John's Mammals 2023 (1 Viewer)

[Farnboro John]

Last weekend Maz and I had a couple of days in Norfolk, firstly going for the Cackling Goose South of Brancaster. After a late start we arrived just as it was located in the flock and got decent views at scope range, plus some record shots of it standing in the field and in flight. The same field held Brown Hares, two Muntjac and two Chinese Water Deer, both the small deer being year ticks - nice! We didn't connect with any more mammals after that but had some good birds including the showy wintering Bittern at Titchwell and both Hen and Pallid Harriers among more common Marsh Harriers at Warham Greens on Saturday, and the owl array plus 44 Cranes - the most I've seen at once in the UK - at Eldernell on the way home on Sunday.

Back at home the fox mating season proceeds, with all the dog foxes currently visiting me injured in some way: Patch has only a small bite on his left forepaw but Smudge (as shown in the R7 thread in the Canon camera area of BF) has lost an eye, had his face bitten both sides (also left ear) and has two earlier bites slowly healing on his left foreleg. The two still unnamed cubs from the 2022 season have, respectively, a bitten left rear at what I suppose is the ankle (remembering foxes walk on their toes) and a bitten right forepaw.

After a two week absence Rip has showed up again a couple of times and seems OK, but I haven't seen Scally at all since 10 January.

Over in Fleet both my brother and I keep seeing a Muntjac near a road in recent days, in roughly the same place each night. Why it stands watching the traffic I don't know unless it is just very aware of the Green Cross Code.

John

 

[MarkHows]

A rather tardy wildlife start to the year but seen a few things locally, the otters were awesome!



Mark

 

[Rubia]

Whilst out doing moth mine surveys in DEC 22 I spotted this fawn in a field. The photo is using a bridge camera with massive zoom so not brilliant. Any idea what species? It spent most of its time tucked down but put its head up once. N Herts.

 

[MarkHows]

Looks like chinese water deer

Mark

 

[Farnboro John]

Looks like chinese water deer

Mark

I'd agree with that, and it's surely an adult female. They don't grow very big!

John

 

[Rubia]

Thanks both. It was a long way away and appeared small (Father Ted moment!).

 

[Farnboro John]

Monday just gone (6th Feb) I had a trip down to Romsey to try to photograph the Hawfinch wintering there. Turns out there are up to three - though I saw just two, one of them only briefly.

However it turned out to be a decent total wildlife trip, with my first butterfly of the year being a Small Tortoiseshell and a mammal star in a Common Pipistrelle that caught flies in the enclosed, sheltered, warm grassy space where I was looking for the Hawfinch, for half an hour! Local Grey Squirrels, present in profusion, also showed well from time to time and a Firecrest put on an excellent show in one of the hedges. Full marks to the R7 with 100-400 Mk II on it, as well.

John

Grey Squirrel

Common Pipistrelle X 3

Firecrest

 

[Allen]

Cracking shots of the Pip...esp the 3rd one
Is that a hole in the skin by the rear left leg?

 

[Farnboro John]

Cracking shots of the Pip...esp the 3rd one
Is that a hole in the skin by the rear left leg?

Yes, its got a tear in the tail membrane. It's on several of the photos (I have a lot more!) so it's not just artefact. TYVM for the compliment.

John

 

[Richard Prior]

Superb bat photos John!
A young wildlife photographer visited our patch for the third time since December yesterday, he'd seen my eBird and Faune France observations (apparently we're a Hotspot especially for photogenic Yellowhammers!). He played me a recoding he'd made a bit higher up in the forest that he was pretty sure was Lynx. It resembled the fox call but not quite the same (and it was mid afternoon when he heard it which would be unusual for Fox around here in my experience).
Anyway, as we'd had some a nice bit o' fish at lunchtime I decided to put some salmon skin and some chicken skin out in the garden last night to see if Lynxie would sniff it from afar (I'm ever the optimist).
The images taken by the trail camera unfortunately showed that one of next door's moggies found it first, at 22h15, grrr. Still, a couple of other visitors passed through later to see what they could glean around and under the feeders!

 

[Farnboro John]

Superb bat photos John!
A young wildlife photographer visited our patch for the third time since December yesterday, he'd seen my eBird and Faune France observations (apparently we're a Hotspot especially for photogenic Yellowhammers!). He played me a recoding he'd made a bit higher up in the forest that he was pretty sure was Lynx. It resembled the fox call but not quite the same (and it was mid afternoon when he heard it which would be unusual for Fox around here in my experience).
Anyway, as we'd had some a nice bit o' fish at lunchtime I decided to put some salmon skin and some chicken skin out in the garden last night to see if Lynxie would sniff it from afar (I'm ever the optimist).
The images taken by the trail camera unfortunately showed that one of next door's moggies found it first, at 22h15, grrr. Still, a couple of other visitors passed through later to see what they could glean around and under the feeders!

Is that a Stone(Beech) Marten? Wow! I need that.... Nice result.

TYVM for the compliment on the Pip pix.

Cheers

John

 

[Richard Prior]

Is that a Stone(Beech) Marten? Wow! I need that.... Nice result.

TYVM for the compliment on the Pip pix.

Cheers

John

No reason to get excited (as Bob Dylan once wrote) John, we only have Pine Marten up here in the forest, plenty of Stone(Beech) Marten lower down though, often in more urban settings where they have a penchant for brake fluid, garages sell a deterrent spray to put them off nibbling the pipes under cars!

 

[jurek]

Cool photos, Richard!

Stone martens are common in towns of Switzerland and Germany. But seeing any on demand would be tricky - probably they will all disappear suddenly

 

[Farnboro John]

On 15th Feb I had a short trip down to the New Forest - it's not far and being nearly all motorway, a quick journey at the right time of day.... I spent a couple of relaxed hours in a folding chair photographing small birds at one of the sites where they are regularly fed, then moved over to Bolderwood to go in search of a Fallow buck herd that hangs out among the holly copses in the area. They aren't completely reliable (what wildlife is?) but they are a fairly good bet and I found half a dozen without difficulty. Even better, I managed to get up within about thirty yards without spooking them, and spent half an hour standing very still and taking a few pictures. Best of all I left the area still without spooking them, and then a wildlife photographer can really feel they've done a decent job.

Winter-coated and still with full antlers they all looked to me to be in decent condition.

John

 

[jasperpatch]

Sticking my head up after a few years, I used to hang out here (or in previous incarnations at least) a fair amount. I've been trying to capture record shots of the local mammals here this year.
After regular sightings of Fisher tracks in the woods around our house (SW Quebec), I finally got motivated to dust off the trail cam that has been languishing in a cupboard for far too long. I had a can of catfood knocking around and threw that out, though it sunk down in the snow so I wasn't sure it was going to help.
Anyhow, got very lucky and am vey pleased with these shots - Fisher behind the garage, at about the time I was putting the kettle on. Can only hope it takes a walk past the window sometime too. I've glimpsed them once or twice, but not got a good real life look yet.

 

[jasperpatch]

Also. Wow. The photos/sightings in this thread are a joy as ever. Particularly those bat shots!

 

[Farnboro John]

Also. Wow. The photos/sightings in this thread are a joy as ever. Particularly those bat shots!

Thank you very much!

Likewise wow and I hope you get your proper view of that delightful Fisher!

Also welcome back.

John

 

[Farnboro John]

Thursday night I had another male Muntjac standing by a road, this time closer to Farnborough than Fleet. Last night I had Rabbits scampering away from my front bike light as I cycled through Fleet Pond woods after a visit to the Fleet Station kebab van, finest in the South.

Time for an update, with photos, of the foxes. With Scally still AWOL I have gradually come to the conclusion that Smudge beat him in a fight and most probably killed him, paying the price of a lost eye and some fairly severe injuries about his head and left leg that are still not completely healed. Patch is still limping on his left paw though he does walk on it some of the time: the smaller of last year's two remaining cubs is now named Scruff and seems to be back on all four feet, but the larger and more elegant one (Toff) is still holding up his damaged rear left and I don't like the look of the lower part of it.

Even Rip is not unscathed though in her case I think some defurring round her head is so symmetrical that it resulted from getting her head stuck in a big tin or similar container and receiving a partial shave in getting back out. I also think she's carrying cubs, she looks well rotund. The question is whose, a last litter to come from Scally?

Unfortunately I haven't got a shot of Scruff to include this time. Also Hoppity is still about but very shy at the moment, probably more wary of the dog foxes than of me. She hangs back at a couple of lawns away and I have to throw her drumsticks about as far as I can manage.

John

Toff

Smudge

Rip

Patch

 

[KenM]

Is that a Stone(Beech) Marten? Wow! I need that.... Nice result.

TYVM for the compliment on the Pip pix.

Cheers

John

Just seen your pip shots John Excellent!…what shutter speed?

 

[Farnboro John]

1/2000 of a second. It was a nice bright day.

John