Getting a Mud Bath

Following my rather spontaneous trip out yesterday, I considered cancelling my planed trip out to watch one of the trails. There is a location in my local area where I regularly see wildlife tracks, however it is also crossed with regular human traffic.

Therefore, I needed to ascertain when the human traffic stopped and when the animal traffic started. That required me to venture out in the night yet again. Because my plans were adjusted during the day, after getting back and feeding and watering myself, I was tempted to stay in the warm. But, I also knew that because the weather was less than clement, there was less risk of getting disturbed by people.

Now while I don't have a problem with others sharing the countryside, the number of times that the presence of other people does impact the behaviour of the wildlife. Also, as I want to at a latter date set up a camera trap, I needed to discover a time block when I can leave the equipment set up without the risk of this expensive piece of kit disappearing.

Now dear reader, you understand why I was wandering about in the dark, in the forest, in the cold, you also need to understand that with the recent rain and snow, the ground was very muddy and slippery under foot.

In the summer, no matter how much repellent I use I become the picnic for a variety of insects, but as it is early spring I was not expecting to suffer that problem. I do love being in the woods after dark. While it is cold and damp, sitting or standing comfortably often you can hear much of what is happening in the Forest.

In the wood the wildlife gets on with there lives far from us humans and at night is when most of the activities go on. So settling down I set about discovering what was active. Listening just to the sounds of the forest does not always tell you exactly what's there, but the scampering of small mammals was evident. I also heard the sounds of Owls out hunting. I could not positively identify what species, but I heard the sound of one taking a vole or a mouse. As I peered into gloom, I think I could see the bird fly off, but with no clear view I could not say what it was. I also saw and heard a fox go by.

As I sat I could hear the deer were active too, but I could not see them. After I thought they had passed I decided I would have a drink from my flask. I don't know if it was some sound that I made, or the aroma of the coffee but some fifteen feet from behind me came a burst of sound as four or five Roe Deer burst into activity as they made to flee from my presence. This caused me to drop my flask in the mud. It took me about half an hour to gather my gear back together. I ended up looking like I was doing an impression of a hippopotamus by the time I was finished.
It is not the first time that I have been startled by wildlife, I doubt that it will be the last. I am just glad that I do not have a wife or partner to go back to, or else I would be sleeping in a kennel.

However, my primary objective was fulfilled and I know that it will be possible to set up the camera trap. There was no human disturbance and this will mean I can avoid doing my impressions of icicles or mud loving animals.

Sounds of Nature

Yesterday I finally got my hands on my new toy. I am planing on creating a podcast, and I really want to record some of the sounds of the wildlife that I hear. As my regular reader will know, after getting the recording equipment I ventured out but the results were a little disappointing. What I needed I finally got yesterday, a parabolic microphone.

I had to order this as they are not available off the shelf, at least not in the UK, or at least locally. So I have been waiting for this. Its by no meaning of the term the best available, but it was what I could afford. However, when I went to collect it the cable that I also needed, to connect to the recorder, was out of stock. Therefore I was pleased and disappointed.

However armed with the device I could use it to listen to wildlife sounds even if I couldn't record them, so I experimented. What was a real revelation was just how much the sounds sounds of the birds jump out. As the dish of the parabola focus the sounds, it enables me to see by sound birds and animals that are hidden from view. At the very least I can see myself using it to search for birds, as using this, enabled me to see birds that I may not have spotted otherwise.

Although it was testing it out at night that really amazed me. When I am out I do try to be light of foot and keep my ears open. Yet using this as an aid was magical. I found that I was able to track a fox for over a mile, she was probably thinking I shake this hippy off soon. I had to give up as I was close to getting lost. Well actually I was lost...

Also I heard an owl and was quickly able to locate the bird, something I would not have been able to do without hearing the soft noises of movement.

But it was today after getting the interconector needed that really had me having some fun. I went out with no specific location in mind but with the aim of trying to record the birds and anything else that may have been around. While I have recorded some of the birds singing, I will need to create a windsock for the microphone, I am thinking of trying a pair of tights, no I will not be asking any female friends, it will be embarrassing enough buying a pair!

One amazing thing that happened was I heard a rustling, a movement in the trees. I looked carefully and saw a couple of Roe Deer, so well camouflaged that I doubt that I would have seen them otherwise. While I did set the recorder while watching them but not a noise or movement did they make. It was to dark to take pictures, but I will go back to the location and see if this is a regular sleeping point for them.

I love my new toy, I just hope that I can capture and share some of what I hear with you folks.

The picture is one that I took in the wood today.

Bullfinch

The other morning after spending another night under the stars watching the badgers, I decided that I would go to a particular spot where I stood a good chance of seeing the Roe Deer. As I was already cold, a bone numbing cold, I knew that while I waited and watched I would have some shelter from the wind. Unfortunately the Deer failed to make an appearance, I suspect that as I was shivering so much that I was failing to be as quiet as I thought I was. Therefore, I failed again to get the pictures I was hoping for.

Because I was so cold I decided to head for one of the bird hides, where at least I would be out of the wind that was draining the warmth from my body. It worked wonders for me, as although tired, I was delighted to see the flocks of birds, particularly the Bullfinches that were using this feeding station.

My initial pictures were a little blurred as I was still shivering a bit, but as I warmed up I was able to keep the camera still to get some cracking shots.

This stop on my sojourn home was welcome as I was able to regain some of my body heat, and I had some good memories to take home with me. When I finally got to bed, I slept for a full twelve hours straight. While watching any wildlife nocturnally has its problems, one of my problems has been solved by the gift I was given of a pen that has a red LED light in it so that I can see to take notes without disturbing the badgers and foxes.

It’s rather funny but several people have asked me why study an animal like the Badger, don’t we already know about them? Well as I will be showing in a latter posting, no we don’t and it’s only from real observations can we really learn.

An Old Friend Comes Back

As this Mouse had a meeting cancelled yesterday I found myself with unexpected time on my hands. I was fortunate as all this week the weather has been wet or very overcast, but yesterday it was sunny. Therefore I decided to make good use of this bonus.

However, before I tell you about that, I must say that I have been extremely busy working on a possible new project, watch this space for details to come. But it was in relation to this new project that I was supposed to be meeting with other people, but due to events outside of all our control, they had to cancel. It was so last minute that I had already left to travel in to Newcastle. Fortunately, I had missed the earlier bus that I had planed to catch and while waiting for the next one, I got a call on my mobile. As I had been trying to get into town early, had it not been for modern telecommunications I would not have known until I arrived for the meeting.

That left me feeling more than a little disappointed as I had spent a lot of time preparing for this business meeting. However, it is just one of those things that happens in life.

All this meant that I had unexpected time, so I decided to use it productively, and went back out, after changing, to go and watch some wildlife. As my regular reader knows, I have been puzzling over some unexpected animal behaviour among the badgers. At one of the Setts that I am watching, I have seen the badgers tramping over the tracks of the Roe Deer. So I went down to that area partly so I could see what else is about, as normally I am there in the dark. There were a significant number of small birds about feeding on the remains of the peanuts that I am using to feed the badgers. Therefore, I had the delightful vision of small flocks of great, coal and blue tits feeding. I used the opportunity to carefully examine the deer track.

Settling down I watched the birds and I was pleasantly surprised to see an old friend come along, the Fox that I filmed previously.

By watching the birds I realised what the badgers have been doing. The deer use a track that’s a quagmire most of the time. Because the ground is soft and muddy it’s a good area for worms, which is evidenced by the number of molehills I see. But what’s happening is that the worms are coming out after the Deer pass because of the droppings. The badgers are going down for the worms and in doing so are obliterating the signs of the deer.

It was all quite logical in the end, but it did look as though the badgers were deliberately masking the Deer’s passage.

Night Life

Last night was the first night for over two weeks, which I have not been out keeping station on the Badgers. It was only because of the poor weather conditions that I decided to keep to my bed, as my nocturnal activities had enabled a chest cold to persist.

While it has been remarkable to watch the season change from autumn to winter, even more remarkable has been my ability to witness the animals as they prepare for winter. Often at night it is really the sounds that tell you the story of what is occurring, however the frequently heard owls seemed to have been everywhere. I had to do some serious reading to work out if what I was seeing was unique. But I realised that it is in fact just that the young hatched this year are finding their own feet, or should that be talons, and trying to establish territories. The fact that they are doing it in their parents’ territories is why they are suddenly so frequently seen. So while this observation is nothing new to science, it has increased my understanding of the natural world. Further, I have been privileged to be using the same branch as my viewing platform as a young tawny owl has been utilising as a hunting perch.

This observation also helped me to decode some of the other faint sounds I was hearing. What I had initially thought was the gentle rustle of leaf in the breeze turned out to be small mammals, mice, vole even shrews.

Then there have been the sounds and shadows of the foxes lightly imprinting their path across the frosted leaves. While a fox can be silent, the cries they emanate can make the blood run cold. I understand that when the mating season for foxes happens, the police get an increase in the number of calls informing them that some thinks a woman is being attacked in the bushes somewhere. Quite a chilling sound and it is no wonder that myths grew up around woods.

Before even talking about the badgers, the other remarkable experience is the deer. With my perch in a tree, I am above the roe deer as the pass below me. They know my sent and know that I have passed, but fortunately they don’t look up. If they did they would see me as this small group of seven hinds walk, amble and skip just feet below me. I may take a picture of this, but I know the flash will startle them and I don’t want to disturb the natural behaviour that I am seeing. Nor frighten them into taking another route. Partly this is because in the badgers I am seeing some remarkable behaviour.

After the deer have passed, quite close to the sett, the badgers seem to then go grubbing for worms along the track the deer took. This has the effect of obliterating almost all the signs that the deer were there. But what has been even more curious is that on the couple of nights that I haven’t seen the deer the badgers don’t forage for worms there. Further, when the deer were late passing, the badgers seemed to wait until they had passed and seemed to move from an equally rich feeding area to feed on the deer track. While I suspect that there is something else going on, it appears as if the badgers are aiding the deer by hiding their passing. Quite curious.

At the Birth of a New Day

While a lot of people that I talk to say that they would love to see wildlife, most of them are not willing to make the effort, or have the patients to wait and watch. I do understand that people have busy lives, but the rewards garnered from just sitting quietly can be so rewarding. That is perhaps why so many people see my watching of wildlife as being so eccentric. I have been told to my face that I am weird, yet equally complete strangers will tell me of their encounters with the natural world.

Often the greatest obstacles to getting people to share the experience is getting them up and out of bed early, and then getting them to keep quiet. In the past I have taken people to see wildlife, but as is often the case, you may not see what you hope to see. However, there will always be something that you will see, even if it’s a frequently seen bird, just sitting waiting and watching can be rewarding.

Where I can agree that I am different is that I am prepared to wait out in the cold and often damp conditions during the night. With the waxing moon, or the full moon, there is surprisingly a lot of light to see by. Obviously this depends upon cloud cover, as the clouds can and frequently do cut off this illumination. But having cloudless skies does mean that the nights are colder. However, whatever the conditions, watching wildlife in the dark is never easy. It’s often your other senses that tell you what’s there.

Watching Badgers will frequently lead you to encounters with foxes, but it is often owls that are your most frequent companions in the night. Only the other night while sitting up a tree over looking one of the entrances to a particular Badger sett, I had the indignity of having a tawny owl regurgitate its pellet down on to my head. Had it not fallen on to my lap I may not have realised exactly what it was. However, it’s normally their calls that alert me to their presence. Just as it is the sounds that tell me when the mice and voles are about.

One strange noise that I have been hearing I have now discerned what was causing it. I had been hearing sounds of something moving earth or digging, but it was not the badgers, as on more than one occasion it was so close that had it been a Badger, Fox or even a rabbit I would have seen it. I had already made a good working hypothesis that it was a mole, but I needed to be sure. Then last night I saw in a clearly in a pool of moonlight, a mole poking its head out of the ground. That solved that mystery but proved that no matter how much experience any of us has, there is more to learn and much more to delight us.

While the night is teaming with movement and sounds, it is when new day nears that the song of dawn really delights the ears. It’s normally the Robin that is the first to sing, followed by the ubiquitous blackbird and chaffinch, while the tits provide the backing vocals.

As the sun lifts it light the woodland stage of a new day. That’s what makes the eccentricity of spending my nights uncomfortably perched so worthwhile.

21st Century Fox

Here is the video of the Fox that I filmed yesterday morning. As you can see it finally realises I am there just at the moment I spotted two Roe Deer.

An Inspiration to Watch Wildlife

For the last week this Mouse has been spending his nights out in the countryside watching Badgers with the cold as my only constant companion. I have been planning to do this for a while, and it has only been a change of circumstance that has enabled me the time to start what will now be a year long project. Part of the reason for needing to watch the badgers is simply that there are people out there who are intent on doing them harm. Then, as I wrote about just a day after starting this project, the government’s chief scientist starts calling on the government to cull badgers in an attempt to reduce the problems of TB in cattle.

Apart from the fact that this is bad science, but it also sends out the wrong message to the type of people who are involved in badger digging, badger baiting and dog fighting. Already I have seen strangers abroad in the night looking for the Badger sets, following the coverage in the media. On my previous nights out over the last few months that was something that was not occurring. It could be that it is just coincidence but I suspect that these people think that they can get away with harming badgers if the government is planning to kill them anyway.

Locally, I don’t actually think that Tuberculosis is much of a problem, at least not from talking to two cattle farmers in the local environs. But the increased activity is worrying.

The Badgers themselves appear to be doing quite well and while cautious seem not to be effected by the men out with dogs and lamps. However, it does make it difficult for me to observe natural behaviour, other than seeing the badgers disappearing at the sent, sight and sound of these men.

I myself am quite well hidden, and while I still have not devised a way of photographing the Badgers at night, I have had the chance of seeing Foxes and Deer as well. In fact this morning I was so busy taking pictures of a fox that I nearly missed seeing two Roe Deer. If I had not been filming the fox, I would have been able to get some great pictures of the Deer. They were only thirty meters away from me, but I risked disturbing all the wildlife in the vicinity had I not remained calm. Difficult when I am so excited to see all this natural history so close.

I do have a clip of video of the fox that I hope to place on this Blog if I can ever work out how to do it.

As I said part of my reason for wanting to watch the badgers was to ensure that they are protected. My experience of Badger watching stems from reading a book, A Forest By Night, which I found in my local library as a child. It was about the author’s experiences of Watching Badgers in what was my then local wood, Epping Forest. This inspired me to go out and watch the same Sett’s and what must have been the offspring of his Badgers. Although I never met Fred Speakman, I owe him a lot.

Only recently have I been able to buy a copy of this book, and rereading it gave me an idea of doing my own. I even have two publishers that are willing to read the manuscript once it is written. That doesn’t mean it will ever get published, and apart from anything else I still have to write the book. However, it does give me a justification for spending my nights out in the dark while my peanuts get frosted.

A Day Watching Wildlife

When I bought my new digital camera, a second hand one off of the Internet, it was very much with wildlife photography in mind. While I am still a fan of old fashioned film, I had grown to see the real advantages derived from digital. Therefore I decided I would head off and put the camera through its paces yesterday and headed off to a hide to try and photograph some small birds.

As with any public hides, you do have to put up with “the experts” who always seem to know better and will always tell you what you have just missed. Yesterday was no exception and the moment I was through the door I was being told I had just missed seeing a Yellowhammer. Now there is a great community sprit among wildlife watchers, and I know that my enthusiasm for what I have seen can create a blurred fog in the eyes of strangers. Yet often some of my fellow wildlife watchers don’t seem to know when to just observe. Sometimes it cam be like listening to a bad commentary on an otherwise great wildlife documentary.

Although, many pairs of eyes can mean that you get to see more as we are all looking in different directions. Therefore, even with one person pontificating about what they can see, its normally the person with the most expensive gear, there is a great shared experience gained from using public hides.

This one in Thornley Wood is set up specifically to allow the observation of small birds. Many you will see in the English garden, but on a much more grand scale. There are feeders and simple bird tables set up around a small pond, and you can see the tits and a myriad other birds flitting on and off the tables and feeders. Some you will only get a brief look at, others will stay a while longer, but all relatively close. In fact at this hide you often don’t need binoculars to watch the birds. That can encourage children and young people to start watching Birds and wildlife in general.

However, I knew that yesterday was going to be a good day as on my way to the hide I saw two Red Kites while on the bus. I had wanted to get off and photograph them but as it was a Sunday I knew I would have a long wait for the next bus, so I just enjoyed watching them.

At the hide there were several people with big expensive cameras, in the past I perhaps would have been just like them, except that I always felt self continuous about appearing flashy or pretentious, and to be quite honest conversations about equipment drive me mad. Therefore I was grateful that my little camera doesn’t make my look as if I have a problem with the size of my phallus. As for me it’s about seeing and if I can photograph what I do see.

Also, while I do enjoy seeing the rare and less common species, its not about ticking it off some list, I see sighting something less common as a good indication that we are doing something right with and about our environment. Therefore, I am always happy to see birds like the Blue Tit, Great Tit or the Chaffinch, picture above.

However seeing birds like the Great spotted Woodpecker (see image) or the Yellowhammer is a treat too, and one that I had yesterday. What also made the day rather special was a brief glance of a Deer, a roe deer I think, and a fox that came trotting through the clearing.

I would loved to have stayed longer among the strangers there, but the chatter of the expert was driving me mad so I left early and went for a walk. It is somewhere I will be returning to as apart from being a beautiful place it is rich with wildlife.

The Curse of the Mobile Telephone

Have you ever had one of those moments when you are thinking of something and it appears that others are thinking the same thing? Yesterday, that’s exactly what happened. While I had been busy in the morning, I wanted to get out into the wood with the specific aim of collecting tree seeds. As our wood is an ancient woodland site, it is going to be replanted over the coming half century with native broadleaf trees, and this will come from seeds collected locally. It is important that they are local as if we planted Hawthorn from seeds gathered from the south, they would flower at a slightly different time and hence not have the same benefit for the environment and wildlife as would the local genetic stock.

So there was I getting myself together to head out when the Forestry Commission Ranger telephoned me, she had passed on my details to the FC Press Officer and he would be giving me a call. This is because from the last acorn gathering, I ended up fostering about Two hundred and Fifty Oak seedlings. There would have been a lot more but I had to defend them from Jackdaws, Crows, Magpies, and even a Jay or two, so the numbers diminished as the birds ate their future perches. The FC press officer wants to do a picture of the trees and me, all rather contrived but I agreed to this. Not because I am looking for some kind of self-aggrandisement, but because I feel that it is vital that we do plant trees and if by loosing some degree of anonymity I help encourage others to help or take the initiative and do the same, it will be worth doing so. It is also why in part, I keep this on line journal, I hate the word Blog, as it may inspire others to do their bit for the environment.

However, when the call came through from the Forestry Commission Press Officer, I was already in the wood and I had just sighted the fox in the picture. It had shown no indication of having seen me, until the cellular phone rang. I snatched a couple of pictures none that sharp. After cursing the contraption I called back and had a chat with this chap.

I hope that I will see this dog fox again, and that I will not have had need to carry the phone with me. But at least I can say that I had another encounter with the wildlife that inhabits my countryside.

Two Unexpected Encounters

One of the delights of any form of wildlife watching is the unexpected encounter. Last night was a perfect example; this mouse had gone to one of the pubs in the village to see someone. Unfortunately he was not there, so I moved to another hostelry and had a couple of pints of the Irish stuff. Then because of work that the new owners are doing there, I offered the loan of some tools that could assist making the job easier. The offer accepted I went home to get them, while marching home I saw and heard an owl in a tree. I didn’t have time to stop but once I had given the tools to the people in the pub I headed off and took a look for this barn owl.

It was still there, and it was busy looking for food. I then spent the next two and a half hours following its movements around the village as it hunted the many greens in the village. It appeared to be hunting with its mate, but all my efforts to locate the other owl were unfruitful. It was one of those situations where I wished I had a camera with me. While I normally do, I had left it at home deliberately as I didn’t want to take it to the pub. I will not be making that mistake again.

Then today, I went off in search of the Roe Deer that have been seen in the woods. With several sightings by others, and my own sightings, I knew the territory they inhabit. Finding signs of them was very easy, not just footprints, but droppings and quite fresh ones too. As well as the less obvious signs like the tree that bares the marks of the buck deer rubbing the tree with its secretions.

While I did not see any of the deer, I did get the glimpse of something but I cannot be sure it was a deer and it could have been a fox, the signs of them were clear. However following their trail lead me off the beaten track into places where very few people venture. This caused me to encounter some Pleurotus ostreatus better known as Oyster Mushrooms. They are ready for picking and had I needed them for my meal tonight I would have picked a few. But I have my meal tonight already planned. Therefore I leave them and I know where they are the next time I want a few.