Apologies, its been a busy week: I was at Fowlmere on Monday looking for both Stoats and Water Shrews.
I've never had to work so hard there for any mammals at all! Clare saw three Fallow Deer (2 + 1) all of which shot off so fast I missed them: we heard a Muntjac barking but couldn't find it, and late afternoon I had a two-second view of a Water Shrew along the trout stream. Water Shrew was claimed from the Drewer Hide early morning but a chap who'd been in the hide since at least 0700 knew nothing about the sighting.
Normally there's a good deal of rustling in the grasses and reeds and you can find Bank Voles, Wood Mice and Common Shrews fairly readily, but Monday the place was silent. My perception is that this year there is a severe shortage of all small mammals and anecdotal evidence is that the heatwave has knocked out quite a lot that don't live very close to permanent water sources: but that doesn't apply at Fowlmere. Do others think there has been a small mammal crash?
I would also normally expect to see Rabbits around the reserve - I've got down to a few yards with them along the stream in the past - but none were visible and droppings were practically non-existent. This actually gels with the Stoats birds-nesting. The Mammal Society booklet on Stoats and Weasels states that this is a fall-back when Rabbits and in Weasels' case mice etc have crashed - but that it is ineffective in preventing a following crash of the predatory species. Next year may be a bit thin for sightings of Stoats and Weasels.
John
