John's Mammals 2010 (1 Viewer)

AlexC said:

Man, I wish I had an eye for mammals like you do, John!

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Thank you very much. It comes of thinking very hard about how to get close enough to the various animals for a picture, because what works for one species (or individual) won't necessarily work for another, and trying for pix is a whole order of magnitude more difficult than just getting a sighting (which can be hard enough in itself).

As a result my fieldcraft and photographic technique has become more varied and inventive over the last five years than the change over the previous twenty - and still there are animals out there that I get a headache trying to think what might work on them!

There are a few common themes:

Hours in the field matter - the more you are out the more you will see, and the more mistakes you will have the opportunity to learn from.....

Bait is massively useful, sometimes in unexpected ways e.g. shrews coming to seed in late winter/early spring as well as the expected rodents. Multi-day baiting works even better. it matters when you put the bait down: don't expect rodents to get much seed if you put it down in the morning then leave, the birds will eat it.

Learning to move slowly and in a controlled manner is more useful than hiding behind things. This includes the restraint to raise your bins or turn your head very slowly when instinct makes you want to whip round or flick your bins up.

Moving very slowly also allows you to pick exactly where to put your feet, which keeps noise down. Learning what surfaces make what noises leads you to choose the quietest, and this can change depending on dryness/dampness as well - there's always something else to learn.....

Its amazing how well an oblique approach works. An animal that will spook if you go straight towards it will often keep still if you aim ten yards to one side or the other.

Keeping still is of course even better. Watching animals for patterns of movement or finding game trails can put you in the perfect ambush. Of course you can't always look in both directions at once: lying on a track waiting for voles I once half-turned at a small sound behind me to find a Brown Hare stepping carefully over my legs. I stayed still and watched it go about its business - watching me warily but not spooked.

There's plenty more. No doubt others have their tips as well.

John

Happy New Year! Wish you all luck. So far only one mammal this year - Grey Squirrel. I've never been very lucky on the mammal front though hopefully that will change this year, Bottlenose Dolphin and Red Squirrel should be relatively easy but I've never been good with any others. Never seen a wild mouse/rat in my life! That will change though! If the weather improves I might try to make it up to Ordhill on the Black Isle for a day, supposedly it's great for Red Kites and hopefully the trip will also get me Bottlenose Dolphin and Red Squirrel. The Forestry Commission also mentions Pine Marten but I don't hold out much hope!

I agree with John, bait is very useful especially over several nights in the same spot. But try looking under bird feeders rodents often come to feed under them.

I have been out with John and he is very good an noticing fieldsigns a skill I envy. This will give you info where to stake out / bait etc.

Hopefully I will be finally able to get out and see some mammals this weekend as being ill since Christmas has hampered things somewhat, grey squirrel, rabbit, brown hare and Brown rat my total so far.

Mark

TheSeagull said:

Happy New Year! Wish you all luck. So far only one mammal this year - Grey Squirrel. I've never been very lucky on the mammal front though hopefully that will change this year, Bottlenose Dolphin and Red Squirrel should be relatively easy but I've never been good with any others. Never seen a wild mouse/rat in my life! That will change though! If the weather improves I might try to make it up to Ordhill on the Black Isle for a day, supposedly it's great for Red Kites and hopefully the trip will also get me Bottlenose Dolphin and Red Squirrel. The Forestry Commission also mentions Pine Marten but I don't hold out much hope!

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The regular dolphin photographers at Chanonry Point told me that driving the roads through woodland of all types on the Black Isle at night was a shoo-in for Pine Marten, though I haven't tried it myself yet.

John

hey john, sounds like the fox and family could bring you some superb images, fingers crossed for you!

I saw 16 Brown Hares this afternoon on a quick trip to Tophill Low and I wasn't really looking! I was after much more elusive mammals but had to make do with Roe Deer (nearly walked into it!), Grey Squirrels and Rabbits.

Definitely a case of quantity over quality!

skink1978 said:

I saw 16 Brown Hares this afternoon on a quick trip to Tophill Low and I wasn't really looking! I was after much more elusive mammals but had to make do with Roe Deer (nearly walked into it!), Grey Squirrels and Rabbits.

Definitely a case of quantity over quality!

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Finally had no five tonight a harvest mouse brought in by my cat, living safely in my office at the moment.

Looks like my evening was quality over quantity!

And Reading won - top night

Mark

Jos:

Where and how did you see the Fisher? Would be curious as arguably they are one of the toughest US mustelids to get (only Wolverine stateside is more difficult). Some day I am going to have to try for one.

IIRC, Timber Wolves (eastern Gray) are more closely related to Red Wolves than than normal Gray wolves. On the other hand some people have at least advocated lumping both into Gray wolves, and that red wolves are an invalid species. Personally...don't have the slightest clue

Mysticete said:

Jos:

Where and how did you see the Fisher? Would be curious as arguably they are one of the toughest US mustelids to get (only Wolverine stateside is more difficult). Some day I am going to have to try for one.

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BF's JW Andrewes might have something to say on this subject, he saw one in Canada a few years ago without looking for it - perhaps that's the secret....

John

Mysticete said:

Jos:

Where and how did you see the Fisher? Would be curious as arguably they are one of the toughest US mustelids to get (only Wolverine stateside is more difficult). Some day I am going to have to try for one.

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One is periodically, I'm not sure if daily, visiting a suet feeder at the visitor centre in Algonquin and whilst I did not see it there, the one I saw was only about 5 km away and was 'approaching' another suet feeder that had been left in the forest (ie. I was watching birds on the feeder and the Fisher approached from behind, though whether it was actualy intending to visit the feeder I do not know).

I would presume not the same individual as the one at the visitor centre, but maybe they are finding the suet feeders to their liking, would guess these are amongst the easiest to see anywhere.

I got exceptionally lucky with a Wolverine last winter in Finland, where the population is reckoned only 200 or so, so I think fluke has definately been on my side with this family.

MarkHows said:

Finally had no five tonight a harvest mouse brought in by my cat, living safely in my office at the moment.

Looks like my evening was quality over quantity!

And Reading won - top night

Mark

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Here is the little chap from last night

Mark

MarkHows said:

Here is the little chap from last night

Mark

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I'm impressed by your cat's mammal hunting skills. Can you train it to catch Wild Boar?

skink1978 said:

I'm impressed by your cat's mammal hunting skills. Can you train it to catch Wild Boar?

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Surely you'd need something like a pet Leopard for that?!

Probably the wrong thread, but wouldn't it be cool if we could 'reintroduce' Leopards or Sabre-toothed Tigers to the UK ... ?? ...

skink1978 said:

I'm impressed by your cat's mammal hunting skills. Can you train it to catch Wild Boar?

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I'm gonna need a bigger cat!

Mark

Hi y'all

Helped with a hibernating bat survey yesterday.

I'd recommend seeing if their local bat group needs help with these surveys. At some sites at least you can get to within inches of the bats, and unlike seeing bats in the hand you're seeing them doing just what they'd be doing if you weren't there, i.e. having a nice long kip.

Species seen yesterday: Natterer's, Daubenton's, Brown Long-eared.

cheers
James

Sunday was predicted to dawn bright and sunny, with only light winds, and it was definitely time for a day out. I ultimately had a good day but created a possible entry for Prat of the Year in the process.

An earlier phone call to Mark meant that his place was the start point for the day, with Harvest Mouse release and photo session on the agenda for 0900. I arrived (having already seen Red Fox, Grey Squirrel and Rabbit), to find a vaguely familiar face emerging from a car, a chap called Derek, from Guildford. I must have seen him out locally in the past. Anyway, we headed for Mark's front door and, realising that they weren't round my neck, I decided I should get my camera and bins from the car. Halfway to it I stopped abruptly. I couldn't remember picking up my bins at home. A moment's consideration confirmed this was because I hadn't. Oh dear (you will realise this is not actually what I thought).

I got my camera (short lens, the new monster not appropriate to rodent release) and Mark opened the door to hear of my fundamental error. I have done this before, the last time I remember being 25 years ago. He invited us in, we had the inevitable cup of tea (I was very grateful for its calming influence) and met both the prisoner for relase and its captor. Lets hear it for Molly, the psychologically disturbed self-harming rodent-preserving cat, without whom the event would not have taken place.

I'm going to jump ahead for a minute here. Mark immediately offered me one of his spare pairs of bins for the day and I very gratefully accepted: I had thought I would just have to look through the camera all day but that would be very limiting due to both depth of field and field of view issues. Just after we had completed the Harvest Mouse release I thought I should fill the car up next, at which point I discovered I had also left my wallet at home. Mark promptly found his and lent me twenty quid to allow my day to continue, without a second thought. I've said this before but it bears repeating: Mark Hows is a top bloke in every respect and I am proud to call him friend. Another tip for prospective mammal-watchers (or newbie birders): be organised!

Back to the mouse. Mark's bungalow has a cracking wildlife friendly garden at the back with fields behind his back hedge. A huge array of feeders was under attack from an assortment of passerines and several tree branches were weighted down with Woodpigeons. We downed the tea and took the fat, healthy looking Harvest Mouse in its travelling box out to the field next door, probably where it came from. Mark pointed out a Brown Hare two fields over, plus a fine array of mole hills.

Mark managed after some effort to get the mouse out for in-the-hand pix. I took a couple but I already had a load from last November. While Derek was filling his boots I found a substantial nettle stem that looked ideal for putting the mouse on: the top was even in the near-horizontal sunlight. After the mouse had been rested from its initial photo-shoot (not to mention Mark's thumb, which was leaking red stuff from the effects of the feisty creature's incisors) he took it out again and put it on the stem, pointing upwards. It ran to the top and spent FIVE MINUTES clambering about, lashing its prehensile tail about stems, swinging like Tarzan and generally behaving like a born movie-star. My camera was rattling like a machine gun following its antics and the pix will be on here as soon as I can manage it. A corking session with a beautiful and cute animal.

After Mark had sorted out my equipment shortages I set off for Weeting Heath after Stoat. Richie Moores reckons partial ermines are frequent there and after the last couple of weeks one might hope one might be about..... I should point out that the reserve is closed in winter and all you can do is view the north side of the road from the closed gateway to the car park.

I did find a Stoat running about investigating all the rabbit holes and watched it on and off for about an hour. It was a normal coloured Stoat but I am not going to complain about that, even though Steve D has just gripped me by text with a partial ermine in Norfolk over the weekend. I got a few distant pix but nothing to write home about.

Suddenly squawks from the woodland edge to the West drew my attention to what I assumed was a Sparrowhawk until I realised the desperately flailing forms it was hotly pursuing were Jays - the accipiter was twice the size and very obviously a Goshawk!

It was still after them as they disappeared into very thick pine/spruce/fir branches but the continuation of angry screeches suggested they got away safely.

The Stoat had been missing for about twenty minutes by then, so I carried on with a swing across the fens to Welney, where I couldn't afford entrance but found a few groups of Whoopers in the fields for a year-tick. By then it was 1300 so I set course for Fowlmere RSPB to finish the day off.

I couldn't find any small mammals at all at Fowlmere, but there were four winter-coated Fallow Deer in the paddocks that grazed their way into the open to be photographed, and at last light I found a Muntjac grazing at the edge of a field. Unfortunately a family came along the footpath bordering the field and flushed it into the woodland after I had only had a minute's view.

A fairly decent run saw me home by 1845.

John

Had my first mole between christmas and new year as one poked its nose out at a frozen Potteric Carr. Two mammal tick so far this year - a mountain hare crossing the road in the findhorn valley (wasnt a lot of road showing mind!) and a Polecat/Ferret on the morning of Jan 1st en route to work in East Yorkshire. Mike (Skink1978) assured me it would be Ferret due to location which i pretty much figured. Also had a few bits and pieces thus far - Red Squirrel (no Grey yet), Rat, Red Deer, Rabbit, Hare, Fox. Fingers crossed I can get a few more mammal lifers this year.

A Weasel was the mammal highlight of my weekend. Nice to tick it off so early in the year.

Pix from Sunday

John

Farnboro John said:

Pix from Sunday

John

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What a little cracker that mouse was

Mark