Molehills and Miscellany

The last few weeks since my flurry of Otter sightings have been the humdrum week to week norm. Unusually mild few new species have been recorded on my patch and the activity at my camera trap has been low.

Small flocks of Siskin have started to appear and Goldcrests have been more prevalent as have the Kingfishers. I was lucky enough to spot one this morning on the backwater fishing. It was the distinctive plop sound of a failed dive that caught my attention first. I was able to track him to the far bank and watch him for a few minutes before a pair of squabbling Little Grebe startled us both.

I am always astounded by the vibrant blues on the head and wings.

On a funny note I discovered another use for my trail cam. When I collected the card this morning I noticed a fresh molehill in the field of view. By running through the images I was able to identify when it appeared and was able to ascertain that the mole pushed up the spoil between 12:05pm and 4:06pm on Sat 19th Jan. The movement itself was obviously too slow to trigger the camera itself but it certainly adds incentive to my photo a mole project, more of which in a future post.

The Inner Life of Animals by Peter Wohlleben

One of my Christmas present last year was the delightful book, The Inner Life of Animals of a Hidden World by Peter Wohlleben. Having just completed it I thought I would give you a quick review.
The book is a charming collection of thoughts and musings on animal behaviour, much like this blog is. Over a series of 50 short chapters Peter explores the inner mind of animals. He tackles ideas on emotions animals feel, pain, loss. How intelligent species can be and what our relationship is with them,

He approaches our connection to nature in a pragmatic way acknowledging the use of some animals for food and others as being unsuitable. He questions certain assumptions and challenges anthropomorphism in a similar way that I do. He shows that animals have feelings and intellects as equally complex but it would be foolish to use our on experiences to judge theirs and in doing so believe we can understand their motivation. In fact if there is one single cohesive message in the book it is the analysis of the interplay between  instinct and choice, and I m unsure Peter actually reaches a conclusion on which is supreme.

The book is easy to read. The perfect size for picking up and dipping into but with enough charm and joy to keep you turning the pages for hour after hour if desired. What made the book enjoyable for me was the setting. Peter is a land owner and forester in Germany and so the wildlife he includes is more diverse than our own. In effect the range of animals he relates to our what would once what Great Britain would have been had. The species mix is familiar enough not to be jarring and exotic enough to be enticing. It allows the book to be a journey into a new physical world as well as an inner mental one.

Some people may wish for a more scientific analysis of the mind of animals. Peter does evidence his work with some studies but most points come from anecdotes and personal experiences. This does not devalue his work at all, he is a knowledgeable and engaging guide to the wild and only a fool would not listen to someone of such experience and there are plenty of books out there with neurological diagrams and statistically tested conclusions but none of them will be written with the charm that Peter does.

2018 - A year in Review

Well there we go 2018 is gone and 2019 is upon us and what a year it was.

This year saw the completion of 15 years of surveys on my patch at the Saxon Mill. Sadly much of the year was lost when the bridge was taken out and left me unable to access the patch. I was able to get some access once work started and meant that I only lost 3 months survey data although this was the busiest time, summer, meaning my nest records, butterfly and dragonfly numbers were down.

Over the year I recorded only 49 species of birds, mainly due to me not being able to record the summer visitors, 2 butterfly species, 3 dragonfly species 3 mammal species and 1 reptile species. Of course the hands down highlight was the Otter sighting on my land in early December.

Speaking of which, talk about two coming along at the same time I saw a second otter on the Avon this time behind Tescos heading towards St Nicholas Park. This one stayed around a bit longer and I was able to really watch the movements and the way the bubbles leave a trail when it swam under water. This animal  seemed smaller than the one I saw at the mill possibly a female or sub-adult. It was also more cautious of me.

On the 31st December my long term camera trap completed its first year in its new location. In its time it was activated 3328 times over the 12 months. New species to be recorded included the Hedgehog and Woodcock. In fact the woodcock was quite active early in the year.

The most frequent observation in order is:

430 - Fox. I now know there is a Juvenile, Half-Tail, No Tail and Full tail. 4 individuals using the site.
415 - Grey Squirrel
388 - Blackbird
246 - Wood Mouse
146 - Song Thrush
142 - Badger
121 - Muntjac

Most interesting in terms of camera sightings was watching the Fix Cub grow up and note the rise in Roe Deer being seen more frequently and in greater numbers.
In fact the most recent sighting was off a Buck with its horns just starting to grow.

Once I have had time to process the data pretty graphs will follow.

Here is hoping 2019 is going to be as exciting and rewarding.