123">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;">0<o:p></o:p></p>
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</tbody></table><br />This devastation of my camera trapping will allow me to reassess how to move forward with the research and think about what cameras I will use and where. In some ways, this could prove costly but not as costly as it has been for the Saxon Mill pub. It was flooded out, something that has happened many times before but this time it was exceptional, you can see in the following photo how high the water rose by looking at the wet stone mark on the wall beside the entrance to the Riverside Bar.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGu4y-FaC1S2MLeLVr8ZmEvkNEZ5oyLWkHwJNjbj2oKuSOq2T1CBHO0kXL8GO3biNAIDiyBo__UDwSSfM_ARLRuVWhnyT0GOwiuctfV56xeFBbDJD7Fw90eIsKIVF-aCGXQ-c6chQ4Xlo4uEHNTWO0YdBM5PPqw-k-zbbalqreRsw4Z-E_DiwOsLSpohZ/s4032/IMG_2216%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGu4y-FaC1S2MLeLVr8ZmEvkNEZ5oyLWkHwJNjbj2oKuSOq2T1CBHO0kXL8GO3biNAIDiyBo__UDwSSfM_ARLRuVWhnyT0GOwiuctfV56xeFBbDJD7Fw90eIsKIVF-aCGXQ-c6chQ4Xlo4uEHNTWO0YdBM5PPqw-k-zbbalqreRsw4Z-E_DiwOsLSpohZ/w480-h640/IMG_2216%5B1%5D.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FKNO84m-0czJVlZxSLNptuCwi-_diAvzDt3ANsKGkR21MjL5VqZE36Koh8AjLqUijOwwcgxB_UXLLAfnqrg9SQtf-esW2UVLzDNoiw4_LcFLimP0fgTEknSjAb1SnZd_2FUMtE2sg5upasAvEDWpEwpnx0X2QcX4YQjZf1MZdWBDwWNJLWFgjnQjSAPH/s4032/IMG_2213%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FKNO84m-0czJVlZxSLNptuCwi-_diAvzDt3ANsKGkR21MjL5VqZE36Koh8AjLqUijOwwcgxB_UXLLAfnqrg9SQtf-esW2UVLzDNoiw4_LcFLimP0fgTEknSjAb1SnZd_2FUMtE2sg5upasAvEDWpEwpnx0X2QcX4YQjZf1MZdWBDwWNJLWFgjnQjSAPH/w480-h640/IMG_2213%5B1%5D.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-58574529387047824582024-01-01T03:54:00.000-08:002024-01-01T03:55:24.933-08:002023 - A patch round up<p> So another year has been and gone, they are really starting to add up now. I started patch recording in 2002 and started getting good data in 2004. It means that I can start to see trends and patterns. </p><p>I have so much data it takes time to process it all, it's taken me two days to process the Bird data from visits let alone my camera trail data. That project is on hold because Otter Cam is currently inaccessible due to flooding.</p><p>So how can I evaluate this year's recorded survey session on my patch, how about a series of numbers.</p><p>Number of Surveys: <b>49</b></p><p>Average length of survey: <b>77 minutes</b></p><p>Total time spent on the patch: <b>60.5 hours</b></p><p>In that time I recorded:</p><p><b>63</b> species of bird bringing my patch total to 93 species.</p><p><b>4 </b>species of mammal</p><p><b>12 </b>species of dragonfly</p><p><b>15</b> species of butterfly</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrd5s5KqBXApuKukzfqSzlNWlwpYaelJxMUe1M0mf6if4ppJGkftDfPVRRkZlo2xvtLSrZh4JLmhPP8ec4EyYdsjUxgNraXDI8ivNYrgWSnSzwhD_85DH8DRU3gjdp8R2bHZZKgXw-EddDVSjhGrJKXhLHpIIS4E8cIy-MGeRRs6jxRqdLywRKKpwAJGUH/s971/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20170352.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="971" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrd5s5KqBXApuKukzfqSzlNWlwpYaelJxMUe1M0mf6if4ppJGkftDfPVRRkZlo2xvtLSrZh4JLmhPP8ec4EyYdsjUxgNraXDI8ivNYrgWSnSzwhD_85DH8DRU3gjdp8R2bHZZKgXw-EddDVSjhGrJKXhLHpIIS4E8cIy-MGeRRs6jxRqdLywRKKpwAJGUH/w640-h276/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20170352.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Number of Bird Species each month</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKLSZ0K0EeD4mu5Z71bUpyu4Vhwg2Ycz8_lV0_T2yRcUnw28H2Dk6FRn4SqTOQRw0KfhaBVQWZ2gX2_Q4kr5CnxmqUHs0nhyphenhyphenN7eGnxzhWWsGJzTwOePL4hSJUQo6VJwONtzFtIm_YOSe342XLmCi75Fo8zC3CyC0m9w7SenIn3delb-leXe_v4WqPk9Q9/s954/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20170512.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="954" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKLSZ0K0EeD4mu5Z71bUpyu4Vhwg2Ycz8_lV0_T2yRcUnw28H2Dk6FRn4SqTOQRw0KfhaBVQWZ2gX2_Q4kr5CnxmqUHs0nhyphenhyphenN7eGnxzhWWsGJzTwOePL4hSJUQo6VJwONtzFtIm_YOSe342XLmCi75Fo8zC3CyC0m9w7SenIn3delb-leXe_v4WqPk9Q9/w640-h528/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20170512.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Number of Bird Species each year</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Highlights this year are obviously the new species spotted namely Firecrest, Red Kite, and Great White Egret. <div><br /></div><div>Several species were not recorded at all but were relatively common:</div><div>Little Grebe (for the third year in a row)</div><div>Fieldfare</div><div>Kestrel ! once a breeding species</div><div>Mistle Thrush</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course my Roe Deer have provided me with endless enjoyment</div><div><br /></div><div>Roe Deer</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidMUjqNjzF6M-DM0i3CwNM1qWIFaOmPDXE71f-p55CTDNnwPSVYUUx6B0WAXkxxLOpGEeaiClPrYV60Z78v9wQsxhLslwg9IHOgeGadUO3uUAeYfglVQh7l_1Y5quELLFioB-9jATyND7C9YtRVMO0INszTh9ePF8ZUpza6vkJIM7WBcAHksIRwF0wp18J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="981" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidMUjqNjzF6M-DM0i3CwNM1qWIFaOmPDXE71f-p55CTDNnwPSVYUUx6B0WAXkxxLOpGEeaiClPrYV60Z78v9wQsxhLslwg9IHOgeGadUO3uUAeYfglVQh7l_1Y5quELLFioB-9jATyND7C9YtRVMO0INszTh9ePF8ZUpza6vkJIM7WBcAHksIRwF0wp18J=w640-h272" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Grey Squirrel</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>Sadly foxes seems to have become scarcer and I no longer think the Badger sett is occupied but I will no more once I have analysed the trail camera data.</div><div><br /></div><div>So 2023 was a mixed bag, with some gains and some losses. Over the next few months, I will dig into the data a little more to explore more of the trends, starting probably with the Little Grebe that used to overwinter here.</div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-51020213241913973512023-12-10T06:41:00.000-08:002023-12-10T08:03:37.616-08:00A Grey Squirrel thats a night owl?<p> <span style="text-align: justify;">I am writing this blog post on a
very wet Sunday afternoon. I have been lacking inspiration to post for a while
now. No special creature has appeared no profound thought of ecological theory
has struck. I have very much been struck in the rut of the change of seasons,
the summer visitors have gone, and the winter ones seem not to be bothering to
come at all this year. Last week the temperature did take somewhat of a dive,
and this resulted in the return of the Marsh Tits to my patch, a small flock of
Teal, a nice view of some Goosander, and a very fleeting view of an
accidentally flushed Woodcock.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This past week the cold has
evaporated to be replaced by rain, torrential downpours. Facebook happily reminded
me that 6 years ago today we were under 6 inches of snow what a difference. I
did see my first Redwings of the year, just three not the hundreds one would
expect. From this introduction, you may assume that I am going to wax lyrical
about climate change and the shifting of the season, but I feel I have done a
lot of that already and I would imagine that most of my readers are not climate
deniers. Instead, what piqued my interest were a few still shots from my main
camera trap.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This particular camera trap has
been situated in the same hedgerow recording 24/7 since 2015. This is my magnum
opus, my long-term contribution to wildlife, and in particular mammal
recording. My usual focus is on the Badgers, the local clan is seen less and
less (I am very worried about them at present), but more recently the Roe Deer
family and Otters have drawn my focus more. What has intrigued me most this
week however is the ubiquitous Grey Squirrel. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Laying aside the obvious debate
concerning its status as an invasive species, the demonic species that has devastated
the native Red Squirrel, even though it is just doing its thing…survival, what
drew my attention was some interesting behaviour.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It is easy to watch wildlife and become
focused on the individual, websites, and books are filled with portraitures of
birds and animals, and whilst delightful, I think I find the behaviour to be extra
interesting. We are now into December and like I said we have had a cold snap
now followed by rain. On the trail camera, I caught a few stills of a Grey
Squirrel collecting leaves, it was noteworthy enough to add it… well to the notes
section of my records.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LgSoBLRqdJUYPzyigt0fHedyp9R0xP0ti5MFDzKRwCykH_SokxBCDzeMXMLOjVz3i-rM52X1AHAykZdu529j1r82-xsIwNGJLrv9tgCatKLO9QMElw21t12fgwjir4bFqzYbbJ26ZNlyx4O68fHxkJFbek3W0llmZQTzDHi-8Eii7EsIrDl11bWx0Div/s7296/12070138.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4104" data-original-width="7296" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LgSoBLRqdJUYPzyigt0fHedyp9R0xP0ti5MFDzKRwCykH_SokxBCDzeMXMLOjVz3i-rM52X1AHAykZdu529j1r82-xsIwNGJLrv9tgCatKLO9QMElw21t12fgwjir4bFqzYbbJ26ZNlyx4O68fHxkJFbek3W0llmZQTzDHi-8Eii7EsIrDl11bWx0Div/w640-h360/12070138.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Consistently for approximately an
hour on the 28<sup>th</sup> of November in the early afternoon, a squirrel could
be seen collecting beech leaves and taking them up the tree. This continued across
the 7<sup>th</sup>, 8<sup>th</sup> and 9<sup>th</sup> of December despite the
rain. This is obviously evidence that the individual is either building or
remodelling its drey.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Squirrels live in dreys, collections
of leaves and twigs sometimes lined with grass and moss. They are not a species
that hibernate, and, in the winter, it provides, a warm refuge to retreat to
between foraging expeditions. Dreys are built in the crook or v of branches in trees
2-20 metres off the ground, they appear roundish and nest-like, in fact, they can
be confused with magpie nests although magpies are much messier.<o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0q2XjLmOAjeF5ba0Gm9cWrP2cszHr03L-d7zshLAF_skfCBWrCewQ0y59BSFILG3tCLTBLCNG0K2yyiqsUuTnyoSXZ4gGD6YacCGM_0JZAjBgBx8PwA8a5acm013DZT35DdAjJKHiwzf1SNcTBMzeE7dXKuRWewVObbht_CFIxJZR6kULE7oLBfReKr9/s640/Grey_Squirrel_Drey.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0q2XjLmOAjeF5ba0Gm9cWrP2cszHr03L-d7zshLAF_skfCBWrCewQ0y59BSFILG3tCLTBLCNG0K2yyiqsUuTnyoSXZ4gGD6YacCGM_0JZAjBgBx8PwA8a5acm013DZT35DdAjJKHiwzf1SNcTBMzeE7dXKuRWewVObbht_CFIxJZR6kULE7oLBfReKr9/w640-h480/Grey_Squirrel_Drey.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo care of Rosser1954 on Wikimedia Commons CC-3.0 Grey Squirrel Drey.jpg</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">What interested me however was the
timing of this event. I understand building it now, the weather has turned and the
squirrel needs to shore up its existing drey or repair its old one if
conditions are likely to worsen but this squirrel seems to be in quite a hurry
often working in the night!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2D0fBj6yF2RUYojqxD6Wnj_N5D_MhOcazxJT3sXjPOp4r0I-m_BRStftLZSGtc3C9V0Z2znkmaOxYx90iXxb_xZAr5Cc2V8Gseg22vgS9vi1Kw0T5sxjvs4YTQQzbT2Abh0kv-SmMXyvxCBNcPiBMiODKAYEy0qaFTaYncudwrSeUjD0zav-mjL5Riwe/s7296/12070141.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4104" data-original-width="7296" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2D0fBj6yF2RUYojqxD6Wnj_N5D_MhOcazxJT3sXjPOp4r0I-m_BRStftLZSGtc3C9V0Z2znkmaOxYx90iXxb_xZAr5Cc2V8Gseg22vgS9vi1Kw0T5sxjvs4YTQQzbT2Abh0kv-SmMXyvxCBNcPiBMiODKAYEy0qaFTaYncudwrSeUjD0zav-mjL5Riwe/w640-h360/12070141.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Squirrels are pretty much diurnal
perhaps more active at dawn and dusk. Previous analysis of activity has
indicated a rather broad daytime activity pattern on my patch. An aggregated count
from 2015-2019 indicates activity occurring between 7 am and just past 5 pm so
it surprised me to record the squirrel actively collecting leaves at 2.18 am, 5.40
am, 9.40 pm and 10.29 pm.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdcqZ7K4ftvtK64sdKr2bO6T4yTYo2ybPNrnNVl_nKDCtv3Bxd7G07yWS_dKe7-0HjZaZRF3AzTcZ3tQj5vq5lyKvM8z0UDxfDNmLYPvHkgrrMDcYue6avgEr4SAvJgA5iYFVey0NQdkjJMEc-M_JqQE6tSEjHqgNwuxejBD4sCQYCdOsu2YsyUSXgAAA/s3354/Picture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2189" data-original-width="3354" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdcqZ7K4ftvtK64sdKr2bO6T4yTYo2ybPNrnNVl_nKDCtv3Bxd7G07yWS_dKe7-0HjZaZRF3AzTcZ3tQj5vq5lyKvM8z0UDxfDNmLYPvHkgrrMDcYue6avgEr4SAvJgA5iYFVey0NQdkjJMEc-M_JqQE6tSEjHqgNwuxejBD4sCQYCdOsu2YsyUSXgAAA/w640-h418/Picture1.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzti6fPSmxQ5A-7wG5ya6WzyPh4VCMH1GVBIQXb1GdoXBNe99HgXMjMjfbuMyTAQsL75KepvmJiHcKT8h_MeliiWCNZIMKCpWwnItpT4UwF744GdsSw6fvvfgy8Hjh4kaTqkT34Y2VwzGkcxEWutI_RgNL9-4BocYMr_uif22wztl0FkItAhyphenhyphenDNvdE1fa/s7296/12090162.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4104" data-original-width="7296" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwzti6fPSmxQ5A-7wG5ya6WzyPh4VCMH1GVBIQXb1GdoXBNe99HgXMjMjfbuMyTAQsL75KepvmJiHcKT8h_MeliiWCNZIMKCpWwnItpT4UwF744GdsSw6fvvfgy8Hjh4kaTqkT34Y2VwzGkcxEWutI_RgNL9-4BocYMr_uif22wztl0FkItAhyphenhyphenDNvdE1fa/w640-h360/12090162.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2.19 am and still collecting leaves!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">A quick internet search suggests
that squirrels are not nocturnal however I am one who on the whole eschews the
internet as the font of all knowledge and so have fallen back on my books. My go-to
bible in these situations is Harris and Yalden’s Mammals of the British Isles:
Handbook, 4<sup>th</sup> Edition.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The Grey Squirrel account is
written by J. Gurnell, R.E. Kenward, H. Pepper and P.W.W. Lurz and only has a
paragraph on activity in which it states that they are less arboreal than Red Squirrels.
Of note is a section on communication and senses. Seeing the squirrel in the
dark I was concerned for its safety. It is predated by stoats, buzzards, and
foxes. I have seen a vixen carrying a squirrel back to its litter, given that
its usual life strategy is based on daytime activity just how vulnerable was
this squirrel? The answer it appears is very, the book details the structure of
the eye drawing the conclusion that the species can see in up to dim-light so
fully nocturnal activity is very risky. Admittedly they have excellent hearing
but their agility on the ground and up trees is based very much on vision.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lbwMksKMgZGILS4Sxt62IQohvoNQnKgGU8qxn6ZY6ZQIuURDP6uGIRu8N9OyQQ0o2Mid1pZ1BvsWxlvzyHlGg89vRFflavvDL4inX-_xAy_g2GdE73_LgTXCEXP5nvrFWCNQTdUGLydNjA9IR6XuwbpxP5HpC2PWxePTgbGxPtrqhpmbQ97wIJ0H46oP/s7296/12090177.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4104" data-original-width="7296" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lbwMksKMgZGILS4Sxt62IQohvoNQnKgGU8qxn6ZY6ZQIuURDP6uGIRu8N9OyQQ0o2Mid1pZ1BvsWxlvzyHlGg89vRFflavvDL4inX-_xAy_g2GdE73_LgTXCEXP5nvrFWCNQTdUGLydNjA9IR6XuwbpxP5HpC2PWxePTgbGxPtrqhpmbQ97wIJ0H46oP/w640-h360/12090177.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I then considered the effect of
the moon; a full moon could give enough light for the squirrel however from the
7<sup>th</sup>-9<sup>th</sup> of December the moon was a waning crescent with
only 24% illumination on the 7<sup>th</sup> falling to just 10% on the 9<sup>th</sup>.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I will not get a definitive
answer to this conundrum, nature does what nature does and most certainly does
not follow the rules of the textbook. I considered that the individual could be
pregnant and was forced to build/improve the drey for that, and births have
been recorded right up until the end of November. Perhaps the mild spell
allowed for a late pregnancy, but this is very much on the edge. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Animal behaviour is very much a
cost/benefit game, and this squirrel obviously felt the need to put itself at
risk and it would not do this if not for gain, unless this is one of those
individuals that shape evolution, either making a mistake that inevitably leads
to its predation and the end of its gene line or the pioneer that stakes out a
new niche for all its kind.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It are these puzzles that make
ecology such a fascinating topic to study.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz3B0rlvgKDUBnPBXvklahGNAsfwAbmS9Ib5WcEkOqmX3ztnz-Lsya4ySOFLwOl_P5qXXNgJ30FQ7GVdfzW3A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-24267435556997802102023-09-03T11:32:00.006-07:002023-09-03T11:32:59.006-07:00September Vlog<p> This week I experimented with doing a vlog of my patch. A look at what is about and what is happening at this time of year.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GBoQX4IGD8o" width="320" youtube-src-id="GBoQX4IGD8o"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-48709667335053065032023-08-07T13:00:00.003-07:002023-08-07T13:00:23.262-07:00Rewilding and Conservation<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-R4KBlozXpQTsr2bPMjzWd_MWLPKtWxdgJJ9SnNnrLae8ZCI8K_sP7wXHL1LJXOdH9x4h0JxaGpyjfrn6yMNRCCvyWD88iXJaPe4bGYvBTcFXxmPoArOnx0kRjxYAK4TPWK8NNjPI162yPCphU5wAq-jfQQfEQKRM8mKL-OtHWlU8Ez--SK27yyC3r13/s976/_126096622_rewildingcomp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-R4KBlozXpQTsr2bPMjzWd_MWLPKtWxdgJJ9SnNnrLae8ZCI8K_sP7wXHL1LJXOdH9x4h0JxaGpyjfrn6yMNRCCvyWD88iXJaPe4bGYvBTcFXxmPoArOnx0kRjxYAK4TPWK8NNjPI162yPCphU5wAq-jfQQfEQKRM8mKL-OtHWlU8Ez--SK27yyC3r13/w400-h225/_126096622_rewildingcomp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am a little late to the debate stirred up by Alan Titchmarsh’s
comments on rewilding. This is in part because I wasn’t fully aware of what he said
and secondly, I needed time to collect my thoughts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I first really encountered rewilding as a conservation
technique or at least a progressive form of land management back in 2013 when I
read George Monbiot’s book – ‘Feral’. I had been aware of the principle and had
heard of interesting results in Yellowstone regarding wolves, but this was the
first time I really began to delve deeply. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am going to assume you know the principles of rewilding in
this article as that will make things a little smoother, but to set the stage, rewilding
is, in essence, letting ‘mother nature’ assert herself over previously
man-controlled habitats. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now it’s true that in most of the world and indeed Britain
there is very little which has not been affected or changed by man. Even in the
remote wilds, powerlines and litter can be spotted or planes flying above. Man
of course is a part of nature like any other species, that however is a whole
other philosophical debate. The question then becomes what are we rewilding to?
The consensus is restoring habitats to a prehuman state say Ice Age. For Britain,
that means a lot of woodland and previously extinct mammals such as the beaver,
aurochs, lynx, wolves, and bears. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let’s take a pause and look at what the argument was. Alan Titchmarsh
was lambasted for stating to a House of Lords committee that rewilding is “catastrophic”
for biodiversity and an “ill-considered trend”. What cheek! Alan has long
graced our screens and has supported wildlife gardening in many cases. His worst
crime however came from his ‘Ground force’ days which paved the way, pun intended,
for gardens that did away with lawns and encouraged everyday gardeners to hard
landscape.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The issue at hand here is scale, Alan was talking about the
idea of rewilding gardens. Letting the grass grow long, leaving some nettles
putting in a pond rather than a water feature. These elements are not rewilding
they are wildlife gardening. The two have become conflated. Rewilding, natural
rewilding in which land is left to regenerate itself needs space and lots of
it. Only with a vast amount of space can ecosystems develop into a natural mosaic.
For example, allow a meadow full of wildflowers to regenerate and it will first
become scrub and then woodland. During this time its biodiversity will change,
probably dropping before rising again. The grassland specialists will be
replaced by woodland ones. If the area is large enough and there are enough
ecosystem engineers then the grassland will regenerate in a new location,
perhaps becoming ephemeral. This is the principle of succession, the way in
which habitats evolve from bare rock to rainforests.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, scale is important, gardens are just not big enough to
make rewilding possible. I am not saying gardens are beacons of biodiversity.
Non-native planting may be pretty, but they are not suitable for our
pollinators or insects, but they are better than a concrete wasteland. A bit of
wildlife gardening in each garden is a huge wealth of nature.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Part of the problem of rewilding is this concept of scale,
there are very few places in the UK where projects of suitable scale are viable,
the real problem of nature conservation is the limitations of reserves. I m not
saying nature reserves are bad per se just that over the years they have become
a limiting factor. We now have a series of isolated reserves across the country
that exemplify and protect particular habitats. By their very necessity, they
are managed. They are kept at what is termed in successional terms a
plagioclimax a stable state of equilibrium that reflects the particular habitat
or species that is desired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the
antithesis of rewilding; mother nature is put in halters. We have had to do
this to protect rare habitats and species, but how is that working out? Reserves
are sacrosanct but reflect only a tiny portion of the outdoor space and this
reflection is limited. What about the less interesting habitats or less interesting
species? Take, for instance, the House Sparrow or Starling, once common and now
in severe decline. We are lucky in Warwick with strong numbers of both (though
much fewer than in my youth) but where are their reserves and protected spaces?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is an extreme example, but I think you catch my drift.
Scattered reserves are fragile and vulnerable, cursory examination of Ilka
Hanski’s metapopulation and habitat fragmentation theories catalogue this. Recent
actions have been to connect reserves and work at the landscape scale, but this
brings conservation into even more conflict with landowners and planners. Good
work is being done by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust with the Princethorpe Woods
Project and the networks in the Tame Valley, but we need more. More protection
and sympathetic management across the countryside. Even the lowliest patch of
scrub or nettle bed holds a level of local importance and by focusing on the
special we risk dragging the common down to the lower level rather than raising
them up. Rewilding plays a part in this, as with these larger networks and landscape-level
approaches there is more opportunity to allow habitats to shift naturally to its
successional apex.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In many respects, many reserves are examples of controlled
rewilding. Over one-third of the reserves managed by Warwickshire Wildlife
Trust are reclaimed industrial land. Mostly quarries, gravel pits, and railway
cuttings. These sites are ripe for development and allow a habitat to be chosen
and cultivated. They are flagships for renovating old sites and have worked
considerably well but often tend to be wetland sites, good for visitors and
waterfowl, however what of our farmland birds? Should more farmland not be
bought and managed? The trust manages many excellent ancient and semi-natural
woodlands and these are great but are part of the landscape, we need to secure
the sections in between not just the connecting hedges. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This has turned into somewhat of a ramble but at the root of
it is that nature conservation has to evolve. Reserves are a useful start;
rewilding is a great tool but neither is good in isolation. Pundits like Alan
Titchmarsh are not ecologists, and they have a vested interest in a particular
narrative, we can’t blame a gardener for advocating for neat cut lawns and
flowery beds, but we need to take direction from those that know not who say
they know.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With climate change and the biodiversity crisis, I feel that
we are at a crossroads. There is a need, as biodiversity offsetting takes hold
and the pressures of house building increases, to start to focus on the
strategic and landscape scale to protect all habitats not just the rare ones.<o:p></o:p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-69120893163055674592023-07-09T11:36:00.004-07:002023-07-09T11:36:29.960-07:00The Canary, the Butterfly and the Licence Plate - The decline of insects<p> I have spent just under half my life visiting and recording wildlife
on my patch, that’s quite a chunk of my time, about 20 years to be truthful. I
am someone who likes routine, but this is more than that. This is a piece of
land that I love and am in sync with. I have seen enough now to be in tune with
some of nature’s cycles and realise when something is off. Some people may get
bored with visiting just one spot, in fact, many birders or twitchers chase the
dream birds, would I do that if I enjoyed traveling… I think not. There is
something special about becoming part of an ecosystem and understanding its
ebbs and flows. Besides the site
continues to amaze and surprise me.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSCpoF39I9MXNvHudrZt6vg4HfYpto_49N6xyn8zvrMo3zQSiQaVoedr3dYGYakmQ-XSjMOs6NY73lyyZ--LfWNBq3xoKiRgxdIBvAvHFlHPa0FvUdzjFg-g2SlYeVEqZDvfMvfBtDWU32vI5SlWxZq9JC69oUHqLW7vAPdGmNPCLfgKn6zl2xy0XrJSe/s1748/Marbled%20White.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="1748" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSCpoF39I9MXNvHudrZt6vg4HfYpto_49N6xyn8zvrMo3zQSiQaVoedr3dYGYakmQ-XSjMOs6NY73lyyZ--LfWNBq3xoKiRgxdIBvAvHFlHPa0FvUdzjFg-g2SlYeVEqZDvfMvfBtDWU32vI5SlWxZq9JC69oUHqLW7vAPdGmNPCLfgKn6zl2xy0XrJSe/w640-h434/Marbled%20White.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marbled White</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Just today I was out for my normal Sunday morning visit
having lamented the previous week’s lack of butterflies. Last year the farmer
cut the meadow and I had predicted to myself that the loss of many of the
nettle beds and more grass would result in fewer tortoiseshells but more ringlets,
meadow browns, skippers, and gatekeepers. So far, this vision had not been
borne out. I was beginning to think about the national insect decline. This is
a national crisis affecting all of Britain. Invertebrates are an essential
pillar in our habitats. They provide the bulk of the food for our nesting birds
and breeding fish which in turn provide for our predators. How can we expect our
declining Swifts to survive if not only are we robbing them of their nesting
spaces but their very food?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To highlight this problem, I had a mini epiphany this week.
It is early July and Wimbledon is in full swing. When I was a child in the late
1980s my sister and I would watch some of the matches but more often we had
more fun playing our own Wimbledon in the back garden. Mum would string some
wool across the garden to act as a net and we would come out on to centre court
with our plastic blue rackets and our bright yellow or red sponge balls to play
a few games, complete with MacEnroe-style debates regarding what was in or out
and who was serious.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the key features of these games were the clouds of midges
that seemed to hang in the air at the bottom of the garden. These were not the Scottish
midges that would eat you alive but more the tiny non-descript tiny flies that
as a species seemed to serve no purpose except to annoy. We would take great
delight in swiping our rackets at them, imagining we were decimating their
numbers like mighty warriors when in fact I doubt we ever struck one, so large
were the holes in our rackets and the air pressure created. The point is that
when I look at the bottom of the garden now, I find it hard to see a single
simple fly. We have insects, bees, wasps other flies but in much smaller
numbers. We have never used insecticides and our garden is wildlife-friendly
with overgrown patches and an adequate pond so it’s not a change in the very
local habitat but something wider, something national, something global.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved/surveys/bugs-matter/" target="_blank">Buglife </a>has been assessing this problem and has just (June) released
its 2023 Bugsplat survey. This innovative survey assesses the number of insects
that get squashed on a number plate across a certain distance driven. This is
of course a citizen science project and as such have inherent flaws in the
distribution of responses. Scientifically comparing long-term trends, I wonder whether
there is an effect on the change in car design and aerodynamics that might affect
the data, but that’s just my analytical scientific brain working overtime. The
survey now, digitized via an app, aren’t they all these days, demonstrates that
the number of insects sampled on a licence plate between 2004 and 2022 is down
64%. This value backs up the more anecdotal evidence and something that for me
is an observation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Luckily my patch continues to surprise me. With most of July
and August still to go it is hard for me to assess if butterfly numbers are
down on my patch, but today’s survey was encouraging. The survey was done this
morning following a night of rain with increasing sunshine and a light breeze,
within the hour I had seen 6 Ringlets, 3 Meadow Browns, 2 Red Admirals, 3
Commas, 1 Large Skipper, 31 Large Whites, and 1 Marbled White. The Marbled White
is particularly exciting. This has never been recorded at the Saxon Mill before,
in fact, I have only seen this species out towards Charlecote and Stratford way
in the past until this year, when I recorded one last week at Warwick
Racecourse.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So what is the moral of the story, two things, I do not
think I will ever get bored of my patch, it continually surprises and after 20
years I am still discovering new species, secondly, insects are suffering
and insects are not the only canary in the coal mine that has become choked on
the gases produced in the past few years.<o:p></o:p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-20085107153019051262023-05-28T13:10:00.006-07:002023-05-28T13:10:57.205-07:00The Blink of an Eye<p> The lifespan of a human is perhaps 80-90 years and increasing with every generation. That's a lot of living for an organism. It's easy to forget that for most species life is much shorter and much harder. There is a rough rule of thumb that the larger the organism the longer the lifespan the graphic below illustrates this quite neatly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZMkX0qG5Vb5nsZzY_4lt9bo3DDTIGfTXdJb9LqFx5fj6Yyve1Xc34alv4WD5LkFbXfjqPAI2fIW979nJN-hPDn0SONP43C9mrLL_IHG9r6pp5Y1pVewSEI4_vqDCCxhJ1ChdH9bo-hgLNdSdDHv-kpaP3S8Imz53b80Wn4LCzhdb3RVRHB0OBt67kw/s612/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20203620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="612" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZMkX0qG5Vb5nsZzY_4lt9bo3DDTIGfTXdJb9LqFx5fj6Yyve1Xc34alv4WD5LkFbXfjqPAI2fIW979nJN-hPDn0SONP43C9mrLL_IHG9r6pp5Y1pVewSEI4_vqDCCxhJ1ChdH9bo-hgLNdSdDHv-kpaP3S8Imz53b80Wn4LCzhdb3RVRHB0OBt67kw/w640-h602/Screenshot%202023-05-28%20203620.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>There are complex ecological reasons for this involving life history strategies and energy flow but in essence, species generally exhibit one of two life strategies. Complex large animals have longer lives than smaller less complex ones. These strategies reflect two extreme modes of reproduction and survivability and can explain why and how different species behave the way that they do.</p><p>The two strategies are r and K. r/K selection was developed in the 1960s as part of MacArthur and Wilson's famous theories on Island Biogeography. The theory dictates that species have either an r or a K reproductive strategy. r-strategists are related to the rate of production of a species and so these species produce large numbers of offspring, have short lifespans, and have a low probability of survival. </p><p>K-strategists are dictated by the carrying capacity of an ecosystem, these species have fewer young and live longer. Offspring develop slower and they tend to have higher greater parental care and therefore greater chance of survival.</p><p>All this information is pertinent at this time of year as the country erupts in a reproductive fever. Everywhere organisms are mating and having young and it is in this month that one of the organisms that typifies r-selection is abundant.</p><p>May is the time in which Mayflies emerge from our rivers in great clouds of dancing pixies. On some rivers, this display of flying mayflies is awe-inspiring but on my patch, it is somewhat subdued. It is still fascinating and this year has been particularly good. There are in fact 51 species of mayfly in the UK and they play an important role in the ecology of a river. They provide food for fish of many species as well as birds given the huge mouthfuls I saw the local Great Spotted Woodpecker taking into its nest.</p><p>On my stretch, I managed to identify two species, the Common, or Green Drake Mayfly (<i>Ephemera danica) </i>pictured below and Drake Mackerel Mayfly (<i>Ephemera vulgata</i>). These mayflies have hindwings and three tails. These species may be simple but they are an ancient species, mayflies were around before the dinosaurs, and they are a very successful species.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1IW36V93JwOy_P_51-elzdTXaNOPY8mYGEh7mTgbpuRI291Amcd9EDzc2o7kstnZZaBFMUFUBCueSO_wNsrSxN19YljV8LgPKO53qR1CyEKpqM8SjcimFYQohCVTFjsxcQwJqndm88BcGqWOMtOtj9NJ-BAL5V4yrd0ErsK3WULkUAxwsTvzLVMa_g/s4032/IMG_1528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1IW36V93JwOy_P_51-elzdTXaNOPY8mYGEh7mTgbpuRI291Amcd9EDzc2o7kstnZZaBFMUFUBCueSO_wNsrSxN19YljV8LgPKO53qR1CyEKpqM8SjcimFYQohCVTFjsxcQwJqndm88BcGqWOMtOtj9NJ-BAL5V4yrd0ErsK3WULkUAxwsTvzLVMa_g/w480-h640/IMG_1528.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p>Most mayflies live but a few hours some as much as a day. I say mayflies, what I actually mean are the adult forms. They emerge from the water in mid-may as dull-winged insects, they then fly into undergrowth and moult again into a much brighter mating form.</p><p>The males dance above the water with females darting into the cloud to select a mate where they mate on the wing before the female descends to the water below. She will lay her eggs in the water and then exhausted collapse.</p><p>We tend to pity the mayfly's short lifespan but that is only the adult form. The eggs hatch into larvae which will spend up to two years developing on the river bed feeding on algae and vegetation. So feel a little less sorry for the mayfly, yes their appearance to us is fleeting but they in fact have a reasonable life out of sight. The paternal sacrifice of the adults feeds the bellies of fish and birds in a complexly balanced ecosystem. </p><p>And to be philosophical for a moment a two-year lifespan may seem like a blink of an eye to us but this species has lived on earth for perhaps 300 million years whilst <i>Homo sapiens </i>has existed a mere 300,000 years, now who lives in a blink of an eye.</p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-44796439211147192262023-05-01T02:52:00.006-07:002023-05-01T02:52:57.071-07:00Harmony in nature?<p> My long-term camera trapping project whilst giving me fascinating glimpses into animals' private lives also highlights interesting species interactions.</p><p>It is surprisingly uncommon for more than one species to appear on camera at the same time. Birds are much more tolerant of each other and so different species can be seen together but mammals are much more wary and when two species do meet it is interesting to see what happens.</p><p>For the last few weeks, I thought I had identified two different foxes using the site based on ear patterns. I had 'Speckles' who had orangey specks to the backs of their ears and 'Black-Ears' an individual with completely black ears. It turns out this wasn't as good an identifier as I thought. Two foxes were sighted this week, both with black ears. The interaction between the two was interesting, the last interaction was a post-aggression bout of gekkering but these two individuals seemed much more comfortable with each other.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SbXdObKIIdw" width="320" youtube-src-id="SbXdObKIIdw"></iframe></div><br /><p>What was more interesting was the presence of a male muntjac. This youngish male is missing one antler and is present whilst these two foxes are. It seems unconcerned by them but was still wary, you can see it keeps an eye on where they are but is relaxed enough to settle into some grooming. </p><p>This may seem like unusual behaviour for predator and prey but in actual fact, it is unlikely that any fox would actively hunt an adult muntjac. The risk of injury would be too great for a fox to risk, one wrong move and its ability to hunt later could be impaired. Unlike wolves, foxes are not pack animals. They can exist in extended family groups and it's common for two vixens to work together to raise young but this never extends to cooperative hunting. A pair of foxes would have more chance of bringing down a deer but this has never been a hunting strategy. Foxes fill a niche in which they scavenge and prey on rodents and birds, pigeons and pheasants being a favourite.</p><p>This clip shows three individuals sharing the same space and time, it's a rare illustration of a certain harmony in nature, a knowledge of eaches position in the ecosystem, and an awareness of the nature of the other. It is sometimes too easy when wildlife watching to focus on the individual but a better understanding is gained when you consider the individual or the species in the context of the interconnectedness of the habitat. Nature is wonderful and much of that wonder comes from the complexity, thousands of species in an ecosystem reliant on one another woven into an intricate pattern of inter-reactions. </p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-56961908495283122342023-04-12T06:41:00.131-07:002023-04-12T06:41:00.197-07:00Habituation<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Most animals and people in fact learn via habituation or
perhaps more accurately are trained by habituation. Scientifically habituation is the diminishing of an innate response to a frequently repeated stimulus. Think of it a little
like the saying 'familiarity breeds contempt' or rather in this case
familiarity makes the response more comfortable. In human psychology
habituation is fundamental to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), something I am accustomed, habituated to you might say. When tackling my anxiety over travel my CBT had me
taking weekly train journeys in incrementally larger distances until travel by
train was normal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> Habituation has been used throughout human history to
domesticate animals and it is something I have used send times over the years
in my wildlife watching. When I first started regular patchwork back in 2001 my
local swans were ZNY and VGY, over the space of many years I got to know this pair very well, and importantly they me. I saw them every week and each
week I would have some bread or seed to feed them. Out of habit, I would make a
whistle when I fed them and they soon associated that sound with me and food, pretty
soon I did not need to whistle and they would come over as soon as they saw me. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpusXHe9UA6bbjbJW1N5-GBwoITxQ74UqKCR8pib1RLEfKhI-sOuYdsCgcyQjp7-iVU07KU07jeRYg--8tEnHKdUS1WDlRW123w-r9mExiEwvVNIzZ9ADADn4wDU8ggDkjCHylcq3bgTF2RggUVDhHANUD7sM2Yw7Sv1WO_qHuaIXZxJdaOIvjbbqmlw/s3888/VGYandcygnets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="3888" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpusXHe9UA6bbjbJW1N5-GBwoITxQ74UqKCR8pib1RLEfKhI-sOuYdsCgcyQjp7-iVU07KU07jeRYg--8tEnHKdUS1WDlRW123w-r9mExiEwvVNIzZ9ADADn4wDU8ggDkjCHylcq3bgTF2RggUVDhHANUD7sM2Yw7Sv1WO_qHuaIXZxJdaOIvjbbqmlw/w400-h266/VGYandcygnets.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>The habituation slowly developed into something more than cold psychology, we gained
mutual trust and respect. In the end, before ZNY died and VGY moved off with a new
mate, they were comfortable enough with me to allow me to sit alongside them
and would even bring their cygnets over to within arms reach and be quite
relaxed. I learned how to read their moods and behaviours and likewise, they learned
my hand signals that denoted a warning for when I would move or stand or my
splayed-out fingers to demonstrate I either had no food. This was a very special bond that I have never managed to replicate with
the other swans in the area. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I talk about habituation today because I think that
the roe deer are beginning to habituate to me. The two young does have been on
my patch their entire lives and just as the local foxes, badgers, and muntjacs are a normal sight, so I believe I have become to them. I am getting pretty good at
guessing where on my patch they will be on any given day, nevertheless, they are
always one step ahead of me. Their senses are keen and their camouflage nearly perfect.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN1Q2Z8Q7X9xirLX21zPik-8kGpjgBm4vZzr6Yd87erbBzaTT13aESpptz7whn7RVCIFQOwViflzutpnc1h-4y7MjW8GZ2KN0dcj-Jph5OxGDSiyNAXMDUwwf2zEUFrH2MQ4f2OVT5AabU2CIykZRU71_-GVgAUYqkKsa2nKl0VD1-DKPo5R2orMF4g/s3356/roe%20does2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2563" data-original-width="3356" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN1Q2Z8Q7X9xirLX21zPik-8kGpjgBm4vZzr6Yd87erbBzaTT13aESpptz7whn7RVCIFQOwViflzutpnc1h-4y7MjW8GZ2KN0dcj-Jph5OxGDSiyNAXMDUwwf2zEUFrH2MQ4f2OVT5AabU2CIykZRU71_-GVgAUYqkKsa2nKl0VD1-DKPo5R2orMF4g/w400-h305/roe%20does2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> This week on my survey I decided not to be too stealthy, they knew I
would be there long before I saw them and I wondered if acting stealthy might
make me seem more predatory. I have found this trick useful in the past. I try to appear docile and part of the wildlife, I make my movements hesitant and wary I
don't make eye contact, something that instantly screams predator. I even try to
respond to alarm calls. If a blackbird or great tit alarms I will freeze and
look and scared. I try everything I can to seem like one of them. This
worked quite well. I spotted the roe deer lurking in the undergrowth they loped
away but I didn't follow. Instead, I sat for a bit and then went on. When next I
saw them they were standing in the undergrowth watching me, I avoided eye contact and
moved further away. Keeping my moments slow I took a few photos. As they moved off
again I followed slowly keeping a distance and again taking a seat on a gate
feigning disinterest in them. They quickly settled down and whilst they were
still wary of me their body language was more relaxed and as they moved they did
so in a less panicked state. Although they weren't comfortable enough to stay in
my presence they left </span><span style="font-family: arial;">at a slow pace and not due to any action of mine.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxDsewAE_89sSna5oEMPy3r2c83QGvUfp0oCGY6zIFf0M_zPKhzzvhAcU-NbK0mlXmCg7ZRP8HrTnFkdeVMA53dzmqqoxsnah53uNASFnpYv3_-0iJTovJffgsB0g8KFi2pjQ-UVEPxb2pUH3WjbKVVz270zZFQYLYbnPmlRyleEl52lt6dESCHQ3xw/s3509/roe%20does1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2538" data-original-width="3509" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxDsewAE_89sSna5oEMPy3r2c83QGvUfp0oCGY6zIFf0M_zPKhzzvhAcU-NbK0mlXmCg7ZRP8HrTnFkdeVMA53dzmqqoxsnah53uNASFnpYv3_-0iJTovJffgsB0g8KFi2pjQ-UVEPxb2pUH3WjbKVVz270zZFQYLYbnPmlRyleEl52lt6dESCHQ3xw/w400-h289/roe%20does1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This was the most natural connection I have had with a roe deer and it stemmed from them becoming used to me - habituated and me becoming used to them - habituated. The danger of habituation is that they become too familiar with people, its why many rescue centres try to handle animals as little as possible and will use release pens.</span></p><p><o:p></o:p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-80536295686492082122023-04-10T03:20:00.006-07:002023-04-10T03:21:55.907-07:00The application of Apps in Wildlife Watching<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyPRiUNpLkZIEqJiSnSlEYAWo7VzhuUlWHpoLtW3IGvZebPvkYhYP9-aHNGjBGpvQkOM2DNIZy-24B4N0ZuGlkPZg5_sp_y7BCuP_eRS6sRKEGN-KBbZsMyPFeiwFixmrTc8rO7hREEqiMHVbdiMV6Rrp3Xoq_rXfcKkVIDGoLiWUjr5FzHwdFDyfRzQ/s849/iphone_apps.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="849" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyPRiUNpLkZIEqJiSnSlEYAWo7VzhuUlWHpoLtW3IGvZebPvkYhYP9-aHNGjBGpvQkOM2DNIZy-24B4N0ZuGlkPZg5_sp_y7BCuP_eRS6sRKEGN-KBbZsMyPFeiwFixmrTc8rO7hREEqiMHVbdiMV6Rrp3Xoq_rXfcKkVIDGoLiWUjr5FzHwdFDyfRzQ/w200-h133/iphone_apps.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: arial;">I am of the generation that saw the common use of mobile phones during my
late teens. Back then they were simple brick-like affairs with just call and
test functions, far removed from the pocket computers we have today. I am by
no means a Luddite I am drafting this blog on a Remarkable (TM) tablet but wildlife
watching has always been a getaway from technology. I use tech of course, what birder doesn't? , my binoculars,
my camera, my Garmin GPS device for plotting trees, and my digital thermometer/anemometer but I had
always avoided the application of apps.<br /></span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNjjE1_P_Z8k9cGJVkUI2h7PcVgauh_gvYZY2HPE-w1KaxX7SurIOuZMlUgSN_5tjeAPVUtdqCJywCkdw2wJeWMKod7k532Y_cu3pls212kJ2k7OSZL9nOoqjQyiJBLLf0RohCiXOB60kPvWSD_pQBwpPz1477jo26dG8eVQu1GwR2C7QKA46r0SO5g/s300/Screenshot_20190522-143519-169x300.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="169" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNjjE1_P_Z8k9cGJVkUI2h7PcVgauh_gvYZY2HPE-w1KaxX7SurIOuZMlUgSN_5tjeAPVUtdqCJywCkdw2wJeWMKod7k532Y_cu3pls212kJ2k7OSZL9nOoqjQyiJBLLf0RohCiXOB60kPvWSD_pQBwpPz1477jo26dG8eVQu1GwR2C7QKA46r0SO5g/w113-h200/Screenshot_20190522-143519-169x300.png" width="113" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">This month however I have discovered two
apps that I have found easy to work into my survey routine. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial;">First off is the <a href="https://www.mammal.org.uk/volunteering/mammal-mapper/" target="_blank">Mammal Mapper</a> by the Mammal Society. I must admit I have been using this
app for a little while to log mammal sightings but I haven't been using it to its full
potential. My increased use of the app came from my desire to submit more of
my sightings to the Mammal Society national database. In the past, I had used its
individual sighting mode which is simple to use and very intuitive. This month I have used it in survey mode and it was amazing. <br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekRn1U9DNlbGbOOvBKyHSZBk2V6bi8Np9dVEqd8BfPpDxT4FLEp4C3h_WLpFItfKvpE12YrHWk1TfIeL2ZekuHGFTnJXoD5GUGGAwKYaM2xBSDF_-TQ3nYYydL1FV8JNkdYDAKFpm9XceVmMFR_8PijVv_4HMkXqi8AuiatyhYuR6Gm75HfI_Y7jEIA/s649/300x0w.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekRn1U9DNlbGbOOvBKyHSZBk2V6bi8Np9dVEqd8BfPpDxT4FLEp4C3h_WLpFItfKvpE12YrHWk1TfIeL2ZekuHGFTnJXoD5GUGGAwKYaM2xBSDF_-TQ3nYYydL1FV8JNkdYDAKFpm9XceVmMFR_8PijVv_4HMkXqi8AuiatyhYuR6Gm75HfI_Y7jEIA/w149-h320/300x0w.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I used it on my own patch
of course, where else would I test it? The app allows you to continuously track your movements on a map as you walk about. Whenever you spot a mammal you log a sighting by pressing the record button. The record button allows you to add photographs and record notes. You can also record mammals based on their tracks and signs and dead individuals. At the end of your walk, you press submit and this generates a map of where you walked highlighting each sighting. It also states the time taken and the
distance traveled. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The app is so easy to use and creates a great record of all your mammal sightings and the distance and length of your visits. Its greatest benefit is the fact that the information is logged directly with the Mammal Society. Of course, there is an inherent bias in this system, small rodents are likely to be under-reported, and most species are nocturnal and hard to spot but the facility to record mammal signs and record individual sightings makes this a powerful tool for the society to monitor mammal populations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The second app I have started to use is the </span><a href="https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Merlin Bird App</a><span style="font-family: arial;">
from Cornell University. I am normally a traditional birder and make field
notes of birds whose identities I am unsure of rather than carry a bird book with me. I
always do my checks at home late with my good bird books. I used to carry a book as a
teenager but I was once told that a good birder never takes one with him, an element of birding snobbery that has stuck with me. So was not the visual ID tools that I was most interested in. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The power of
this app is instead its bird song and call identification. I am not the
greatest at identifying birds from their song, I have learned the basics and I know most of
the birds on my patch but I am still getting the hang of some, the warbler for
instance. I have tried to improve and used CD's and cassettes in the past but it
never really stuck, for me, I think I need to associate the sound with actually
seeing the bird a kind of visual tag to attach to the audio. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxKSaOgG03tG5q8gsRNfoAuyxWjFeoX1nXPPwRIu1RQXHCcMRU0wySURaQHGPKCU4pgl9GZMeJ_vCWW5Bsztpk42oBBBAgC_pR99ilaO-B9nV5oH1vg9SN4cIqZ6dOzE5dle5UCa8rGjm113aH-ImZtajAJ9zmyoJDWLh7mp2THaGVIZQvcbzJBzvSw/s1600/merlin_explore-species_home-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="1600" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxKSaOgG03tG5q8gsRNfoAuyxWjFeoX1nXPPwRIu1RQXHCcMRU0wySURaQHGPKCU4pgl9GZMeJ_vCWW5Bsztpk42oBBBAgC_pR99ilaO-B9nV5oH1vg9SN4cIqZ6dOzE5dle5UCa8rGjm113aH-ImZtajAJ9zmyoJDWLh7mp2THaGVIZQvcbzJBzvSw/w640-h237/merlin_explore-species_home-1.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Merlin isn't the only app out there for this I have used a few
other apps before this one and find most to be lacking in one key area, accurate
identification. The Merlin App bowled me over the first time I used it on my
iPhone. Cornell is an American university and so I had to download the Britain and Ireland datasets but this was very easy and took up very little space, my other option was to download the birds of the Western Palearctic, but as I don't travel I think the local set will work fine. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have only used the bird song function and it is great. You click on the record button and the app will display a sonogram in real-time very much like some bat detectors. Beneath the sonogram, it will generate its estimation of the species and create a list of all being
heard and highlights each one as they call.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> I have used it for several hours and not
once did it misidentify a bird, an accuracy rate second to none. It helped me locate species on the survey I had missed.
At one point a background call, which I would normally have ignored as too obscure, revealed
itself to be a Goldcrest, honing in on the sound I was able to see it and confirm its presence. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This isn't
an app that I will use on every visit nor will I record a full survey,
although this is eminently possible, all be it risking using up all my memory storage. I will use it to help train myself and on unknown or suspect birds. It will help tighten me up on my neverending battle to accurately identify Marsh Tits and all Willow Tits and will give me a better handle on
Willow Warblers in the summer. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Like all good apps these are tools to help, not
take over your visits. It would be able to record a whole visit and not look up and around at
all and still have a fairly good species list at the end, all be it lacking in the less vocal residents. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Technology should augment our enjoyment and not steal the fun from
it and these two apps certainly do that. On my Mammal Mapper survey, I was hyper-focused on mammal signs checking every footprint and examing every burrow whilst the
Merlin app opened up the world of sound to me and encouraged me to be a better
birder.</span></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-76147494190628472482023-04-02T12:50:00.002-07:002023-04-02T12:52:24.785-07:00Displaced Nesting<p> This week, heavy rain has resulted in a good deal of flooding, this time I did not lose any of my cameras to the rising floodwater. One effect of the raging torrent was that the efforts of the Swans to nest on the sandbank in the middle of the mill pond came to nothing.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSQyaPB2KQ6Zm1QYzA7jeSIZcKc5E-ca9gOblnIuzrYK2kQF9shBPmWt9NBQvqHq8hO5nr2YY6Na6VzlAwzarwHtAjp_M9wJI2i_bH1Vujgl5GIOlFIlXu2UiNziFDITyCj2fqePYrTyjPuLSDs1U5oGpeUaU6SwQPpcO3l7TF_zcxj3imA4MpJiNvQ/s6000/IMG_6235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSQyaPB2KQ6Zm1QYzA7jeSIZcKc5E-ca9gOblnIuzrYK2kQF9shBPmWt9NBQvqHq8hO5nr2YY6Na6VzlAwzarwHtAjp_M9wJI2i_bH1Vujgl5GIOlFIlXu2UiNziFDITyCj2fqePYrTyjPuLSDs1U5oGpeUaU6SwQPpcO3l7TF_zcxj3imA4MpJiNvQ/w640-h426/IMG_6235.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last years successful nest on the sandbank</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> The old experienced pair VGY and ZNY used to nest in a secluded part of the river bank, since their demise and the inheritance of their territory by young swans they have each year attempted to nest on the sandbank. On the face of it, this sounds like good sense. Swan clutches can be as high as 7 or 8 individuals with the norm around here being 6, however, mortality is high with up to 50% of cygnets lost in the first few weeks. The island protects from the predation of Foxes which are common down the mill. The flaw is the water level. Flooding is a regular occurrence and often occurs during April when the nest is in full use and results in the nest being washed away eggs and all. Since 2006 when ZNY and VGY left Swans have nested on the site 9 times of which 6 times the nest was washed away and only 1 was successful.</p><p>The drive to make a nest is innate, it is hardwired into swans and you will often observe individuals start dragging out reeds and twigs to build a nest. Sometimes the urge is so strong that they will start to build in the most unfeasible sites. I have observed swans build a couple of nests abandoning each before deciding on another.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='389' height='323' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz9ZIeuqW6nIf-v5fSlCcp_jXcBJq5_Dh-Dkerdm9XSfMcztHasEz3jcA7DeqIh7hTlGsLdE899Evem5YhC1A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p>Over the last week, the pair of swans that are now resident on the site have been beginning to pull together a nest on the sandbank. Their progress was washed away on Friday in the rising waters. Today I watched the pair swim up into the backwater where the water was calmer. Here whilst the male fed the female couldn't help but try and build a nest.</p><p>What she was experiencing was displaced behaviour. In this case, although the location was unsuitable, it wasn't even on solid ground the urge to build was so strong that she was trying. More sadly I have seen the same occur late in the season by lone Swans, swans who have failed to find a mate or lost them prior to mating still building a nest, an exercise in futility courtesy of the hard-wired biological imperative to reproduce.</p><p><br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-68836206295082021082023-03-05T12:33:00.000-08:002023-03-05T12:33:24.651-08:00Good Value Birds<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">Nature is wild
and varied, it ranges from the small or insignificant to the large or
magnificent, but within this variety, it could be said that some are better value
for money than others. These species give you rewarding views and behaviour for
very little effort. No need for expensive gear or exotic locations they give
you the very best bang for your buck. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Garden birds such as Robins, Blackbirds, and Blue
Tits are obvious candidates and they do offer a lot, but for me, I think the
best value bird is the Grey Heron. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70-oLQsSZeWjEWi9I1mmOWEnEUrelp_8zec7v11tdmpFeKe0jm9aKb5jKVpdG5_zbal5_8wmp5PX2gN0NfbuDZlMMbIEecrzC8ntzeMAv3IHOdTms7ShY7UrpTeYyUWm8HxcgoGIu4tYvNd7euZhXQ5KXUOkrNCnfgf_9jJQ9LNjFBvQNArOoiWU3UQ/s4833/HeronHead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3417" data-original-width="4833" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70-oLQsSZeWjEWi9I1mmOWEnEUrelp_8zec7v11tdmpFeKe0jm9aKb5jKVpdG5_zbal5_8wmp5PX2gN0NfbuDZlMMbIEecrzC8ntzeMAv3IHOdTms7ShY7UrpTeYyUWm8HxcgoGIu4tYvNd7euZhXQ5KXUOkrNCnfgf_9jJQ9LNjFBvQNArOoiWU3UQ/w640-h452/HeronHead.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bird in its prime</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> </o:p>Herons are not especially rare but not
seen often enough to make any sighting a special event Herons benefit from a
combination of factors that make them ideal species to watch and understand
most aspects of life.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">One of the things that I feel makes herons
so fascinating is their positively prehistoric appearance, you could throw a
heron back in time to the Mesozoic and it would fit in fine. They. They evoke
the primitive simplicity and subtle predatory instinct of a dinosaur. Herons
alongside cormorants show a great though line in the evolution of dinosaurs into
birds. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Although unwieldy and seemingly clumsy
in flight there is something endearing in the way its broad wings flap lugubriously,
the way the legs stick out backward, jutting out behind it, and the way it
pulls its neck in tight to the body short, is nearly comical. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTHMZa77XoRem002p0cfZLH1MLFO_atWA8XAyeq97FrCbDiSxBJyydp7BtJ5YJRJq4d0X-mCDkc8LxEjdumC4ZhiFUFaXSq_29KWhQpv0nK179cL_O5U-NOaozLDrzAnwSC_Hmo0pLNexD1z7QEbLeePvH3uaFaS_tOwS6UK7lk8zbASaZhqgNqNNVg/s3705/ghflight%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2716" data-original-width="3705" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTHMZa77XoRem002p0cfZLH1MLFO_atWA8XAyeq97FrCbDiSxBJyydp7BtJ5YJRJq4d0X-mCDkc8LxEjdumC4ZhiFUFaXSq_29KWhQpv0nK179cL_O5U-NOaozLDrzAnwSC_Hmo0pLNexD1z7QEbLeePvH3uaFaS_tOwS6UK7lk8zbASaZhqgNqNNVg/w640-h470/ghflight%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Flight</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">As a species, they tend to be fairly
comfortable around humans. Get too close and they will definitely take flight but
keep a safe distance and they are more than happy to just ignore you and carry
on with their day. Give them such a chance and they will show you its complete repertoire.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Despite what wildlife programs might
make you think predation observing a successful kill is incredibly rare. The amazing
and dramatic shots of a lion taking down a gazelle represent days and days of
field time and patience camera work. Herons are a voracious species and will
take a range of fish amphibians and small mammals with great relish. Watching a
heron hunt is like viewing a masterclass. Its slow, stealthy deliberate steps
are counterbalanced by its ability to stop stock still. A practiced watcher
will soon pick up on the heron’s subtle skills. The way it cocks its head to
enable it to see through the reflection of the water, the positioning of the dagger-like
beak poised ready to strike.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmq-3Xw_8TWaHPFA58AVjJKuXsizbaBjPWtip_2-Voyn9NCRIch-e8G6JwO_Zk1XZJWk0hrFmPGaGqpr5yOBkVRYoLmWwiFfQ4mo6kjeuK5UdW2lgRdRYTX8FWFt5CC6kwMw_ipCMoFMTo6zl-Ogzl6nKiZc_rcDjGRsRyuGQWZTaZ9mO3yab0khn91g/s4677/GHvole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4677" data-original-width="3307" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmq-3Xw_8TWaHPFA58AVjJKuXsizbaBjPWtip_2-Voyn9NCRIch-e8G6JwO_Zk1XZJWk0hrFmPGaGqpr5yOBkVRYoLmWwiFfQ4mo6kjeuK5UdW2lgRdRYTX8FWFt5CC6kwMw_ipCMoFMTo6zl-Ogzl6nKiZc_rcDjGRsRyuGQWZTaZ9mO3yab0khn91g/w452-h640/GHvole.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catching a vole</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Just by watching the heron’s posture,
you can tell at an instant the point it spots its prey. It becomes stiff and
stock still, statuesque. If it does move to reposition it does so carefully
slowly and with purpose. Finally, its
head may move side to side as it focuses and accounts for the refraction in the
water and then it strikes with lightning speed.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vl1rPkTOw-YQ-FwShrrkhpRgSCJjWH7Mj2m2-bL2_tVTOHtoUkY3-UNP4LTSRd8Q_pKjtSF_BKp3PLGwjSiBSLRkqfB1W-S235HEhEuTQp8wDTUE3rxFlvAtzjnUtxEVw41xIJoEQhijJAToyD3l48qIBBSOYRuuWALCy1eoJC-0j9sWU2DXShmE6Q/s2100/gh3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1992" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3vl1rPkTOw-YQ-FwShrrkhpRgSCJjWH7Mj2m2-bL2_tVTOHtoUkY3-UNP4LTSRd8Q_pKjtSF_BKp3PLGwjSiBSLRkqfB1W-S235HEhEuTQp8wDTUE3rxFlvAtzjnUtxEVw41xIJoEQhijJAToyD3l48qIBBSOYRuuWALCy1eoJC-0j9sWU2DXShmE6Q/w608-h640/gh3.jpg" width="608" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caught</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkyD2FA2MwnqoKmtQaNCn-7Et733VPykDcr0wYzlz1tOdHRmxshxxpdmsfGqc6NqJABv-A4Y80oC_dymRkClarEVayVYBAKVbrfoJhKjuh9kSUlUcFdC7VtbaVYHalPTlLXnQCbExSSqcaeujTTkLZRPe51LrctoMFZ28BuSATEvmwCsy0hLekwultQ/s2090/gh2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1645" data-original-width="2090" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkyD2FA2MwnqoKmtQaNCn-7Et733VPykDcr0wYzlz1tOdHRmxshxxpdmsfGqc6NqJABv-A4Y80oC_dymRkClarEVayVYBAKVbrfoJhKjuh9kSUlUcFdC7VtbaVYHalPTlLXnQCbExSSqcaeujTTkLZRPe51LrctoMFZ28BuSATEvmwCsy0hLekwultQ/w640-h504/gh2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swallowing</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkyD2FA2MwnqoKmtQaNCn-7Et733VPykDcr0wYzlz1tOdHRmxshxxpdmsfGqc6NqJABv-A4Y80oC_dymRkClarEVayVYBAKVbrfoJhKjuh9kSUlUcFdC7VtbaVYHalPTlLXnQCbExSSqcaeujTTkLZRPe51LrctoMFZ28BuSATEvmwCsy0hLekwultQ/s2090/gh2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><o:p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1hrbUqn8G6jvTS1-nKKfG8_P3Mag_aiMSuBWxMfkd-dtuzHdMJfSn4JPLzOZ01VEDxgAIXQWaYhCxisiF4N3_J9CqunwM6qk1rR3HZsxbu1uUM0eTCblFsQoQY1xLCvJnO_HA8BvOJww_LsvjqaZiX2a0UsDreqAQcifA9yRQvgcvKRPbTjNtWWuUA/s2005/gh1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2005" data-original-width="1574" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1hrbUqn8G6jvTS1-nKKfG8_P3Mag_aiMSuBWxMfkd-dtuzHdMJfSn4JPLzOZ01VEDxgAIXQWaYhCxisiF4N3_J9CqunwM6qk1rR3HZsxbu1uUM0eTCblFsQoQY1xLCvJnO_HA8BvOJww_LsvjqaZiX2a0UsDreqAQcifA9yRQvgcvKRPbTjNtWWuUA/w502-h640/gh1.jpg" width="502" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swallowed</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">Unlike other predators which often move
to a new location to eat their prey, the heron will usually swallow it there and
then or pad onto the backside. I had the fortune to spot a heron take a fish, a
very large fish, one that it could barely carry. I was convinced that it had
"Bitten off more than it could chew", a case of eyes bigger than its
stomach. But to my amazement, it managed it, and with a great gulp, it swallowed
it down headfirst. You will find most swallowing animals will swallow their
prey headfirst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes it easier to
slide down, any spines and the fins of fish all point backward, and of course fish
are streamlined. The heron in question managed its mammoth feat and looked very
full, I could see the bulk of the fish moving down the gullet, what must that feel
like? I think a subtle companion would be a human trying to swallow a cat!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DxOhSHqLu-w" width="320" youtube-src-id="DxOhSHqLu-w"></iframe></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;">You can find this consummate predator
locally on ponds, rivers, and lakes and only watching for a short period of
time will give you a great deal of delight and interest. Grey Herons are a top
bird.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-65053645947143034442023-02-25T12:46:00.006-08:002023-02-26T07:03:28.453-08:00The Next Generation<p> This may seem to be coming from left field but bear with me, I am going somewhere with this. Last week saw the start of the new season of Star Trek Picard. I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation and this season all of the original cast are reappearing. The first episode was fittingly entitled 'The Next Generation'. As I reach 45, like the stars at Star Trek The Next Generation I have realised that I am no longer 'the next generation'. </p><p>I have blogged before about how I can recall as a child and young adult even in university that myself and my peers were the next generation of environmentalists and conservation pioneers. I never fulfilled my potential as an ecologist. Since leaving uni I have not earned a penny in that field. That is not to say that I have abandoned it. Regular readers of this blog will know how much time I invest in wildlife watching and conservation, it's just that I have made my career about science education and now Health and Safety. </p><p>Working in a school is very rewarding and I have the opportunity there to make a difference. I may not have had a huge impact on the ecological world, published any new theories, or discovered or saved a species but I can instill that passion in others or at least nurture that spark in others. </p><p>At school after all the difficulties of Covid and getting used to my new role, I have finally been able to restart Eco-schools. I ran the school club for many years prior to Covid and we worked hard on achieving Green Flag status twice. We did gardening, wildlife watching, and many other events. Alongside this I have taken classes in the primary school, teaching Reception about Bees and Year 4 how to dissect owl pellets.</p><p>With the relaunch, we started with a tree-planting project. Unsure how many would turn up I was pleased to find eight 7's and a sixth former join me to plant about 60 bare root trees on the school site. Trees are definitely par of the course at the moment as over this half term I have planted 180 whips on my patch To do this I had some help from my parents, sister, and nieces. Three generations working together putting in trees that will hopefully last for generations of their own. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV64qmtYKWtsxE_iONdlHxw-RMOQuBwq1hmoxjymJTUsw7ikwJgJmZSX9tPN1r11wbCGAIaNEgVHf9qapVKfI14xcnV4fyFUTvmT38Frj-vH1O_XvqtxE8iO3DAGUoaWr_OTrDWCq_JRJaqtEav_lrB8BWxqhkRlRN0viVKwyBOVz0ixdwU90dIR9OYQ/s4032/IMG_1375.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV64qmtYKWtsxE_iONdlHxw-RMOQuBwq1hmoxjymJTUsw7ikwJgJmZSX9tPN1r11wbCGAIaNEgVHf9qapVKfI14xcnV4fyFUTvmT38Frj-vH1O_XvqtxE8iO3DAGUoaWr_OTrDWCq_JRJaqtEav_lrB8BWxqhkRlRN0viVKwyBOVz0ixdwU90dIR9OYQ/w300-h400/IMG_1375.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv76XGypw8_URcBBxwt7g7OJlO2dKAZ3qGRTlS1cbC6B2URmUrqDyicMupBYiGzZ_HDNF2rZwHFoec5tHIvYvW6Sh-ThFnNxgiIGgZkPPrZlyNljBS72y9QTSk1RienM2YfeFVLJuYu4dWkQOQ1i9i9alVD2mfHA4MOfxyQi5sL4cMb5VDzmmH6pYkQ/s4032/IMG_1374.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMv76XGypw8_URcBBxwt7g7OJlO2dKAZ3qGRTlS1cbC6B2URmUrqDyicMupBYiGzZ_HDNF2rZwHFoec5tHIvYvW6Sh-ThFnNxgiIGgZkPPrZlyNljBS72y9QTSk1RienM2YfeFVLJuYu4dWkQOQ1i9i9alVD2mfHA4MOfxyQi5sL4cMb5VDzmmH6pYkQ/w300-h400/IMG_1374.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p>In both these activities, I was able to educate them and add value to what we were doing. For the school I was able to explain the difference in species of tree and why they were being put where they were. On my patch I showed my nieces the local tracks and signs, deer beds, footprints, offer spraints, and badger setts.</p><p>I may no longer be the next bright thing but I can ensure that there is a whole new army of bright eager young things following in my stead. Some may say this is vicarious living but we each have to make use of the skills and opportunities we have.</p><p>This new gang of year 7's have turned up two weeks in a row and seem eager when I talk of gardening beds and digging a wildlife pond, the future is promising in more ways than one.</p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-82319577357829478482023-01-22T08:24:00.000-08:002023-01-22T08:24:03.463-08:00Marsh Tit or Willow Tit, Willow Tit or Marsh Tit - The Hazards of ID<p> Bird identification in the UK is, on the whole, pretty simple. Many of the species can be identified readily enough by sight or sound, behavior, and location. One species however has always plagued me. Marsh Tits and Willow Tits. These two species are morphologically indistinguishable at distance and up close still very difficult. Their songs are diagnostic but I have found my ear is not very well attuned at identifying bird songs. </p><p>In the records of my patch, I have a record of a Willow Tit recorded in 2003 and 2004. Back then I was less experienced and although I make a vow of accepting my early sightings I suspect that my diagnostic feature for this species was the fact that it was seen in Willow and Alder Carr rather than any morphological details.</p><p>In 2007, 2011, and 2012 I have records of a Marsh Tit, but this time I had photographs because it regularly visited a feeding station.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWNbLQL47lNlm9zmeycwKM4V4eNw5t1S8Vtr9t7iuVosfgbXQ4W4DYeT4QUzBh-KkhWB4QHiV75u2oOZkqDbvrvD1RjuoHt9jCdCfuzTQISjnLARGWm1XzvJDnDbO5tAfbPYSZEYmOMCqK7Rvr6vaQ-2QwL32ZtoVxRsS2Yc7t_BkRCwxFrebqDCdYw/s5184/IMG_5060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWNbLQL47lNlm9zmeycwKM4V4eNw5t1S8Vtr9t7iuVosfgbXQ4W4DYeT4QUzBh-KkhWB4QHiV75u2oOZkqDbvrvD1RjuoHt9jCdCfuzTQISjnLARGWm1XzvJDnDbO5tAfbPYSZEYmOMCqK7Rvr6vaQ-2QwL32ZtoVxRsS2Yc7t_BkRCwxFrebqDCdYw/w640-h427/IMG_5060.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIb9c7tiDgaWUsHEWMvYqgAs4UZGMZqbvD-UTckjTme0MD0HyAjGImK-3TKE7znCX7Gve7OgWmHOs3vUkmd5zmc93IMwTXOoFD-YgmUUpdVX1nB68efADvHRMgMbct47b43XQ7zUHGHoPU8io7Lqe2b9QXiJTBz7HkxYbGG3QyOirYTSXwrPJZ_9GWcQ/s5184/IMG_5618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="5184" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIb9c7tiDgaWUsHEWMvYqgAs4UZGMZqbvD-UTckjTme0MD0HyAjGImK-3TKE7znCX7Gve7OgWmHOs3vUkmd5zmc93IMwTXOoFD-YgmUUpdVX1nB68efADvHRMgMbct47b43XQ7zUHGHoPU8io7Lqe2b9QXiJTBz7HkxYbGG3QyOirYTSXwrPJZ_9GWcQ/w640-h426/IMG_5618.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>In these pictures, I identified the Tit as a Marsh Tut based on the glossy cap. But let's break this down a little. The bib is fairly large and neat, and the cap seems glossy, the tail seems flat, not rounded and there is evidence of a pale spot on the upper mandible but this could just be the light reflecting.</p><p>So now we come to this week's birds, several of these tits have been seen recently and so I set up a camera on a feeding station and got the following shot, which is a still from a video clip.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LszhxOQFrwlfcdao3p9VW0r8YxnHes0jm1LfbZ7fNiH0mxiGBD9NaMJ5whwde-z2OjoFdpi94ptRdKKVfOWEHjLx8fusuD38bX-UruJdPcaLEUINwrDMDet5LBhBbd2c5rZQPs8gfhmInwq3-YU0MwBfGBZaT3vo3GSADAI-5uFMhMxQSTv6KJFT2A/s469/Still%2080123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="469" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LszhxOQFrwlfcdao3p9VW0r8YxnHes0jm1LfbZ7fNiH0mxiGBD9NaMJ5whwde-z2OjoFdpi94ptRdKKVfOWEHjLx8fusuD38bX-UruJdPcaLEUINwrDMDet5LBhBbd2c5rZQPs8gfhmInwq3-YU0MwBfGBZaT3vo3GSADAI-5uFMhMxQSTv6KJFT2A/w640-h392/Still%2080123.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>From the grainy image we can again see a square tail and what appears to be a white spot on the upper mandible of the beak... Marsh Tit? Maybe but then I heard one calling and felt it was reminiscent of a Willow Tit.</p><p>So, after much research including The Helm Guide to Bird Identification and the very interesting <a href="https://www.birdid.no/bird/eBook.php?specieID=1472&compareSpecieID=1207" target="_blank">Bird ID from Nord University</a> website, I went back down the mill to try and get a better photo and hear it call. Both happened. Below are close-ups of the bird I recorded today.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQDSD4Wbz-keIZj3n6LYJFxJVdidFXKK9RemTfXjrBjPdVjCG_97bAEsFtF4cNvo7jhEQ-2-rxyiwJaETG5m_7UrwPvbDcoqMpj4KRivbCapK2pL7Iwucgc6gNXiq7w3kMB3ZQN1wKC9xrVBvo-0q8IbjSdUlgq44x6kdEmYFJRcUQjMCVAcTSZMD1Q/s4504/MWT%20220123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2570" data-original-width="4504" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQDSD4Wbz-keIZj3n6LYJFxJVdidFXKK9RemTfXjrBjPdVjCG_97bAEsFtF4cNvo7jhEQ-2-rxyiwJaETG5m_7UrwPvbDcoqMpj4KRivbCapK2pL7Iwucgc6gNXiq7w3kMB3ZQN1wKC9xrVBvo-0q8IbjSdUlgq44x6kdEmYFJRcUQjMCVAcTSZMD1Q/w640-h366/MWT%20220123.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeR1BPK7lZI1pq6CAsIJa_2F6J9-Bc-mwf2vOA_IabFrRGA1GpuW-ZCGlHsBHqzdJrHMz7Gu82AyIXPFDbGV1oBcDung2uOD3h1d9LVslyrhWBmDzHVdRu0YnEeSQ8t46tSU4ZnuN_DfrLfNel5m7Lbz4aHAUbjUXLlrnhHPrKk8YVSnjXcXPDaFDQA/s3778/MWT%20220123a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2563" data-original-width="3778" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpeR1BPK7lZI1pq6CAsIJa_2F6J9-Bc-mwf2vOA_IabFrRGA1GpuW-ZCGlHsBHqzdJrHMz7Gu82AyIXPFDbGV1oBcDung2uOD3h1d9LVslyrhWBmDzHVdRu0YnEeSQ8t46tSU4ZnuN_DfrLfNel5m7Lbz4aHAUbjUXLlrnhHPrKk8YVSnjXcXPDaFDQA/w640-h434/MWT%20220123a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQ8e8cdon7M-omO9BQ0hQTj-bvo3mRIIXk8yPwe0zBjtsFvBuEos_gRMueTaJBmXU_N2HIqHow3KIvXM-NZlPcoBGhMmUnBACAjw3V2R3DEhCFWXMc1Qyoe6tpX682oJBfVeQViquTd2GJ80pN5pzbV31Xh4UhQxt8PL9NIaVqYpssJ-6d5WcqemeUg/s3424/MWT%20220123b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="3424" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsQ8e8cdon7M-omO9BQ0hQTj-bvo3mRIIXk8yPwe0zBjtsFvBuEos_gRMueTaJBmXU_N2HIqHow3KIvXM-NZlPcoBGhMmUnBACAjw3V2R3DEhCFWXMc1Qyoe6tpX682oJBfVeQViquTd2GJ80pN5pzbV31Xh4UhQxt8PL9NIaVqYpssJ-6d5WcqemeUg/w640-h436/MWT%20220123b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>These images show a flat-ended tail, a large white cheek, and a cap that is sort of glossy, there is also a very small suggestion of a white mark on the upper mandible. The black mark beneath the right is an individual trait not indicative of the species. It actually proves that there is a pair as the video camera bird lacked this mark.</p><p>This individual however flitted away from the feeder and sat in a hazel tree and called. I was unable to record it on my phone but noted in my field notes that it sounded like : zuuu Chee Chee.</p><p>The song is supposed to be diagnostic in these species and so I used the excellent xeno-canto website to see what it was. <a href="https://xeno-canto.org/species/Poecile-palustris" target="_blank">Marsh Tits can be heard at</a> and <a href="https://xeno-canto.org/species/Poecile-montanus?dir=0&order=loc" target="_blank">Willow Tits</a> at. From this, it sounded definitely like a Willow Tit.</p><p>So let's look at all the criteria in summary:</p><p>Call - Sounds more like Willow Tit than Marsh</p><p>Cap - Seems glossy in some shots Marsh Tit), could be either. But stretches down the nape more like a Willow Tit</p><p>Neck - fat neck diagnostic of Willow Tit</p><p>Cheeks - Pure white cheeks with clean break into greys more like a Willow Tit</p><p>Bib - Neat bib like a Marsh Tit but broader like a Willow Tit</p><p>Tail - Flat ended with no degree of rounding like Marsh Tit</p><p>Back/Wings - Greyer than brown like the Willow Tit</p><p>Habitat - Willow/Alder Carr preferred by Willow Tit although both species overlap.</p><p>Given that there are many overlaps in the morphology and habitat the call is perhaps the most important and so I have to conclude that the individual I saw today and was on my trail cam was a Willow Tit.</p><p>But what about the ones I saw in 2011/2012, should I revise my identification? Without the call, there is no definitive answer. Morphologically it has a flat tail and a glossy head suggesting a Marsh Tit but my gut says they will be Willow Tit given the latest information. For now, I will respect past me's ID but in any research report I will probably list them as Poecile sp. to indicate that I cannot reliably differentiate the two species. </p><p><br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-89764279039117501312023-01-02T12:21:00.000-08:002023-01-02T12:21:09.189-08:00HIK Micro Lynx LC06 Review - Wildlife Watching<p> My latest experiment in wildlife watching is the use of
thermal imaging. I have been toying with the idea for a little over a year,
exploring different technologies and options. Initially, I looked at plug-ins
for the iPhone somewhat like the bat detector Touch 2 echo meter, but this
seemed expensive and energy intensive. A lot of options on the internet were
all for commercial use used by home insulators and electricians. By shifting my
search parameters to the hunting sites, I started to get a few more options.
Flicking through Birdwatching I saw an advert for a couple of scopes and
focused my research. I came up with a couple
of main companies Flir, HikMicro, and Pulsar.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I got some money for Christmas and so decided to take the
plunge. My largest concern was finding out the distance and sensor quality. Despite
a lot of reading, I couldn’t really make heads or tails of the values and
figures. The only way was to get my hands on one and try it out. Most models
seemed to be around the £1000 mark but there were some for less than £500.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I opted in the end for the HIKMicro Lynx LC06 Thermal
telescope. It is made by a Chinese company and the build quality seems good.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVnl7d85sB38cqVm75zpvntxLD57jUNXzd0iiW1iPxSOOvlCXR3994QcEFQzTC8f3KlL_4bhz5txTjXp35gwP0gWiuAOti4iC_EJgNQju1hujmVMd-G655w6PtFbfFhBkfSb1s6saVigYmGVk1FiUqVnm0y7wgkMgp4uMQSe6dHY7pFcPQYLfBsq72g/s700/hikvision-ds-2ts01-06xfw-thermal-monucular_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVnl7d85sB38cqVm75zpvntxLD57jUNXzd0iiW1iPxSOOvlCXR3994QcEFQzTC8f3KlL_4bhz5txTjXp35gwP0gWiuAOti4iC_EJgNQju1hujmVMd-G655w6PtFbfFhBkfSb1s6saVigYmGVk1FiUqVnm0y7wgkMgp4uMQSe6dHY7pFcPQYLfBsq72g/w640-h640/hikvision-ds-2ts01-06xfw-thermal-monucular_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">The scope has up to x4 zoom, the ability to take JPEG stills,
and four colour modes. The modes are White Hot, Black Hot, Red Hot, and Fusion.
The controls are well placed, and the eyecup cuts out any extraneous light. It
is light and fits well in the palm of the hand. But how good is such a cheap
imager.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My goal was to be able to pick up the Roe Deer in the long
grass or small rodents in the undergrowth. I took the imager out into the
garden and down my patch to field test. First off the modes. Each mode has its
pluses and minuses, I have come to like the black hot setting for detecting
birds and animals although the fusion is very useful for picking up heat
signatures but does little to pick up the surrounding features like the others.<o:p></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DOHKirmoayry1vOMU0MPE6h3BonBmq826Vv7E69Ms5iQ_pS47GBOV_p6OIXcUAIAfg-ntWrl04RpicLuIinjYSB1A-hkRLRVvFSz8sR9jelVg7FX0cE4sZd40fiHjmcj8Z1eq7FP5e7dcBWp2BJIZZg53njAxxoH_BhI7txNAHO6EqhTfK6SBW9jLQ/s720/White%20Hotspot%20-%20Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3DOHKirmoayry1vOMU0MPE6h3BonBmq826Vv7E69Ms5iQ_pS47GBOV_p6OIXcUAIAfg-ntWrl04RpicLuIinjYSB1A-hkRLRVvFSz8sR9jelVg7FX0cE4sZd40fiHjmcj8Z1eq7FP5e7dcBWp2BJIZZg53njAxxoH_BhI7txNAHO6EqhTfK6SBW9jLQ/s320/White%20Hotspot%20-%20Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Hotspot</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLzTgmGemHC7af3gJ3JXF8jtJciWDZMZaX_q1BzCdWBD6-d-EjHJkOZtbYGYoUg3js1EBoJQckDgBW07ZaTVGkon4GQ8jK8JROH-2AESEBsW07UT0F47KjF2h3bhC-4DPo8ItkBDmmXJzn7J2oAkUaXm9nqqGOGhGjkz_1iv2f3HEZBeNQfyhEEEcEw/s720/Black%20Hotspot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLzTgmGemHC7af3gJ3JXF8jtJciWDZMZaX_q1BzCdWBD6-d-EjHJkOZtbYGYoUg3js1EBoJQckDgBW07ZaTVGkon4GQ8jK8JROH-2AESEBsW07UT0F47KjF2h3bhC-4DPo8ItkBDmmXJzn7J2oAkUaXm9nqqGOGhGjkz_1iv2f3HEZBeNQfyhEEEcEw/s320/Black%20Hotspot.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Hotspot</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLzTgmGemHC7af3gJ3JXF8jtJciWDZMZaX_q1BzCdWBD6-d-EjHJkOZtbYGYoUg3js1EBoJQckDgBW07ZaTVGkon4GQ8jK8JROH-2AESEBsW07UT0F47KjF2h3bhC-4DPo8ItkBDmmXJzn7J2oAkUaXm9nqqGOGhGjkz_1iv2f3HEZBeNQfyhEEEcEw/s720/Black%20Hotspot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSs0BUHn4kCEfYKo7bwjWgNNo299ML5lWfMBlTFm3W04larKH6vspZL82CvpLvog03iKHNT8PyeNBxe0yTcDx_jY4CDU0spNwolOtFhojbCdNfCxxDyVsay8VUickMl15GCV2w62OMvbpCKEOCGNxJ5DysEekXxBXo_HKiFCRV0FZF0fAF9clCGpVHIA/s720/Red%20Hotspot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSs0BUHn4kCEfYKo7bwjWgNNo299ML5lWfMBlTFm3W04larKH6vspZL82CvpLvog03iKHNT8PyeNBxe0yTcDx_jY4CDU0spNwolOtFhojbCdNfCxxDyVsay8VUickMl15GCV2w62OMvbpCKEOCGNxJ5DysEekXxBXo_HKiFCRV0FZF0fAF9clCGpVHIA/s320/Red%20Hotspot.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Hotspot</td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Y7R2xqCdF1BVmolPf_lxfsR7ZvfJEbk-eKGFselLdTfmDOI2JNKsYk0755S-9Anj5TBgK408OJX-xAcwm6TMnaI_bORukOi2CQIF9HMiiEcl7Tr4PHugSwIsJEgAqzrt4-_-9SGBDav642t3U7VEhWck8jgV6N6olDjod0KrnWOvQeqJybQVNVaWUg/s720/Mixed%20Colour.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Y7R2xqCdF1BVmolPf_lxfsR7ZvfJEbk-eKGFselLdTfmDOI2JNKsYk0755S-9Anj5TBgK408OJX-xAcwm6TMnaI_bORukOi2CQIF9HMiiEcl7Tr4PHugSwIsJEgAqzrt4-_-9SGBDav642t3U7VEhWck8jgV6N6olDjod0KrnWOvQeqJybQVNVaWUg/s320/Mixed%20Colour.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fusion - Yellow/White Hot</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal">Distance was always my biggest concern and with this model it
still is. The test stills of the pigeon on the roof were taken about 2 metres
away and show the body shape and hot spots of the individual. Out in the field,
anything over 10 metres was difficult but not impossible to identify. The
following image shows a pony perhaps 100 metres away. The shape is a little
indistinct but it’s clear there is something there.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5zbmvtLmlXsVewuhWZRPG_4O2mdwi2yEN2-Nwv1sKCGG95rfJpNVlzFgcPMoKQap-sqTkdAtueJ-gg_GpDYLiwXB2T0b216-Twas2ii8Fa5dlbkTv-jbeZ-UAW_fUmCKmk-4WNfcUPERCVfVlq1vTcsMTpZCg_CyflhF8Ey09qFrO-MErFYt0JmYpA/s720/20230101192220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR5zbmvtLmlXsVewuhWZRPG_4O2mdwi2yEN2-Nwv1sKCGG95rfJpNVlzFgcPMoKQap-sqTkdAtueJ-gg_GpDYLiwXB2T0b216-Twas2ii8Fa5dlbkTv-jbeZ-UAW_fUmCKmk-4WNfcUPERCVfVlq1vTcsMTpZCg_CyflhF8Ey09qFrO-MErFYt0JmYpA/s320/20230101192220.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fusion image of a pony at 100m with x4 zoom</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">I think some of the issues I am having are partially due to
the weather, it’s been quite warm this past week and so the temperature
differential isn’t very wide. I suspect at night and in really cold weather it
will have better quality. It’s also true that a higher-end model would have better
image quality. Lastly, I found it operated best when panning to try and avoid
getting too much sky in the viewfinder as this helped keep a reasonable temperature
differential.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipeASfMIi9qiZye3SqmoFj7J9wy9AN0G0NHyIhw_Yjr1kjCSobNQrwpRK2WMUP5NvGoaGdYBdE_fDJ-0FJrzrAoOpj8pdTJlKTtdZRQAecconi28ZMZ4eLPLhEgp5vIUM7UzOldmQzaGjwPuiHrwG9XVL-Sid0hAIFPggR_Tit7kkKRMf_gkM-h3eJ7A/s720/20230102191945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipeASfMIi9qiZye3SqmoFj7J9wy9AN0G0NHyIhw_Yjr1kjCSobNQrwpRK2WMUP5NvGoaGdYBdE_fDJ-0FJrzrAoOpj8pdTJlKTtdZRQAecconi28ZMZ4eLPLhEgp5vIUM7UzOldmQzaGjwPuiHrwG9XVL-Sid0hAIFPggR_Tit7kkKRMf_gkM-h3eJ7A/s320/20230102191945.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robin perched between trail camera and tree feeder 4m away. Black Hotspot</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal">As one may expect the Roe Deer still ‘outfoxed’ me when I
tested it this week appearing and bolting before I had even got the scope out
of my bag, so I have yet to test it as a technique for spotting the deer first,
it’s deer 1 Scope 0 at the moment.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is still much to try out, especially on more night
explorations and in colder weather. A more nuanced review will be added once I
am more familiar with the device but for now, I can say that for the price,
this device operates as expected. I had hoped for better but was not overly disappointed.
I can see plenty of applications that I have yet to explore and will have fun
trying them out.<o:p></o:p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-33449611512877352262022-12-31T12:40:00.001-08:002022-12-31T12:40:04.311-08:002022 - A patch review<p> So 2022 draws to a close marking the 19th year that I have collected weekly data on my patch. One more year and I can do a deep dive analysis on the data and develop a 20-year report. Even with 20 years of data some of the patterns that are beginning to emerge are so scant that maybe another 20 years of data will be needed!</p><p>I can sum up the year thus:</p><p>44 - the number of recording visits</p><p>42.7 - the total number of recording observation hours</p><p>57 - bird species</p><p>13 - butterfly species</p><p>11 - dragonfly species</p><p>4 - mammal species</p><p>1 - reptile species</p><p>August - the hottest month</p><p>December - the coldest month</p><p>February - the windiest month</p><p><u>Winners and Losers</u></p><p>This year populations of Chiffchaff, Jay, Skylark, and Nuthatch all increased. The Marsh Tits returned this year after last being seen in 2012. Sedge Warblers bred once again this year for the second year in a row and winter flocks of teal have increased. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The following graphs show abundance over the past 19 years indexed to 2004 at 100.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhotJ6t8DDp_phLNAZDREke6x_aoER_w2Db0N_I-xfNX_cK3IbHVocWzi5jlCCd8WtUfcasQubuuwvTvmkRKGg5UabBA8XnoWOoQ4RhJkoEvBvWXmOVzQPQ9YIs4TK6WMacGL61jJoAJiJ1DOU7hrssZ9qGeeFwvMh0j-bousy43QRwo4OCMXUiHo2MAw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1525" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhotJ6t8DDp_phLNAZDREke6x_aoER_w2Db0N_I-xfNX_cK3IbHVocWzi5jlCCd8WtUfcasQubuuwvTvmkRKGg5UabBA8XnoWOoQ4RhJkoEvBvWXmOVzQPQ9YIs4TK6WMacGL61jJoAJiJ1DOU7hrssZ9qGeeFwvMh0j-bousy43QRwo4OCMXUiHo2MAw=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBYoD9ss7CLd0WCOPpEXHO0BmiA1rS2NryHV7M2n4XNAvSjit9ZPYYOj0OohOykKBNRAIDJyvycbJxRcKwKIhdnBX-UAMc5HNHUvV-IoI63V6vJtTuGkKFSqqy7U9NqDr9-gx-99al7lawrH_g1p7F-1DLOG3MgTmbgh-mqOGHvqVSEdNW1h9UAy0LBQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1525" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBYoD9ss7CLd0WCOPpEXHO0BmiA1rS2NryHV7M2n4XNAvSjit9ZPYYOj0OohOykKBNRAIDJyvycbJxRcKwKIhdnBX-UAMc5HNHUvV-IoI63V6vJtTuGkKFSqqy7U9NqDr9-gx-99al7lawrH_g1p7F-1DLOG3MgTmbgh-mqOGHvqVSEdNW1h9UAy0LBQ=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Those species declining are notably the three common tit species and the Little Grebe has not been recorded since 2020.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcs-suwsjrjRw1wozlZ5s23L1gB-yPRoh1_h9yvJNzrkeVFkctt2esdCREHRGJoevJ-HcbTh8B_s_NWyXBHDu170E4WPCinrxB95b2GmHRqtNwc146fJN8wb_t_dn45np8chB05x_HJjeLSrerA-DHcCVMjegYvDDCBktA1R4Dg8T8IZ22CpX_Z5k69g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1525" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcs-suwsjrjRw1wozlZ5s23L1gB-yPRoh1_h9yvJNzrkeVFkctt2esdCREHRGJoevJ-HcbTh8B_s_NWyXBHDu170E4WPCinrxB95b2GmHRqtNwc146fJN8wb_t_dn45np8chB05x_HJjeLSrerA-DHcCVMjegYvDDCBktA1R4Dg8T8IZ22CpX_Z5k69g=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJoY2gJioE6yfKISlaJi0kjZAcaMVYlDDCt_2hCt3FWW8EvG9s1US7MJPDLhLGbkbX_LSg_BEhPYzMxxcp8ImcbVxDyoGei8xRLSDERh0xqkS8fDTfkQVTx1tTTPEzYtoiRZlI5_k0RVKDs2-SmOh4-9uCC-1l0p-QMdnqW1D22MbZ37-lTVSL3VpjqA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1525" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJoY2gJioE6yfKISlaJi0kjZAcaMVYlDDCt_2hCt3FWW8EvG9s1US7MJPDLhLGbkbX_LSg_BEhPYzMxxcp8ImcbVxDyoGei8xRLSDERh0xqkS8fDTfkQVTx1tTTPEzYtoiRZlI5_k0RVKDs2-SmOh4-9uCC-1l0p-QMdnqW1D22MbZ37-lTVSL3VpjqA=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>Of the 61 species recorded this year and last 5 were not recorded this year with only 4 new species recorded. </p><p>Between 2021 and 2022 40% of species increased by more than 10%, 42% declined by more than 10% and 18% remained stable.</p><p>This is a very brief and cursory examination of the data, more is sure to follow although that may take some time. Tomorrow I will collect the memory cards from my trail cams and complete another year of that data collection, an annual update will follow once they have been analsyed.</p><p><br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-41125488804779891932022-12-26T10:20:00.007-08:002022-12-26T10:21:53.881-08:00Roe deer encounter<p> <span style="text-align: justify;">British mammals are notoriously
hard to see. British fauna is a mere shadow of that which it once was or that
which exists in the rest of Europe. For the most part, gone are the wolves,
bears, aurochs, lynx, and the like although there are returning species such as
the beaver and the boar, and others are shrouded in the debate over other
reintroductions. British mammals have learned to be elusive and are almost exclusively
nocturnal. The most seen mammals are Grey Squirrels which as an invasive
species have taken over our towns and cities. Mice and rats are often seen but
perhaps the rabbit and fox can be counted as the most obvious of our wilder
nature.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">My trail camera work has shown me
the wealth of mammal life all around us, but rarely have I seen these mammals in
person. I can count the number of badgers, otters, weasels, stoats, and mink
that I have seen each on a single hand. In recent years however the mill has
allowed me to get to know a different species, the Roe Deer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Many of my blog posts have
explored these deer and their antics. There are several females and a couple of
bucks. Over the last few years, they have successfully bred and this year one
of the does gave birth to two fawns. I never saw these fawns in person their
mother kept them too closely protected although I did watch them grow on the
various video clips and photos from the trail cams. Over the past few months, I
have seen the mother and the two fawns, now nearly the same size as her almost
every time I have gone down. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcm2Go3hIiD5xcBDSnJq9HOqrpCi1xmNyUSvY-6jM4axa-kYXoUdA56sXVuSQ9VhLCQrH9oLwKvM3g7FfgWq2RC_RgbkBVyfmcTHwI8EnkB4m9V7sPQpxr49wjwY7zGpoujJ3pFaTRXWxpsS9fJRlmRUbr8SJvCqcKXcojT0sDGbtEDkCaBFK7maSvmg/s6960/IMG_2238.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4640" data-original-width="6960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcm2Go3hIiD5xcBDSnJq9HOqrpCi1xmNyUSvY-6jM4axa-kYXoUdA56sXVuSQ9VhLCQrH9oLwKvM3g7FfgWq2RC_RgbkBVyfmcTHwI8EnkB4m9V7sPQpxr49wjwY7zGpoujJ3pFaTRXWxpsS9fJRlmRUbr8SJvCqcKXcojT0sDGbtEDkCaBFK7maSvmg/w400-h266/IMG_2238.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>The three deer browse in
the thick reedy vegetation and they blend in perfectly. Normally I spook them,
I never see them before they see me. Every time they bolt and bound off into
thicker undergrowth and disappear. My stalking skills have never been very good,
and I must confess my patience is too short to stakeout the meadow, there are
too many exciting birds and sights to distract me.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This week however what I assumed
was amazing fieldcraft was actually something quite different. On Christmas Eve
I visited the mill to collect my cameras and I wanted to check on the whips I
had planted. As I crossed the meadow area which is covered in brambles, long grasses,
and the dried stems of nettles and loosestrife the doe jumped out in front of
me. It bounded away from me flashing its white rump at me, holding my gaze, and
then it stopped. Normally it would be off and keep going but this time it
paused and looked back at me.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfFXqaE25VarEiVhIACOYDdn9yJ3Iq0ijqx6JoCJ_CfwwWoejPx-yrxMF13pYtqY0TWY-nTV5SJPPvObDj23wnx7AjYyvWotZ9BXJfiqWWALpO9frijid7Aml8vLC2yIaK72faxQ_8D8gPemQFQmuoxv96BoMxsSXKaNALYG4_fl8LpVitZE-bc7Y7A/s6960/IMG_2226.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4640" data-original-width="6960" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfFXqaE25VarEiVhIACOYDdn9yJ3Iq0ijqx6JoCJ_CfwwWoejPx-yrxMF13pYtqY0TWY-nTV5SJPPvObDj23wnx7AjYyvWotZ9BXJfiqWWALpO9frijid7Aml8vLC2yIaK72faxQ_8D8gPemQFQmuoxv96BoMxsSXKaNALYG4_fl8LpVitZE-bc7Y7A/w640-h426/IMG_2226.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Animals and birds tend to be
disturbed by eye contact. It triggers in them the flight condition and so
whilst I paused stock still I avoided the does gaze. Carefully with my head
down, I was able to remove my camera from its case, turn it on and bring it to my
face. The doe stuttered a little and took a few steps further before stopping
once more and fixing me with a steely glare. Perhaps she had decided to turn
the predator-prey tables and was trying to make me flee?<o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I managed to get a couple of
shots off, trying to focus between the vegetation before in what looked like
exasperation she bounded off and with a final check to see if I was following
bounded behind a bramble patch out of site. The meadow is riddled with animal tracks
and the way was quite clear along the backwater where she had bounded but
rather than follow her directly, I decided that if I cut round to the right
side of the bramble bush and see if I could catch sight of her the other side.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Taking but a step or two to the
right I was startled as a second and then a third leaped out of the undergrowth
in front of me. The first was so close that I could nearly have reached out and
stroked its back. In silence, they bounded after the doe and disappeared.
Pulling myself together I moved around the brambles and in the distance saw the
three of them running hell for leather into the distance.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Excited by my encounter it took a
moment for the event to sink in and for the truth to reveal itself to me. My
field craft had not calmed the doe and allowed her to stand patiently as I got
my camera and took some shots, far from it she was playing me. What I had
experienced is something many species do to distract predators. Although the
two fawns were now nearly fully grown, she was still protecting them. Whilst
they hunkered down stock still in the undergrowth practically invisible, she
tried to distract me and lead me away from them. Her pausing and watching me
was her checking to see if I was following, she was taunting me, begging me to
follow, awkward me however hadn’t followed her path exactly, instead, I had deviated
to the right and come too close to the hidden fawns. The minute I crossed that
hidden boundary of comfort the fawns bolted and took themselves to safety.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This fact changes the context of
the encounter to one of amazement of a wild animal becoming comfortable with my
presence a moment of two souls meeting between a gaze to one tinged with fear
and panic. The concern of a mother trying to lead a potential threat away from
her young. Young that although nearly fully grown were still dear to her,
forgive the pun. In nature, it is hard to equate maternal feelings and at what
point that ends. We see it in wildlife documentaries when a cheetah cub is
chased off to find a new territory or a bear cub is abandoned to find its own
life whilst the mother mates again but, in this case, the doe is still intent
on protecting her young. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Roe deer are the only deer to exhibit
delayed implantation. The doe will have mated with one of the two local bucks
back in July/August but the fertilised egg will not actually implant in the
uterine wall until January, this is when I suspect this maternal instinct will
fade although the three of them will stick together for a while until the new
fawns are born in mid-May.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-1483044236452581402022-12-04T05:50:00.005-08:002022-12-04T05:50:39.671-08:00Mixed Species Tit Flocks<p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDV_egur_ZogEbZ_A25lcIJag-5BrMI1bVtt9msvUBf4kyGk6W5Fz1nGVH5f9OIyawYZYymCqeU7e4rjSm1LtknO0AlMUx6uQ8OXmwhD6O7zJvkHK3wpAvrKAyM9QxMsJm6HczrueMxPLooFFAQhyFmz2pSU5Sy78NYPIWyReIzA59Pkn6N2Mzo6WkA/s4093/bt%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4093" data-original-width="2894" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDV_egur_ZogEbZ_A25lcIJag-5BrMI1bVtt9msvUBf4kyGk6W5Fz1nGVH5f9OIyawYZYymCqeU7e4rjSm1LtknO0AlMUx6uQ8OXmwhD6O7zJvkHK3wpAvrKAyM9QxMsJm6HczrueMxPLooFFAQhyFmz2pSU5Sy78NYPIWyReIzA59Pkn6N2Mzo6WkA/s320/bt%20(2).jpg" width="226" /></a></div> It is at this time of year when the leaves are falling from the trees and the birds start to flock together that mobile tit flocks are more evident.<p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Back in university, my dissertation looked at optimal foraging theory in woodland birds and it was at this time that I first noticed the phenomena known as mixed species flocking. I made my study in Penglais Wood, just over the road from the main campus of Aberystwyth University. I walked this woodland several times a week counting the birds and trying to time foraging events. </p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The busiest spot was always in a clearing of beech trees. Beech trees are amazing organisms, their thick foliage means that very little ground cover grows beneath them and in winter their golden leaves drop to form a thick carpet that becomes full of small insects and beech masts. This feast attracted the likes of Blackbirds, Thrushes, and Redwings but also flocks of smaller birds. Chaffinches were predominant alongside Great Tits, with Blue Tits, Wrens, and Treecreepers flitting in the branches. Watching these flocks led me into reading up on Hurlbert's work on Niche Overlap theory, a post for another time perhaps.</span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Today I see these flocks regularly on my patch. The core of these flocks tends to be the ever-gregarious Long-tailed Tit family groups. They assemble post-breeding in extended families and can number into the mid-teens. With them, travel Blue Tits and Great Tits with very occasionally a Coal Tit or Marsh Tit. What makes these little flocks more interesting are the added extras who come along for the ride. Mixed in amongst the flurry of little bodies is often a Treecreeper or two or Goldcrest, rarer still are Nuthatch or overwintering Blackcap.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitqn2XUhztrfRtWsBrBn8IICwD2043ZmhcRTGjg-KvF68qfDHcO-u_coQgN0x-PWqo4Lhmvw0LJ0B4Cuu1aSjedoYFvuBlIXykFlKH02fdvRIMldtDWbQhqN0au9rwnMS-d1G691-GFmLOcDeGmYj5bTlCIP6aEoxXVEQ3ngxrbjIVZ7SygQ1KrVl9uw/s3508/Lt1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2480" data-original-width="3508" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitqn2XUhztrfRtWsBrBn8IICwD2043ZmhcRTGjg-KvF68qfDHcO-u_coQgN0x-PWqo4Lhmvw0LJ0B4Cuu1aSjedoYFvuBlIXykFlKH02fdvRIMldtDWbQhqN0au9rwnMS-d1G691-GFmLOcDeGmYj5bTlCIP6aEoxXVEQ3ngxrbjIVZ7SygQ1KrVl9uw/s320/Lt1.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p>Mixed species Tit flocks are not hard to miss. They are noisy and fill the air with a cacophony of cherubic tweets and frantic dashes between trees. The woodland or hedgerow suddenly comes alive with little bodies flitting hither and thither. It can be somewhat overwhelming having so many birds whizzing about, flocks can sometimes reach upward of twenty individuals or more. Counting such events can be difficult but I find the easiest way is to position oneself in a gap between two trees and then try and count them as they fly between them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUhyPD_VrvgRcwkaycxqWZM35oLPC7OmdI_Z7Elvf3dQvIy1XqOBdM5UIzcI2SMgDyqhgStBAxmOf3CetteknyJ5AWK2Wu85YlAUsVA1D8GLg2CCNCpF2t09ykheNg7F-L5EDhcRRcfHHz8Srx-bSujLvaJurXbuHlnyD4NHDKPvPAZfwqC7uYGzaqA/s3508/Goldcresta4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUhyPD_VrvgRcwkaycxqWZM35oLPC7OmdI_Z7Elvf3dQvIy1XqOBdM5UIzcI2SMgDyqhgStBAxmOf3CetteknyJ5AWK2Wu85YlAUsVA1D8GLg2CCNCpF2t09ykheNg7F-L5EDhcRRcfHHz8Srx-bSujLvaJurXbuHlnyD4NHDKPvPAZfwqC7uYGzaqA/s320/Goldcresta4.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">Small passerines find such flocks very advantageous. In the autumn and winter without the leaf cover, such small birds are terribly exposed to predators such as the Sparrowhawk, by traveling en masse they increase the number of eyes looking out for harm and can alert the whole group to danger with high-pitched frantic alarm calls. Large numbers also confuse the Sparrowhawk by providing too many targets for it to choose from. They are able to continue to forage in this way moving from tree to tree and exhibit great niche seperation. The long-tailed tits and goldcrests feed on the slender branch tips, Blue Tits and Great Tits on the larger branches, and the Treecreepers on the trunk.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcdayWeRykKktAq55cFh_TqIsYF5xac3mdHLacZTcsGAKOHBQth6yHRej5M3Ur03mYunbdpcqKSOtgY9qd8lke0jtBpgSSAIG6mVULy-87HBRKc3ybnzZQtKw1gRdVnXZiQUoZK1wNDmfBX9JEMRyLbOjkzaLjglyRkEcu7iLUICA9eHGZdeLYUPXLw/s4093/treecreeper%20(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2894" data-original-width="4093" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcdayWeRykKktAq55cFh_TqIsYF5xac3mdHLacZTcsGAKOHBQth6yHRej5M3Ur03mYunbdpcqKSOtgY9qd8lke0jtBpgSSAIG6mVULy-87HBRKc3ybnzZQtKw1gRdVnXZiQUoZK1wNDmfBX9JEMRyLbOjkzaLjglyRkEcu7iLUICA9eHGZdeLYUPXLw/s320/treecreeper%20(2).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>In my experience, the bosses of this flock are the Long-tailed Tits. I have never seen a mixed species tit flock that did not include 'Longties', they take the lead and the others follow. Such flocks can turn a quiet still woodland walk into a bonanza of sound and movement, another one of natures little miracles.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-18627909905123928352022-11-06T12:16:00.004-08:002022-11-06T12:16:53.488-08:00Time is the fire in which we burn<p> As Dr. Soran said in Star Trek: Generations quoting a Delmore
Schwartz poem – “Time is the fire in which we burn”. It is this quote to which
I have been drawn this week. With my master’s studies fully completed I now
find myself with the time to return to processing the vast quantities, I have
assembled regarding my patch.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHiE84uwIJnJfDyHEAUEygn3jS9-Jw1CR0TP0mWCvx-rlU03VDJgmcpRn2ORT6OL7eDefdjuHXZ4XMFRIFEmmDoQ45rgta77IuVxKQIlk6380ovrGhlGeqDAIdFNp7oWOarDY5mJrjaqYeGHREYEeG8Nc1XHPT99eSinBqYBNq8KZMJeIsGiU_3TIow/s4032/IMG_1263%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHiE84uwIJnJfDyHEAUEygn3jS9-Jw1CR0TP0mWCvx-rlU03VDJgmcpRn2ORT6OL7eDefdjuHXZ4XMFRIFEmmDoQ45rgta77IuVxKQIlk6380ovrGhlGeqDAIdFNp7oWOarDY5mJrjaqYeGHREYEeG8Nc1XHPT99eSinBqYBNq8KZMJeIsGiU_3TIow/w480-h640/IMG_1263%5B1%5D.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hazel Trees I planted 8 years ago as whips</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I have visited my patch and recorded every bird and animal
species nearly every week for twenty years. In 2014 I started a long-term
camera trapping project that has now expanded to include two further cams –
otter cam and badger cam. This produces sometimes up to 1000 images and video
clips a week to process. Alongside this, I record some environmental data, this
year including water quality information.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">All this data is compiled first in rough on paper, it then
has to be transferred to my database and then Excel spreadsheets for detailed
analysis. I have cut some of the work down by only fully analysing the data on
a five-year cycle but even then I rarely have time to go into the statistical analysis
I would like to.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I have spent the past few weeks updating the spreadsheets
and graphs for my trail cam information. It was while I was looking at the Wood
Mouse data that I started to see the telltale sign of the standard population
oscillation trend reminiscent of the work of Lotka-Volterra. I began to wonder
if I could correlate the data against those of Tawny Owl and Fox and see if the
patterns matched. I realised then that these cycles represented generations of
mice. A Wood Mouse has a life span of perhaps 12-18 months in the wild and so
the mouse I saw on the camera was certainly not the same individual I saw in my
first video recording. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Life is fleeting, I recalled, VGY and ZTG the first pair of
swans at the Mill who were so familiar to me that they would come to my
whistle, the now long deceased and Half-Tail the resident old Dog Fox who
vanished two years ago, and the fat badger that was blind in one eye. In 20 years,
individuals had come and gone and recently I have struggled to identify individuals
to the same level. Life is hard, little Huey the hedgehog who I wrote about in
the last post died of parasite infestation during the week. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">20 years may seem like a long time but looking at the data it’s
still not enough yet to identify meaningful population trends, not with such a
small sample size as just me recording. Even if I recorded for another 20 years
which health providing is possible, I am still not certain I would have enough
data. You see more data is never enough, you just need more. The more you get
the better its quality. Of course, by sending in my records to the local
Ecology Unit and Birdtrack means my effort is reserved for posterity but I won’t
be around to see what comes next.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I look at the landscape of the mill and I can look at the
trees I planted, like the cluster of Hazels that now actually look like trees
but at a larger scale I contemplate the course of the river. It’s clear from the
topography where the river used to run and where it runs now, but that was
thousands of years of change and there is no chance that I will ever see any
natural change in the course of the river. I sit beside huge plane trees at the
pub recalling that they are evident in the pictures taken in the late 1800’s. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">We species each have a life span, an allotment in time, and it’s
up to us to make the most of it. If I were to be an oak tree and see 500 years,
I still would want to know what happens next, that’s the curiosity of human
nature and so I must content myself with my allotted span and make the most of it.
I may never complete the data because it never will be completed but I can have
fun watching the annual cycles and remember that the fragility of life is the
very thing that gives life purpose.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
<br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-46708908488812921552022-10-29T03:31:00.001-07:002022-10-29T03:31:22.706-07:00Huey the Hedgehog- An essay on day time Hedgehogs and ethics.<p> Following on from my last mammal post it is another popular mammal that has inspired this post.</p><p>The Hedgehog must be one of Britain's most beloved garden animals. They have such great character and have been exemplified by Beatrice Potter's Mrs. Tiggywinkle. The fact that they visit gardens means that they are readily observable to the layman. You do not need specialist equipment or years of tracking experience, camouflage, or hours in a hide to see them.</p><p>At this time of year and particularly during this warm spell they are busy putting on weight for their winter hibernation. A chance sighting in the garden earlier this month revealed that we had a hedgehog visiting. We have a little hog-i-tat at the bottom of the garden which they don't seem to use and built a little feeding station with bricks. We experimented with food, we started with dog food at first, which they seemed to like, then specific canned hedgehog food, which they didn't seem to like before settling for dried hedgehog food that they seem much more comfortable with. I must stress here that bread and milk, the kind of food we put out as a child should never be given. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and this can be very bad for them.</p><p>I put out one of my trail cameras and discovered that they visited several times during the night and that there were two individuals. One a large fat adult and a much small individual.</p><p>Last Tuesday just as I left for work at 8am the small hedgehog was noticeable out in the daylight. This is a bad sign. Any hog out in daylight is in trouble. It had only just gotten light so I thought he had just gotten caught out and he seemed quite mobile and alert and so I left him. Ironically that day my parents and my nieces went to a Hedgehog Day at Hill Close Gardens. There they met a lady from Warwickshire Hedgehog Rescue. They are an amazing team that looks after hedgehogs in the area. </p><p>The key thing at this time of year for hedgehogs is putting on weight and so when we saw the hog that night I grabbed him and weighed him. The little fellow had a good roll response and despite being covered in fleas seemed in good health. He weighed just 325g just over half the weight he needed to be for hibernation. I was a little concerned, but we were feeding him and he seemed alert and well so I released him.</p><p>Yesterday, however, at midday I saw the little thing out down the pond, it was broad daylight and the alarm bells rang. He still seemed well, alert, and very mobile, he could certainly move when he wanted to. He was definitely hungry, he was moving methodically through the garden through the undergrowth and leaves snuffling and searching for food. Knowing he was underweight and out in the day, a risk to his survival. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLqYHYqwmh2BGgoeGrn2JQeV0o8sx0fJwmslzIyRl6XoLKjbE14aEC-uQez_PBp-HqIZ7ypdER1QW-tEm1HssFh7A4tp-DVEp00TCO3ZtLd9DOjLANaXlAtXwLr5T6Kb2GFKy3USwzhleykslv7lD6hakVbyNeqb1tSwM25Xe8iLCW4RmVDtOHbGP0w/s4032/IMG_1258%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLqYHYqwmh2BGgoeGrn2JQeV0o8sx0fJwmslzIyRl6XoLKjbE14aEC-uQez_PBp-HqIZ7ypdER1QW-tEm1HssFh7A4tp-DVEp00TCO3ZtLd9DOjLANaXlAtXwLr5T6Kb2GFKy3USwzhleykslv7lD6hakVbyNeqb1tSwM25Xe8iLCW4RmVDtOHbGP0w/s320/IMG_1258%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>I gathered him up into a box. I lined it with old curtains and put in some of the dried food and water, and rang the Hedgehog Rescue lady. As she was fairly local she came and collected him, I m not sure he would have enjoyed my taking him by bike!</p><p>Huey, as my nieces insisted he be called was now in the best place. The carer would check him for parasites, something that they particularly suffer from when they turn towards eating slugs and snails. She would give him fluids and any medication needed, and if he survived would return him at a safe weight for release.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKF-dIr6GIxjrVl6L5YEUWINI4nljwtlPnxGLWDFAHwewrpS7lPVnTH1pf-h-AMhJdETySWS_l8tv3eng0mmFjAyUNynHbDWAqWx-mPoWEYgK5AQL_LaB42kSILPw9GPX7gc6qhYX0U0AlgWQ1EKXXiW1Tr8I8_DK_3EDyX9Zi42gNG5GLwzTNy9Gjw/s4032/IMG_E1260%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKF-dIr6GIxjrVl6L5YEUWINI4nljwtlPnxGLWDFAHwewrpS7lPVnTH1pf-h-AMhJdETySWS_l8tv3eng0mmFjAyUNynHbDWAqWx-mPoWEYgK5AQL_LaB42kSILPw9GPX7gc6qhYX0U0AlgWQ1EKXXiW1Tr8I8_DK_3EDyX9Zi42gNG5GLwzTNy9Gjw/s320/IMG_E1260%5B1%5D.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>It is important to act quickly to a hedgehog out in the day. They are always in some kind of trouble and parasitic infections in the gut can turn nasty quickly. We had a hedgehog last year that we tended for a few hours before getting him to the Rescue Centre, but it was too late and he died. Hedgehogs often appear very perky and well before going drastically downhill.</p><p>So Huey is safe and warm. The carer will do all she can for him, but this incident reinforced something I have discussed on this channel before regarding ethics. When I saw Huey out in the daylight I was both concerned for him and delighted that I could get a good look at a wild hedgehog doing its thing. </p><p>I watched him as he turned the leaves searching for beetles and worms and a took a quick snap with my phone to document his size. It was then a thought crossed my mind. Perhaps I should go and get my SLR, this would make for some excellent photographs, it's so hard to take them at night and here Huey was posing in the beautiful autumn sunlight. The thought faded as I remembered that the only reason he was out in the day was that he was either unwell or absolutely starving. Instead of reaching for my Camera, I dashed past for a box. This was undoubtedly the right thing to do. </p><p>I have photos of animals in distress, a Fox and a Muntjac, both of these images taken before I realized their injuries. The photos took new meaning then, their beauty was tinged with sadness and darkness. I only ever use those images to illustrate the frailty of nature and never for profit or gain. It is our responsibility to protect our wildlife and treat them with respect. I could not help the Fox or Muntjac but I didn't want to denigrate their nature by capturing their likeness for a technically great shot.</p><p>I wonder now about all the photos I see of Hedgehogs beautifully framed in the leaves in full daylight. I hope they were all taken at rescue centres where the individual was cared for, but suspect that many were not. I understand that not everyone will know that a daytime Hedgehog is in trouble and just relish in this stroke of luck, but I hope everyone reading this will now understand that they need help, that they aren't well and they aren't posing for you.</p><p>A good general rule of thumb is that if you can approach an animal or bird then it is unwell and needs help. I have been called to help all sorts of birds and animals. Birds trapped in buildings, pigeons knocked out by a window collision, rabbits caught in cricket nets, and the like and in all cases the animals that allowed me close enough were in severe trouble. There is a balance between distressing the animal more and trying to help. Death is a natural part of nature and I personally find that unless you can safely, for you and them, catch them and get them to a vet who can do something it is best to let nature takes its course.</p><p>So, Huey is safe for now, he's not out of the woods, it all depends on the parasite load in his body, but he is in the best place. I want everyone to be aware that a daytime hedgehog needs help and there are legions of volunteers across the country that care for hedgehogs, a now increasingly rare mammal. I want to say a huge thank you to these people who give up their time and money to protect this species. We can all do our bit and should - </p><p>- feed our hedgehogs properly, not bread and milk</p><p>- Have dead wood in the garden to encourage beetles and grubs</p><p>- Leave leaves and compost bins for nesting</p><p>- check bonfires before lighting</p><p>- Take daytime hogs to a carer</p><p>- Cut hedgehog runs in our hedges and fences</p><p><br /></p><p>Warwickshire Hedgehog Rescue - <a href="https://warwickshirehedgehogrescue.org/">https://warwickshirehedgehogrescue.org/</a></p><p><br /></p>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4382225379597413905.post-38477209729520592772022-10-16T12:25:00.001-07:002022-10-16T12:26:49.862-07:00Mammal Update<p> A long time has passed since my last post. Life, as so often does, gets in the way. In the intervening 5 months, I have completed my MA in Military History and have been working hard at work to also pass some exams. This does not mean that I have neglected my patch. All through this time I have been visiting weekly and taking records. </p><p>So here then is a little update of the mammals sighted on the site both in person and on camera:</p><p><u>Roe Deer</u> </p><p>The local herd consists of 2-3 does and two bucks. The dominant buck has impressive three-pronged horns whilst the other has simple two prongs. One of the does had two kids, both I believe to be female.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwAGXqHl7-oUkPT2nH77wxmg2jP9COSoBIN2wY7vEh1RFEm7DeI65qwAz63EFN7Pu3XaDGmLsesAE8QnfwiWA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u>Muntjac</u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is still an abundance of Muntjac on the site with several males and females. One female had a single fawn this year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u>Badger</u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Badgers have been seen less often than they used to be and their sett seems less frequent than in the past. I think I single cub was born this year and over the last few weeks some very large individuals have been spotted.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u>Fox</u></div><div><br /></div><div>There are no resident pairs on the site anymore. Several individuals have been seen, Thin tail, Thick brush, Speckles, and Black Tip. No cubs were seen this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Otter</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Otter have been a highlight of the past 18 months but sadly since a female was seen courting a male they have not been seen since (6 months). It could be that they no longer pass otter cam, but all the frequent sprainting sites are not being used anymore either. </div><div><br /></div><div><u>Mink</u></div><div><br /></div><div>A single Black Mink remains on site and is still seen intermittently.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Grey Squirrel</u></div><div><br /></div><div>There has been no appreciable change in the number and behaviour of squirrels on site.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Wood Mice</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Wood Mice are still abundant at all three camera sites.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Common Shrew</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Picked up several times on Otter and Badger Cam</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Field Vole</u></div><div><br /></div><div>I had hoped my mostela would give more information on the resident field voles but once that was taken over by bees that idea was over. instead, I was lucky enough to spot two juveniles outside the badger sett.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhcc2CBOpmjyvRX0u8bbCdgm1hcWa1QlI6Qtv3AQcn9MaVUijiGNK9fSZjJnd3idVO_sVvGek2qzjsEMu3DlBp9WZ63U1-e_9Y3hrWl-hXmlizHkPzZejqrddtYwg_7GMF7bQrrm0hT_JEHoh39JLWYZzWrscFRBcgPTCtjlq4bo1pyAAk-9oaf6hqw/s3508/Vole1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2338" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhcc2CBOpmjyvRX0u8bbCdgm1hcWa1QlI6Qtv3AQcn9MaVUijiGNK9fSZjJnd3idVO_sVvGek2qzjsEMu3DlBp9WZ63U1-e_9Y3hrWl-hXmlizHkPzZejqrddtYwg_7GMF7bQrrm0hT_JEHoh39JLWYZzWrscFRBcgPTCtjlq4bo1pyAAk-9oaf6hqw/w426-h640/Vole1.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Mark Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15282467673860362047noreply@blogger.com0