John's Mammals 2009 (1 Viewer)

[Farnboro John]

Brilliant! So glad you got to see the wildcat. Amazing what you can see in just a few days.

TS

Timing, effort, luck (the harder I work, the luckier I get, of course).

Appropriate weather helps and I believe that after a couple of days of showers and more prolonged rain, in the middle of breeding, on the night I scored every cat in Ardnamurchan must have been on the prowl.

John

 

[Tree Sparrow]

I'd say it's the hard work! I'm not going to see anything sitting at my computer, as I am at the moment but as it's currently pi**ing down with sleety/haily/rain, I don't care lol.

Maybe it'll clear up later.

TS

 

[Jhanlon]

blimey John, I've been to Fowlmere at least 50 times and never seen a water shrew there (or even a roe deer!). You should have given me a call - I live about 3-4 miles from there. Where was the shrew? Not that I have any time to look for them now but maybe at some point...

As you know the only mammals I've had this yr are the polecats (taking me into double figs for these now!) and a harvest mouse (just a glimpse) the same day. I've been meaning to get down to Rainham to photograph the water voles. Then again I've been meaning to do a lot of things. Finally have a DSLR & decent lens now so can get better pics. I'd be waiting til kingdom come to digiscope a weasel or shrew!

Funniest thing about the polecats was that there was a grinning picture of Simon King on the wall of the hide. He was having no luck in Wales for Springwatch and I was tempted to stick a photo cut-out right next to him. :-O:-O

Right - first day back at work, they have first call on me so this will have to be brief. I can't believe its only a week.

Just a summary, then, details later:

Ardnamurchan: 3 days and nights.

Wildcat: 1 at fifty yards in headlights on road by Loch Mudle, just after the sharp corner coming from the Ockle road junction round to the stretch actually looking down on the loch.

Otter: 1 fishing for half an hour caught 10 fish at Port na Croisg (first bay West of the Wildlife Centre.

Common Dolphin: about thirty together from Ardnamurchan Point showing brilliantly.

Also photographed Chequered Skipper and Ruby Tiger at Ariundle NNR in the car park.

A phone call from Roy brought me skedaddling back down the motorway network on Wednesday.

Thursday I was at College Lake all day in Polecat heaven. I never dreamt of getting more than a grab shot of these and to have them down to two feet was totally, totally unbelievable and 200% brilliant.

Friday morning I spent in the hides at Weeting to finish off British Mustelids for this year. That was pretty amazing too, with a female Stoat feeding young out of the nest from the East hide and another bringing in five dead Rabbits in 75 minutes (1 adult and 4 kits of varying size) to a nest hole in the open turf, from the West Hide. I got a record shot of a Rabbit chasing a Stoat, so I have photos this year of all seven Mustelids (that's Weasel, Stoat, Mink, Polecat, Pine Marten, Otter, Badger).

At Lakenheath the Golden Orioles are showing really well at the edge of the plantation at the moment.

At Wicken Fen I had to wait an hour for the Squacco but then it showed really well, very nice.

I finished Friday at Fowlmere with cracking hunting Barn Owl from the tower hide, Roe, Fallow and Muntjac Deer, and a Water Shrew scorching about in reeds and completely unphotographable.

Saturday I took Maz zand Clare for the Polecats - not as good a performance as Thursday but I gather Friday had been a bit manic. They were happy with the views anyway.

Sunday with Clare but not Maz I did Wall and Green Lizards in Bournemouth, Cream spot Tigers and Glanville Fritillaries at Hurst Spit, Fallow Deer feeding at Bolderwood and Scarce Bluetails and Southern Damselflies at Furze Hill/Ogdens near North Gorley.

I'm knackered.

Details later.

Many thanks to Skink and Mark for PMs telling me to get to College Lake pronto.

John

 

[Farnboro John]

I have had Water Shrew at Fowlmere mostly along the boardwalk that includes the pond dipping areas: two or three times rushing about in the reeds and under the boardwalk, once fishing in one of the open pools (but taking prey to a bunch of rushes too thick to photograph through, dammit). Clare and Julez have had them along the trout stream (so have I once very briefly) but none of us yet have pix from there.

Others have seen them in the boundary ditch (car park side of reserve) and where the end of the pond dipping track crosses a substantial bridge and turns right. I guess they are all over the reserve but they are pretty elusive!

I reckon my hit rate for Water Shrew at Fowlmere is about 50% of trips, though the views are not always brilliant. The trouble is I keep distracting myself with Muntjac, Fallow Deer etc. Reviewing my previous post the Roe Deer was at Wicken Fen near the Squacco, not Fowlmere - sorry!

John

 

[Jhanlon]

That's still a good success rate John. Maybe trapping's the answer. I think you need a license for shrews... Must ask the warden Doug if anything's planned. What's been your strategy for seeing them? Waiting around for hours or just getting lucky? Any particular time of day?

Fowlmere remains the only place I've seen mink. One when I visited as a young lad in '89 and one about 3 yrs ago. Still to see otter there but I rarely stay long, going usually when I don't have the time to go further afield. Haven't seen fallow deer there for a while. They always used to be regular at the same spot on the far side of the reserve.

I have had Water Shrew at Fowlmere mostly along the boardwalk that includes the pond dipping areas: two or three times rushing about in the reeds and under the boardwalk, once fishing in one of the open pools (but taking prey to a bunch of rushes too thick to photograph through, dammit). Clare and Julez have had them along the trout stream (so have I once very briefly) but none of us yet have pix from there.

Others have seen them in the boundary ditch (car park side of reserve) and where the end of the pond dipping track crosses a substantial bridge and turns right. I guess they are all over the reserve but they are pretty elusive!

I reckon my hit rate for Water Shrew at Fowlmere is about 50% of trips, though the views are not always brilliant. The trouble is I keep distracting myself with Muntjac, Fallow Deer etc. Reviewing my previous post the Roe Deer was at Wicken Fen near the Squacco, not Fowlmere - sorry!

John

 

[Mike Richardson]

That's still a good success rate John. Maybe trapping's the answer. I think you need a license for shrews... Must ask the warden Doug if anything's planned. What's been your strategy for seeing them? Waiting around for hours or just getting lucky? Any particular time of day?

Fowlmere remains the only place I've seen mink. One when I visited as a young lad in '89 and one about 3 yrs ago. Still to see otter there but I rarely stay long, going usually when I don't have the time to go further afield. Haven't seen fallow deer there for a while. They always used to be regular at the same spot on the far side of the reserve.

I called in to Fowlmere for the first time last week (on way back from the Polecats) and was greatly impressed by the perfect Water Shrew habitat. Unfortunately I didn’t score but will be sure to visit again before long.

Water Shrews are easily trapped in the correct habitat and although not ideal, at least this method allows great views. A licence is required to trap shrews.

 

[Farnboro John]

I was discussing strategy with Richard Webb a while ago and his advice was to keep wandering slowly round the reserve and stop when you hear a shrew rather than try to ID a particularly good spot and stake it out.

Overall I would add to that advice, that the best time of year for seeing shrews in general is late March through April when the weather first starts to really warm up and before the undergrowth really gets going. Baiting is great for Common Shrews (they will come to seed let alone mealworms) and works for Pygmy as well (they do prefer mealworms but watch out for greedy Bank Voles which will also gorge on these when available!) Not sure about Water Shrew.

Once you have an occupied Water Shrew territory identified much of the work is done. The old Fishpond woods site in Yorkshire was ace, you could stake them out and get decent views (damn hard to photograph though).

Possibly late summer when the water levels drop substantially would also be effective.

Finally those who went for the Hedgerley 2bXb may remember astonishing views of Water Shrew in a mere forest puddle right by the road, day after day. Streams/rivers/lakes not necessarily essential.

They can be really easy but are more usually right little beggars!

John

 

[MarkHows]

Not a water shrew, but got a pic of this little blighter of the Scilly Isles last week, took some finding!


Mark

 

[Farnboro John]

Not a water shrew, but got a pic of this little blighter of the Scilly Isles last week, took some finding!


Mark

I've been trying to ID the concrete Mark, where was the shrew exactly? I expect it will have moved by October but I shall have to start somewhere!

John

 

[Farnboro John]

I was out batting last night, not much to report, a couple of Serotine passes but not really playing ball, Common Pips and one run that just might have been a Barbastelle, but I'm not practised in their calls and it didn't give me a second go. Plenty of Rabbits in the fields now.

A family of Tawny Owls was in the trees at the bottom of the paddock, youngsters hissing like mad. I was walking down to try to find them when a very close, very loud, very aggressive hoot stopped me in my tracks and I reversed out while I still had two eyes.

The Little Owl pair were catching worms and beetles in the horse paddock and yelling their heads off between times at the Tawnies. No love lost there I fancy.

John

 

[JWN Andrewes]

and one run that just might have been a Barbastelle, but I'm not practised in their calls and it didn't give me a second go. John

Often the case with Barbastelles I've heard; seem to be more often recorded en route than actually hanging around.

James

 

[James Blake]

I've also visited Fowlmere many times without seeing a Water Shrew - but inspired by the advice here may make a bit more effort here and ata couple of other places. I've seen some recent reports from Stodmarsh as well.

 

[MarkHows]

I've been trying to ID the concrete Mark, where was the shrew exactly? I expect it will have moved by October but I shall have to start somewhere!

John

John,

the concrete is on old town beach just behind the church, the shrew ran around the step area for a short while.

We used the rising tide (it did need full high tide) to push any shrews off the beach and onto the concrete where it used a crack/join in concrete (second from the steps) to hide / live in.

I think it is a good strategy and may work on other beaches where the tide can cover the feeding grounds.


Mark

 

[Jhanlon]

good work Mark. Have only glimpsed them by spending hours overturning beach boulders. A great workout for the forearms, but no good for pics and no 'decent views'.

John,

the concrete is on old town beach just behind the church, the shrew ran around the step area for a short while.

We used the rising tide (it did need full high tide) to push any shrews off the beach and onto the concrete where it used a crack/join in concrete (second from the steps) to hide / live in.

I think it is a good strategy and may work on other beaches where the tide can cover the feeding grounds.


Mark

 

[Farnboro John]

John,

the concrete is on old town beach just behind the church, the shrew ran around the step area for a short while.

We used the rising tide (it did need full high tide) to push any shrews off the beach and onto the concrete where it used a crack/join in concrete (second from the steps) to hide / live in.

I think it is a good strategy and may work on other beaches where the tide can cover the feeding grounds.


Mark

That seems an excellent strategy and I will give it a shot in October! I recall a few autumns ago a Scilly Shrew gave a number of people (not me of course!) great views by its hole under the waste bin by the bench just outside the Old Town church gate with the prehistoric cattle grid, so this is clearly a hot spot for views.

Bravo!

John

 

[Farnboro John]

Slipped out between showers yesterday evening, and got my first sight of a spotty Roe fawn this year - the doe by the canal that I photographed just before she dropped it, seems like years ago now, just before Ardnamurchan 2009 Round 2 and the Polecats.

As well as the usual hordes of Rabbits a Brown Hare was feeding in the same field. On the far slope an adult Red Fox was patrolling slowly for voles in long grass, stopping to listen frequently and zig-zagging erratically as it followed up tell-tale sounds. I didn't see it pounce at any point though.

I swept the canal reach for Mink - can't be too long before the young are out and they will then be easy to see for a few weeks. No sign yesterday though. The two juvenile Badgers were out playing chase from 2030 onwards, but the undergrowth round the sett is fierce now and I wasn't up for a long photo-session.

In fact after watching them intermittently for ten minutes I set off back to the car and changed sites, going to Moor Green in search of the Tawny Owl family I had found the previous day. I learned something in the process: Little Owls hiss almost exactly the same as Tawnies, and the family in question was Littles! Don't ask me what was going on with the hoot that put me off in the previous day's dusk, that was unmistakably a Tawny. perhaps it was hoping to knock out a juv Little and I put it off.

Anyway I got quite reasonable views of a Little Owl feeding young, and one indifferent pic of the adult sitting on a fencepost. I also saw a load more Rabbits, another Roe Deer (a yearling I think) and first one Red Fox that ambled casually across the paddock, under the fence and across the track I was lurking on without paying me any attention, then, later, two well-grown cubs playing in the field next to where I park my car when the car park is shut.

I also had several Common Pipistrelles, two Serotines chasing each other up and down the road, and a brief snatch of Noctule.

Together with the usual Grey Squirrels at work, it all made for a decent day's mammaling.

John

 

[Farnboro John]

Went back to Moor Green after the foxes and was rewarded with a couple of long distance snaps of an adult with a white-tipped brush. It seemed to come from the woods beyond the end of the houses on the right hand side of the road, so it probably appears fairly consistently in the same place. That would enable me to be a good bit closer next time without risking disturbing it. Fingers crossed.

Little Owl showed quite well again but outside photo range.

On the way home I found four Roe Deer in two fields straddling the road from the A30 to Fleet, two bucks and two does one of which was an adult and (I think) one, a yearling.

John

 

[Farnboro John]

Saturday, after a leaving do at work, started slowly. After a lot of dithering over what to do I went with Clare back to College Lake for more Polecats, and we were rewarded with a prolonged view of the smallest one from the Barn, hunting in nettles and long grass down to about four feet. Even at that distance it was normally only detectable by waving nettle stems and at one point it crossed what you would have sworn was open ground underneath matted grasses - no wonder they are so hard to see! We got some new photos but I didn't improve on the first session on 28 May.

Various problems with Mum kept me from a planned epic on Sunday. I ended up spending a few hours at Noar Hill just outside Selborne, where three hours of concentrated effort got me a sufficient glimpse of Field Vole to year-tick it. I got slightly better views of Common Shrew but even that wasn't remotely photographable. Four Ravens circled over me for a while before deciding I wasn't dead and heading off North.

The rest of the afternoon turned into a butterfly session with Large Skippers, Comma and Brown Argus all posing nicely, and a fun session taking flight shots of Brimstone to acquire upperwing pictures. None are quite sharp but it is the sort of game that is enabled by digital photography because you can bin the trash!

Common Spotted, Pyramidal and Greater Butterfly Orchids (I'm not that fussed about plants but they were there so I took snaps) and free views of a display nearby from a Spitfire XIX and Hurricane II of the RAF Battle of Britain Flight, completed the afternoon.

In the evening I returned to Moor Green and got slightly better pix of the white-tip Red Fox in the hay field. I hadn't anticipated that the rest of it would have been cut by this time (giving it more space to avoid me) but I still got decent views of a good condition animal, and it remained ignorant of my presence so another go is still on the cards.

John

 

[Farnboro John]

A short-notice day off yesterday for a punt at the Royal Tern. Unfortunately it didn't turn up and we all had a very long day in the sun on the beach.

After a year-tick Pom early in the morning and hundreds of Manx Shearwaters off shore had tailed off into nothing, I decided to risk scooting up the road to Beddgelert for Feral Goats. (Kid listers: when you are on a mission, DO NOT DO THIS! It causes unnecessary dips.) These too threw a moody and instead of getting full frame photos I had a breathless scorch round a hillside nature trail (Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary was some compensation) before having to go almost up to the Snowdon viewpoint on the road to Capel Curig and scoping a female with a kid, miles up on a ridge.

Back at the beach boredom was setting in along with the realisation that since the previous day most of the action had been in the evening, we were in for a long stay. By lunchtime an icecream van approaching to the sound of the Hi Ho song was greeted with cheers, and I missed the chance (because I was in the queue) to take the twitch pic of the year: much of the listing hierarchy, bedecked with bins, cameras and tripods at shoulder arms, lining up for a 99.

The afternoon was spent by most in the activity BFers will agree is standard fare for birders: arguing. The subjects will also strike a chord:

- what counts on a list geographically (UK, UK+NI, British Isles....)
- what counts on a list as a species
- was that really a Slender-billed Curlew?

and of course reminiscing about past glories, since we clearly weren't in for a new one today.

I gave in just before 1900 hrs and got home after a nice scenic drive (excluding Trawsffynydd) at about 2320, fully expecting a trip to Cemlyn at the weekend. Dream on.....

John

 

[Farnboro John]

Got out along the canal yesterday, patrolling the stretch along from Crookham Wharf to see whether any Mink families were yet obvious. No joy. I had a few Badgers here and there, and the highlight of the walk was a female Mandarin with three ducklings, of which I got a couple of indifferent pix.

Returning after sunset along the towpath I had close encounters with both Common and Soprano Pipistrelles, a brief snatch of Serotine and a couple of passes from a Daubenton's Bat. At least 5 Tawny Owls, 2 males, a responding female and 2 juveniles were calling from either side of the canal. Rabbits scampered away across the fields and while I was driving home a Red Fox was trotting calmly along the cycle path near the Qinetiq front gate.

A pleasant evening walk would best describe it.

John