Swaledale Scoop

While we were in Yorkshire we went to Bolton-on -Swale Nature reserve. We were in an area called Swaledale, and we were going to try and spot some wintering birds. The bird I wanted to see the most was a type of duck that I had never seen before called a wigeon. It is going to be a long post, so get comfy...

We got up early and made our way to the first hide. There were lots of the usual birds around; Canada geese, mallards, a big flock of swans and even some early greylag geese. However, we soon saw what I wanted to see, wigeons. 

Soon after this video was taken, a flock of them gathered on the shore. 

With the main target ticked off, I scanned around through binoculars to see if I could spot anything else. Behind the wigeons were a couple of curlews - Europe's largest wading bird.

Here is a nice video of a swan:

Just before we moved onto the next hide, I saw another species of duck I had never seen before - goldeneye. In the video, the goldeneye are the ones that dive down, and the ones which stay floating are the usual tufted ducks. 

At the next hide we had the camera on some bird feeders. (Thanks to my Dad for getting the bird feeder footage).

The first thing we spotted on the bird feeders was a tree sparrow. Tree sparrows are another first for the blog, and are actually quite rare. Their numbers have declined drastically lately and we were lucky to see them. They look a lot like a house sparrow which you might get in your garden but they do have their differences. House sparrows have a grey patch on their head while tree sparrows have a full brown head. Tree sparrows also have a black spot on their cheek which the house sparrows don't.  

Next on the pecker we have a squirrel.

We also saw a dunnock and a robin.

After that, another man came into the hide. Just before we had to go he pointed out another bird much further away which I wouldn't have noticed. It is another bird that I have never seen before and, like the wigeon, one I had been wanting to see for a long time - the snipe. There was a small flock of them on the edge of one of the islands. They are in the center of the screen, just at the water's edge.

That is all for today's post. I hope you enjoyed it as there was 4 new species for the blog today. 

Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Whitby Wildlife

 Hi everyone, I just got back from a holiday in Yorkshire and have three new posts lined up with new species on them. We were about one and a half hours away from Whitby, most famous for being the place where Dracula was set. 

There were lots of gulls about, although the first exciting thing I saw was a pair of cormorants.

I also spotted a much smaller bird called a turnstone. We have never had one on the blog before so I was very pleased to some footage. The videos were quite short so I combined them into one.

That is all for today's post. I have got two more good ones coming so stay tuned for them.

Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

October Fox & Roe Buck

Last week's camera trap footage did not disappoint, even though I had run out of food to put out. We got our first daytime fox of the year, a badger and the roe deer buck/stag.

Saturday

On Saturday, (the day we put it out) we got a badger coming around to sniff the camera.

Monday

Nothing set the camera off on Sunday, but on Monday two blue tits checked the camera out.

In the evening, we got a good-looking daylight fox. It is the first daylight one of the year, so I am very happy with it.

Thursday

Nothing else set the camera off until Thursday morning when we got a mouse.

At half past seven in the morning, we got the roe deer doe passing through.

It was shortly followed by the buck. 

He then sniffs the camera. 

Friday

On Friday we got some good squirrel footage.

Saturday                                                                                                                                                          

We will finish with a thoughtful squirrel having a scratch and looking out into the woods from its perch.

It then ran away before I picked the camera up.

That is all for today's post. Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

Red Kites in the Peak District

 Hi everyone, like a lot of my posts recently, this one is a bit late. I got the footage in September at Tittesworth resevoir in the peak district. There are two new exciting animals I have never had on my blog before, so it will be an exciting post. 

We were walking around the lake when we saw a red kite fly over. Here ios some of the footage we managed to get.

We also saw a flock of cormorants on one of the islands.

There was also a flock of teals, another exciting new bird for the blog.

Suddenly, the huge red kite swooped over again, and I was able to get some amazing footage.

The kite then landed on the other side of the lake, and was being mobbed by a crow. Surprisingly, the crow won and managed to chase off the kite.

That is all for today's post. I have an exciting new camera trap post coming soon, so stay tuned for that.

Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading.

Fallow Deer in the Forest of Dean

 Hi everyone, In today's post I will show you what we got on the camera trap in the Forest of Dean. On the first day I found a good spot near the campsite. It looked like it had been trodden down; something obviously came through here often. An hour and a half after the camera was set up, we got our first visitor. It was a fallow deer doe, which got a bit spooked by our camera trap, or something behind it. 

Another hour later, we got a fallow deer fawn passing through. I have to admit, it is very cute.

Later that night we get the same fawn again; you can tell from its dark - coloured forehead.

The next day, at the crack of dawn, we got another doe again, probably the same one - and probably the mother of the young fawn.

At 9:45 we got the doe, and once again it got a bit spooked by the camera. 

In the evening, we got the doe again, followed by the young fawn. 

A minute later the doe comes past the camera again. However, the fawn is out of sight - it's probably just under the camera or behind the tree where the camera is strapped. 

At night, we got the young fawn again.

It appears to be quite brave, as it not always by his mother's side. Despite this, Mum is never far ahead.

This day was the best day for the camera trap. At 7:AM we got a doe standing tall and proud.

Two other deer were behind her, another doe and another young deer. I reckon it is one of last year's fawns as it is brown in colour and lacks spots, like young fallows often do. 

The deer live in herds and the young brown deer is possibly a cousin of the new fawn, if the two does are related. The deer with the fawn is raising it away from the herd, as that is typical fallow deer behavior. The two does in the video you just watched and probably part of the mother's herd, and the young brown deer is old enough to be part of the herd. By next year, the fawn will probably be old enough to join the herd, along with its mother meaning that the number of deer in the herd we have been watching is five. However, if either of the young deer are male, they will most likely live a solitary life when they are older. Anyway, the deer herd stuck around for a bit so here is some more footage.

In the afternoon, we got what I think was the mother of the fawn again.

In the evening, we got the fawn again for the last time...

...who was shortly followed by Mum.

That was all we got in the Forest of Dean. I hope you really enjoyed the last two posts, and don't forget to leave a comment if you did. Unfortunately, we didn't see any boar, although I'm sure that this is not the last time we will go on a boar hunt in the Forest of Dean...

The Forest of Dean & Cannop Ponds

 Hi everyone, recently, at the end of August, I went to the Forest of Dean in an attempt to find wild boar. It was the second time I have tried; the first time being in 2020. Unfortunately, like in 2020, we didn't find any. However, in our search across the forest, we did find some other interesting wildlife. Over the course of the next two posts, I will tell the story of our trip to the forest, and the animals we saw. 

We left home around 10am and it took around 4 hours to get a town just west of the forest in Wales called Monmouth. After grabbing some supplies, we headed into the forest. We were camping on the Western part of the forest, in a campsite called Bracelands. The forest is severed in two halves, by several towns going through the centre, most notably Coleford. Bracelands was a nice campsite with good facilities, and if you are ever looking for somewhere to camp in the forest, I would definitely recommend Bracelands. However, there was another reason why we picked Bracelands as the campsite we would stay at. Despite the Western side of the Dean having a smaller population of boar, earlier this year in January the campsite was attacked by a sounder of five individuals. They recked the ground, and at the time it was unsuitable to pitch a tent on and they have had to put boar-proof fences up around the site. However, when we came in late August, the ground was perfect to pitch up on again. 

Once we had got the tent up, we went straight down one of the footpaths into the forest. One of the first things I noticed were bits of upturned ground. These were a sign the the boar had come through this part of the forest. I checked the colour of the roots - if they are white then they are recent; possibly within the last few days. If they are yellow or brown, that means that they could be weeks, months or even years old. Luckily, they were white, meaning that they were recent. However, like I said earlier, we didn't get any footage of boar so don't get your hopes up for any boar footage (I am hoping to go back next year though so we can try again then). However, despite not seeing any boar, we did manage to get loads of great footage of the forest's other residents, so over the next two posts, I will show you some of the amazing footage we got. 

I found a good spot for the camera trap near where the rooting were, in an area which looked like it had been trodden down by some large animal. Over the next few days I checked it and we got one of the forest's other most exciting animals. You will have to wait until the next post before you can find out what they are. After that, we went down several footpaths and I found a wood ant's nest. It was huge, above my waist and it was crawling with ants. Here is a video.

The next day we went somewhere called Cannop Ponds. We walked from Cannop Ponds to a place called Mallards Pike. On the walk there we saw even more ant nests. They were all probably connected via tunnels underground and they were all patched together.

Once we arrived at Mallards Pike, we saw a small flock of Mandarin Ducks. It was the end of August so most of the males were in or going into an eclipse, where their plumage isn't as colourful as in the breeding season. They start to look a bit more like female ducks. 

We got back to Cannop Ponds and unfortunately hadn't seen any boar. Once we were back I walked around Cannop Ponds. I saw another flock of Mandarins which swam away for cover under the trees. The first thing which caught my eye were two cormorants.

After that, I saw my first ever sighting of a little grebe.

The next day we walked from Bracelands to Symonds Yat. It was a nice village, and we took a 'hand ferry' over the Rive Wyre to get some lunch. After that, we walked up a huge hill (which we nicknamed from the last time we went to the Dean in 2020 'the hill of doom') and to Symonds Yat view. Here's a video from the view. 

Sadly, we would have to leave the next day. Once we woke up, I went to get the camera trap. We didn't get any boar, but what we did get was almost as exciting. Stay tuned for the next post to find out what we got on the camera trap! Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!

A New Spot

 Hi everyone, In August I thought I would try a new spot for the camera trap. It was in the same woods as normal, but it was next to some new burrows I found. Unfortunately, after 2 days of being out, It didn't catch anything coming out the burrow. However, if foxes used it, they would only be using around spring time to raise their cubs, so I might put it out here again in spring. However we did get a few other things including lots of mice and a squirrel.

We also got a deer passing through, meaning that it could be a good spot for deer.

That is all for today's post. What do you think of the new spot? Shall we try it again?

Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading!