Wildlife Archives - Page 12 of 13

When you have seen one bird, you have not seen them all

Crumbs, what a fortnight it has been! Incredibly busy and full of interesting places. Half term was certainly an eventful week, starting with the closure of the Portland Beach Road and the cancellation of Saturday’s event at the centre. But after a clearup, we were back on our feet and raring to go. I spent the majority of the week doing children’s activities – making butterfly or bird feeders. One afternoon, I even spent a while doing some colouring in as I was instructed to by one little girl.

The beginners birdwatching course also continued, this time at RSPB Radipole. We were fortunate to see a water rail and the diving behaviour of a cormorant. Whilst marsh harriers and bitterns are known to be seen there, we unfortunately didn’t find them this time, though we did hear a reed bunting, find some otter spraint and view some stonechats.

Stonechat in the distance

The bigger stuff happened in the second week, starting with a road trip to Devon and the Living Coasts centre. It was very interesting, and I absolutely loved the birds section as they’ve got a couple of curious female ducks who like to wander over to you and sit next to you. At one point I do believe I got trapped by the two of them against a fence, but I’m not complaining, as they were utterly adorable!

Yay duck friend!

The last session of the birdwatching course meant a trip to a new reserve for me – Lodmoor, where I saw a couple of firsts. Although I may have seen the species before and just not realised what it was (quite new to birds that aren’t garden ones!). These included: oystercatchers, spoonbills and bearded tits (on a quick flyby), as well as seeing other species such as greenfinch, goldfinch, dunnock, various gulls and ducks.

I love this photo of an oystercatcher – very cute!

A lovely photo from Lodmoor

This week also saw the big highlight for all the trainees – a trip to Brownsea Island! Recently voted as the nation’s favourite nature reserve, with a range of amazing habitats and species, and we were there all day. One species that it’s well known for is the sandwich tern who nests on the little islands on the lagoon. We were helping out this species by chucking on our waders or wellies and splashing out to these islands to weed them, add more gravel and fence them.

Taking gravel out to the islands. Apparently harder than it looks (no waders for me, so I got ferried across, felt rather posh I won’t lie)

All these jobs are very important for the terns whilst raising their chicks. Weeding is important because too much plant cover and the terns won’t want to nest there, although too little and the chicks won’t have as many places to hide form predators. The gravel is needed as this what the adult terns love to nest on (just like the little terns at Chesil loving the pebbles). And the fencing, whilst an annoyance for photographers, is needed to prevent predators (e.g. herons) from flying in and decimating the chick population.

Whilst I didn’t see any red squirrels, I did see a new species of deer for me – Sika deer, albeit that they were partially hidden. And I know I’ll be back on the island before too long, I mean, come on, I live in the same county as our favourite reserve, how could I not be?

Hiding away

Last but not least, my training at Chesil included another event, this time focussed on birds (there seems to be a theme to this fortnight does there not?). Marc Smith, the Chesil Beach Centre Officer, gave talks on the Spring Birds of the Fleet and who we can expect to depart / arrive on migrations. The accompanying dance moves made the talks particularly good. The talks coincided with the optics day, where an Opticron respresentative came down and people could try out the range. I had particular fun with one of the scopes, the zoom was amazing!

Outside of training, I’ve had the most amazing time. I went all the way over to Wareham for a talk on the moths of Dorset by Dr Phil Sterling, who is one of the famous names in the moth-ing world. He is also a fantastic speaker and I (along with everyone else in the room) was enthralled, and amazed by the moths found in Dorset. Naturally, I wrote plenty of notes, so much so that someone actually asked if I was a journalist! I also spoke to him about helping out, so I hopefully I’ll shall be doing some interesting moth work this year. Pun intended – I’m rather hoping he will take me under his wing.

From my first solo moth trapping, Elephant Hawkmoth – what a stunner!

My fortnight finished off with yet another first when a fellow naturalist offered to show me where the local barn owl roosts. I’ve dealt with many owl pellets and seen a number of rescue owls (even worked with one), but I’ve never seen a properly wild barn owl. So off we went … to the local prison! Well, not quite, but the roost is actually on the edge of its property. And guess what happened. I saw a barn owl! Not just that, I saw two! I was absolutely thrilled to bits! I can’t wait for the rain to pass and head back over to see them, maybe I’ll even get a photo this time.

Well, as you can see, I’ve had an eventful fortnight, and thus a rather long blog post, despite cutting out a number of less exciting but still pretty awesome things.

In case you’ve not had enough of my blogging, I have also badgered Steve Davis (the trainees’ manager) into letting me get started on the traineeship blog so that should be posting again soon. You’ll be able to read up on everyone’s exploits here.

To finish with, a distinctly non-bird photo.

One of the feral goats over at East Weares on Portland

NB on the title: I came across the full quote “When you have seen one ant, one bird, one tree, you have not seen them all.” during this week and felt it was rather appropriate for a bird-focussed blog post. The quote is from E.O.Wilson, a famous scientist whose main area of research has been on ants (who are more fascinating animals than people give them credit for).

March 2, 2014/2 Comments/by admin

Species or Group Profile

UK Species Profile: Fallow Deer, as voted winner!

If you took part in the species profile poll last month, you may have seen that the winner was the Fallow Deer whose scientific name I absolutely love – Dama dama. I was fortunate enough to work within, and live on the edge of, an amazing country park that was home to three different species of deer – Fallow, Red and a Chinese species, the Pere David’s (listed as Extinct in the Wild, a very interesting species to read about, but not now).

A female Pere David’s deer, a tad odd looking

The Fallow Deer are such a recognisable deer species – well, when they have their antlers … and if they have the spotted coat, otherwise there are possibilities of confusion if you’ve not read up on your deer identification.

Relaxing in the sunshine

If you’re new to deer identification, I’ll take you through the main features.

Antlers (males aka bucks only) – unique for a British species, they are palmate with a flattened section, rather than the typical branched antlers that you’d associate with deer (i.e. think of Red Deer and their antlers).

My palmate deer antler, note the flattened part

Coat – the most common and associated pattern is the tan colour with white spots and three colours (tan, pale tan and then white on the belly), but other varieties include a paler version (Menil), black, white (these are not actually albinos, it’s a true coat colouration).

An example of a black colouration

Bum (rump) – from the back, this deer has got a white backside which is bordered with black, and black down the tail so that a ‘M’ is formed.

White rump with a black ‘M’

Fallow Deer are actually native to south-west Asia, but were introduced to Britain by the Normans around 1100AD and it is now the most common deer here. It is now a naturalised species, and not considered as an invasive threat (basically, it’s been here so long that we’re just like: yeh, you guys are ok here).

These deer stand at a decent height – between 50-120cm, which is a measurement of their shoulder height (i.e. not the neck, head and antlers!). As mentioned previously, they have unique antlers in the UK, which are called palmate (compared to the usual branched). The bucks grow their antlers over summer to reach full growth by autumn, when they are used as weapons during the rut (fighting between the males for the females). Whilst growing, they are covered in a lovely furry skin called velvet, which dries and peels off in autumn. The antlers are then shed in spring, where they may then be gnawed and nibbled on by other animals, and the deer themselves, as they provide an excellent source of calcium. Younger males take a few years til they develop a fully grown set of antlers.

You can see the smaller antlers (young bucks), and the velvet on the antlers

In terms of behaviour, the rutting is probably the most interesting to watch. Occurring in October, when the bucks are full of testosterone and the does (females) are available for the taking. There is plenty of fighting as the bucks defend territory and the does they’ve attracted. The bucks groan loudly and parallel walk to each other, sizing each other up, after which they may then fight.

The behaviour varies slightly with fallow deer depending on both the environment and the population density. Individual bucks may defend a particular area (rutting stand) which is attractive to the does, so one buck has a harem of females. Or the bucks may seek out receptive does where they are in low density areas. High buck densities may result in leks where a couple of bucks share the harem.

Females are polyoestrous – this means that if they do not conceive / become impregnated when they first come into season, they will come into season repeatedly. This means that fawns will occasionally be born as late as September (compared to the usual June-July). After a gestation (pregnancy) period of 234 days, the fawns are born in June-July, and are weaned by the next rut.

I don’t want to go on and on about Fallow Deer so I shall begin to round up the information. I had a fab time during my year in the country park (FYI: Margam Country Park in south Wales, very beautiful place). Mostly because I was generally loving my placement with the Field Studies Council, but I was also seeing deer everyday and that’s always going to cheer someone up (as well as the friendly ginger piglets on the farm, oh so cute!). One of my favourite parts of the week was a nature walk with KS2 school groups – we would always see the deer and it was great to see the kids’ reactions to such beautiful animals, and to help them learn more about the animals.

Beautiful animals in beautiful lighting

Some other interesting facts I’ve come across:

They can get quite old: 8-10 years (though 16 years can be reached by the females).
This deer species is often considered a serious pest, usually in commercial forestry, and are also a common cause of road accidents. They are often culled in some areas (particularly southern Britain) and their meat is sold for consumption (venison).
The sexes normally live separately for most of the year, only coming together for the breeding season.
Young males who are yearlings are called prickets.
It seems that I only have decent photos of the male deer!

One of my favourite photos, well done to the deer for lining up nicely

References

February 23, 2014/0 Comments/by admin

Adventures, Birds, Dorset, S4F Traineeship

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside

The first fortnight of living in Dorset is now complete! I’ve been getting to know the local area, particularly the location of nearby reserves and of course, the public library – always important for a bookworm with limited funds!

The reason for moving to Dorset? A traineeship position with the Dorset Wildlife Trust, on the Skills for the Future programme (funded by the Heritage Lottery), for which I will be based at The Fine Foundation Chesil Beach Centre. Naturally the first few days consisted of the induction.

Along with the obligatory paperwork, our manager introduced us to an activity new to us all – The Tree Of Life. The idea is that you draw out a tree and write in different sections of it. The roots are your past – what your background is and your experiences; the trunk is who you are as a person – i.e. your personality; and the branches are your interests and aspirations – hobbies and hopes for the future. I actually really liked this activity, it’s a great and quick way to learn where other people have come from, and of common interests that might otherwise take quite a few conversations to find out. I may just try it out with the Girl Guiding groups.

My Tree Of Life

Our second day, we went shopping for necessities – waterproofs and wellies! After which we headed over to The Kingcombe Centre and more reading of the paperwork ensued. Of course I was paying attention, but I was getting slightly possibly distracted by the incredibly busy bird feeders outside. I think I counted twelve species in total, including two new ones that I’d never even seen before: marsh tit and long-tailed tit.

The new S4F trainees after our shopping trip! (I’m the tiny one on the right)
Photo by Steve Davis

A Marsh Tit

Long-tailed Tit (and a Blue Tit)

A guided walk followed where we saw the recent hedgelaying work, an interesting fungus (King Albert’s Cakes Fungus, which can apparently be used as a firelighter?) and quite a few snowdrops (attempted species identification is occurring). The walk also revealed something amazing for us all – it seemed that we had magic wellies, highly repellent to water and mud! We went on an extremely muddy walk and managed to came back with amazingly clean wellies!

My first day away from the other S4F trainees begun at RSPB Radipole where I attended a session on the identification, and ageing, of local gull species. Although I feel I understood the different ID features at the time, I’m pretty sure that my understanding has since lessened despite rereading my notes. I’m going to need to put it into practice so I am comfortable doing so at Chesil / The Fleet.

Black-headed Gull (I think …)

During the remaining week and a half, I’ve managed to visit DWT’s Lorton Meadows (where I saw three roe deer!), started a beginner’s birdwatching course (RSPB Radipole), looked round a couple of visitors’ centres including Durlston Castle, and passed a Emergency First Aid at Work session. All during training time!

A Roe Deer (again I think, never seen one before!)

I was also given a day to explore the area around the Chesil Centre, which was fab! It was just after one of the storms so I found plenty washed up – some pink seafan, a couple of starfish and a dead dogfish. I also met Steve Trewhella, a local conservationist who had found a log covered in goose barnacles, and hiding away in the cracks of the log were a couple Columbus crabs! Now this is pretty cool stuff as they’re usually found over in the Caribbean so they’ve been on an incredible journey! You can read more about them on Steve’s blog.

A Columbus Crab

Outside of training, I had the chance to meet up with the Dorset Mammal Group at their social event. Major thanks to the Chairlady, Suzy Varndell, for introducing a very nervous me to people. After hearing from the different sections of the group, we put our quiz hats on – my team (The Red Squirrel) came fourth out of five! Rather proud of us as there was fierce competition for sure!

Still Falling sculpture

Hearth sculpture

This weekend saw me venture out into the sunlight – a rare occurrence since I’ve moved here! I headed up the hill to the top of Portland to visit Tout Quarry, a DWT reserve. A great spot for seeing butterflies … in spring and summer. However I had a lovely wander round looking at the sculptures and admiring the view. I saw a few birds, plenty of robins and gulls, and also heard a great tit. Possibly a kestrel but it was very quick. I definitely saw a butterfly, however it was a distance away so I didn’t get to identify it. Oh well, next time!

Told you, stunning view!

Apologies for the small essay – the home internet died last weekend so I couldn’t post, and you get two weeks worth in one post!

To make up for it, here are some pretty photos I’ve taken.

The nearest coastal view, jealous?

Pretty waves! In the sunshine, but ridiculously windy!

Looking back to the ‘mainland’

*In other news, I also decided on a new challenge (an extra to the general learning of birds, moths and marine wildlife) – visiting all of the DWT reserves, which you can follow at this page.

February 16, 2014/18 Comments/by admin

Adventures, Birds, Bones

Sleeping, watching TV, baking … wait no, ecology things!

I was very fortunate to spend a week in Yorkshire recently. Less fortunately, it was during a week of almost-constant rain. I took this as a splendid opportunity to relax. I did some nature-related bits: catching up on BBC’s Winterwatch and rereading some BBC Wildlife Magazines. However I will admit to sleeping quite a bit, watching some rubbish TV and baking some very yummy scones (I used the Taste*Chesil scone recipe and thoroughly recommend it).

Obviously, I couldn’t spend a week in Yorkshire and not go out for an adventure, even with such weather. On a precipitation-free morning, I headed over to a nearby reserve, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust owned Leyburn Old Glebe reserve. Having done some prior reading on it, I wasn’t expecting much at this time of year. It is a traditionally managed hay meadow, known for its rich variety of wildflowers – and plants in general, over 80 species have been recorded here recently, with 11 different species of grass! (I must admit, I didn’t even know there were that many British grass species!) Despite the lack of flowering plants, I still had a nice walk around. The views are lovely as the meadow is located on a small hill overlooking the River Ure.

The River Ure by Leyburn Old Glebe (taken from roadside)

I was very impressed by the number of mole hills in the field, always a positive in my book. I’ve only ever seen a mole once, and it was unfortunately dead. I now regret not keeping it and trying to get the bones from it, but you learn from your mistakes I suppose.

Talking of dead things, I actually found the remains of two dead animals in the field. First, half of a dead bird, which I think was a pheasant. It was rather grisly and lacking a skull (damn, I do love a good skull), but I still poked at it and took photos of course.

Half a dead bird, with a lovely view behind

I then found the remains of something else, bits of fur and bones spread out. No upper skull remaining, but there were two lower jaw bones which looked rather like they were Rodentia in origin.

The remains scattered about

Pelvis bone

Lower jaw bones – the most caudal section (rostral?) came apart so not sure how far into the jaw it slides.

Lower jawbone, minus one tooth at the caudal end. Additionally, they all fell out but I think/hope I’ve put them back in the right order

Any guesses for animal of origin? I’m going to hazard a guess at rabbit, but I’ve never seen a rabbit skeleton so taking a guess from images on the internet. If you know the correct answer, please let me know!

So although I know little of plants (something I am hoping to address) and there were no flowers out to appreciate, I still had a fab time at this reserve. I know that I’ll definitely be back when I visit Yorkshire in spring and summer, and I’ll take a plant guide with me then!

A somewhat old rosehip, with the reserve’s small stream in the background

Talking of which, I headed back to where I was staying and saw my first snowdrops of the year!

Snowdrop!

February 1, 2014/2,315 Comments/by admin

Adventures, Birds

A Walk In The Woods

Festive tradition saw my family and I taking a lovely walk, in an attempt to wear off some of the calories we had piled on during the gluttony that is Christmas. Past walks, dependent on the Christmas have been along Hertfordshire fields, up onto the South Downs, the Newhaven coastline and over the pebbles of Seaford beach. This year saw us in Sussex again where we went off to someone new – Selwyns Wood, a Wildlife Trust reserve not far from Uckfield.

Naturally, we needed a few days to wallow in our self-pity from eating so much, but soon enough we were entering the wooded and muddy reserve. Luck was on our side as we strolled in the warm sunshine, discussing how I might improve my photography and laughing at our dog’s antics.

A pretty start to our walk!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the dog before on this blog – a gorgeous black and white Lab-Collie cross called Toby. For him, a walk is not complete until two events have occurred. First, he has met at least one other friendly dog, though it need not be a playful one but he does like to be sociable and say hello. Since at home, he is often taken for walks with family friends and their dogs, that event is easily ticked off. Second, he does love to go into a river, or lacking that, a large puddle. He can’t swim mind, but he does like to jump about and then run around like a mad puppy after.

The handsome Toby

Fortunately, we met some friendly dogs, and there was a stream for him to paddle in before leaping out and barking at us. There was plenty of wildlife to take notice of as well, smaller birds flitting in and out of the trees. A walk across the heathland part of the reserve prompted discussions on the different plant species, with my attempting to remember the little I know about heathland plants. The gorse flowers were a sight for sore eyes, a bright yellow colour shining in the sunlight amid the green of the gorse.

Bright yellow makes the day feel even sunnier

The muddiness and puddles of the paths did little to deter us, rather instead they made it more enjoyable I think. I do always enjoy a good splashabout in my wellies, particularly when the dog joins in. One highlight of the walk were the two woodpeckers of unknown species. Naturally, they were either flying or on the opposite side of branches, so I failed in getting a photo. I shall just have to take more walks in woodland. We also came across a few types of fungus and spotted some pretty berries which made some nice photos.

Fungi!

A lovely spot of colour

A great finish to our outing was a rather late pub lunch – superb food and atmosphere! And a well-behaved dog, even when the horses went past!

December 31, 2013/2,315 Comments/by admin

Adventures, Moths

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it saved the French wasp

I was lucky enough to spend two weeks in south-eastern France during early November (it’s nice having connections!). Although I spent much of the time working on ecology assignments or trying out new recipes, I still had the chance to see some wildlife.

The first species seen were a couple of small birds – blue tits, great tits, a dunnock. Although these are fairly common species at home, I was still happy enough to watch them on the bird feeder, flitting back and forth, with the occasional squabble against each other. What surprised me was another bird, similar size to the blue tit and certainly of the same family – a crested tit! Although fairly common across Europe, in the UK they are only resident in the pine forests of Scotland. This was my first time seeing a crested tit so I was fascinated. With an unusual facial pattern, and its black and white crest, it is a distinctive species.

Crested tit on the bird feeder

I’m lacking in equipment currently, so I don’t have a moth trap or sweep net, but I don’t let such things stop me from finding some invertebrates. A couple of butterflies were loving the warm sunshine (as was I, since London had been much colder!), such as the Painted lady below.

Painted Lady butterfly

On the calmer nights, the window was often besieged by moths drawn in by the light. I managed to identify some, such as the Crimson Speckled moth (U.pulchella). However, I couldn’t find all in my moth identification book. Upon conversing with someone in the know, I found out that whilst the UK and France do share many species, the total number of moth species present in France is about twice as many as are present in the UK. Crumbs! Therefore some of the moth species remain unidentified (only for now though, as I’m determined to find out whom they are!).

Crimson Speckled moth … caught in a wine glass! Well, naturally, I was in France!

Unknown moth species (again in a wine glass!), possibly Streak, C.legatella?

The moths weren’t the only nocturnal creatures about, there were also two animals in the courtyard who were rustling the fallen leaves and were very pleased when it rained later in my stay. These mystery rustlers were two rather large toads! And by large, I mean amongst the largest wild toads I’ve come across (thus not including exotic toads in zoos).

Not so impressed to see me

A number of other invertebrates were also found in and around the house, from small swarms of ladybirds loving the open window, an interesting red bug investigating my shoe and a rather odd looking red insect found in the sink! A noteworthy insect would be the wasp I found partway through my stay there. It had managed to get itself trapped in a small bottle, drawn in by the remaining sweet drink. You may have read a previous blog post where I mentioned that I have had a rather traumatic experience with wasps. However, curiousity about its identification overcame my fear and I rescued the wasp. I’m sure glad I did as I managed to capture this photo as the wasp recovered from its ordeal. If you were wondering, it is a common wasp apparently (V.vulgaris).

Wasp! Still makes me shudder

In conclusion, I had a lovely time in France and got to see some new species which is always nice. Below are a couple more creatures I came across. And in case you were wondering, I got the ecology assignments back – 80% and 90%, whoo!

Another unknown moth species. I reckon it is one of the Carpets, maybe a Mallow or Dark Marbled? But might be a non-English spp. And again, in a wine glass!

Ooh, pretty!

Everyone loves a blue tit

December 22, 2013/2,315 Comments/by admin

Adventures, Birds, S4F Traineeship

Three counties, three days, three reserves.

Now if you’re a friend in the real life, or you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I’ve been having some adventures since I came back from South Africa. One of these took place last week when I headed southwest to Dorset from the big city (London) and decided to make the most of the trip by visiting a couple of places.

On the way down I took the opportunity to visit the RSPB reserve, Farnham Heath, since my route was taking me quite close anyway. I knew nothing about this reserve before I picked it out on a map and had a quick read about it and its history on the RSPB website. As part of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this reserve is being restored back to heath and acid grassland. Through felling the conifer plantations and managing the heath through traditional grazing, the heath is being brought back to this area along with its associated wildlife. Some of the coniferous and deciduous woodland has been retained, in which traditional practices are again used – coppicing (sweet chestnut trees) and encouraging wet woodland (willow and alder trees). The wildlife on the site is diverse with a range of bird species throughout the year, and over 150 species of fungi during autumn.

Unknown fungi from above

Unknown fungi from below

As a mid-autumn day, the weather was perfect. A little chilly, but sunny and clear. I had a nice wander through the reserve on the orange route, watching some birds and making friends with a couple of dogs. I also found this fungi which I am attempting to identify (suggestions on ID are welcome).

This pool was lovely to sit by, I even saw a dragonfly though it was gone before I could take a photo.

Great spot to relax, wish I’d got a photo of that dragonfly though!

Walking through the heath, I saw a couple of little birds dropping down from branches to the heath and the ground, but didn’t recognise the species. Naturally, I’d brought my bird ID book with me but left it in the car (I also had my moth ID book, in case I should come across one). Once I got back to the car park, I looked it up and found it was a stonechat, Saxicola torquata. I’d heard of this species but never seen one (or at least, I have no memory of seeing and identifying one), so I was rather pleased. They often perch on the top of bushes or on overhead wires, and drop down to pick up invertebrates.

Stonechat resting on a branch

The next day I was down in Dorset at the Urban Wildlife Centre near Poole with the Wildlife Trust. This was for a day of activities and meeting mentors and current trainees to get a better idea of the Skills for the Future traineeship that they run. One activity was scrub-bashing which was very good fun – lots of cutting of birch trees and having arguments with brambles (I won – I was definitely more stubborn!). These were used for a fire in which jacket potatoes were cooked for our lunch.

The scrub-bashing area with the fire on the right

Later on, we took part in a Forest Schools session where we made forest friends (i.e. figures made out of sticks, clay, leaves etc). Mine was a warrior who defended the forest from the baddies, though he didn’t have a name. My group all agreed that the session was brilliant and felt rather like a group therapy session!

Materials for the Forest Schools session

On my last day away from the big city, I was in the New Forest as I’m lucky enough to have a friend who lives there and let me stay the night. I was leaving early, but managed to fit in a dog walk through the heathlands. We didn’t see much wildlife but did meet a couple of ponies who were completely unbothered by both us and the dogs. Driving back was lovely as the sun peeked through the clouds to show the autumn colours of the forest. Shame I didn’t have a passenger who could take a photo for me!

Ignored by a horse …

NB: the three counties in order were Surrey, Dorset and Hampshire.

December 7, 2013/2,315 Comments/by admin

Species or Group Profile

UK Animal Profile – The Dormouse who fell asleep instantly

Before writing this blog post, I did a quick whip-round knowledge survey of my friends and family via Facebook and e-mails on their knowledge of the hazel dormouse. Roughly one fifth had never heard of them, whilst almost two thirds knew of them but knew nothing about them. Only 3 people out of 28 knew a few facts. Obviously this is only a quick and unprofessional survey of my own contacts, but I wonder how much it reflects the UK as a whole? Furthermore, I wonder how much the knowledge of dormouse varies between counties where they are found and counties where they are not.

Anyway, this is an overall view of the hazel (common) dormouse, with the facts that I find particularly interesting. I hope that you will enjoy and come to love this species as many do.

A dormouse found in mid-Wales

The common or hazel dormouse is a distinctive species, easily recognizable when compared to our other small mammals here in Britain. With prominent black eyes, rounded ears and soft golden fur, you can’t help but think of the word “cute”. Add in that fact that they have a furry tail, rather than the hairless one of mice or rats that often freaks out people, and they become even more adorable.

(Perhaps it is wrong of me to use these subjective terms, but I know that this is how many people feel. For myself, I will describe many animals as cute, lovely or beautiful, much to the befuddlement of my friends. Crikey, I’ve even called a cockroach cute! But I digress.)

Their large black eyes and other adaptations are indicators of their behaviours. Such eyes help to them to see in the dark as they are nocturnal animals, whilst their feet have small pads, sharp claws and hind ankles can turn sideways, all adaptations for arboreal living (in the trees). Their daytime activity consists of sleeping in a nest, sometimes in torpor where an animal’s metabolic rate and body temperature is low, to reduce the energy used by its body. During torpor, an animal does not respond to stimuli. Torpor is quite similar to hibernation, though hibernation lasts for much longer whereas torpor lasts for only a few hours at a time.

A dormice found during the day is often unresponsive to stimuli

Now if you’re like me, you may have had a similar thought upon reading the previous paragraph. Nocturnal, sleeping in the day, not responding to stimuli … is it only me that thinks of students? Particularly prior to assignment deadlines!

The sleeping activity of dormice doesn’t stop there, they also hibernate. This starts in October or November, lasting through to March or April, during a time when there are no food supplies. Rather than hibernating up in a tree, they actually hibernate in a nest at, or below, ground level. This means that it is easier for them to maintain a consistent temperature and not become dehydrated.

If you combine the time spent asleep by the dormouse – sleeping, torpor and hibernation, you realise that this species actually spends much of its time asleep. As Pat Morris (a leading expert of many British mammal species) says in one article: “It’s almost as though their natural state is asleep”. Again … anyone else thinking of students here? This is perhaps one of the best-known traits of dormice, mentioned in literature such as Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) – ““The Dormouse is asleep again” said the Hatter” (hopefully you noticed that is where part of this post’s title is from).

Dormice are well known for eating hazel nuts, but they will also eat a variety of other foods including flowers (from bramble, rowan, oak and honeysuckle) and invertebrates (aphids and caterpillars). During late summer and autumn, dormice need to gain fat reserves for their hibernation for which hazel nuts are a good source. Dormice eat hazel nuts in a distinctive way, leaving a hole with a smooth inner edge and toothmarks around the hole. This means that eaten nuts can be used to find out if dormice are present in an area, and Great Nut Hunts have been run by PTES (Peoples’ Trust for Endangered Species) where the public searched for nibbled nuts to find new sites where dormice were present.

Dormice boxes are put up for monitoring, but dormice aren’t the only ones to make use of them!

Some other interesting facts

A female dormouse may actually mate with multiple males, producing a litter sired by a variety of fathers. However, the benefit to the female is not yet clear. For the species as a whole, it is likely due to greater genetic variation and to counter inbreeding.
The dormouse is a priority and fully legally protected species in the UK and in Europe, and a license is needed to work with them. (I currently don’t have a license, my encounters with them have been through volunteering or on educational, and always with a license holder.)
Typically the dormouse has been associated with old deciduous woodland, hazel coppice and hedgerows. However, they have been found in conifer woodland, gorse, scrub, heath and reed beds.
The other species of dormouse in the UK is the edible dormouse, Glis glis, which was introduced deliberately into Tring in the early 20^th C.

Now I know that I’ve not covered everything about the dormice, such as the threats they face or more detailed analysis of their behaviours, as this is just a general overview and introduction to this species. If you are interested, both the Mammal Society and PTES have plenty of information of them (as well as other species), as will other organisations.

“… the last she saw of them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot.”

– from Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

NB: I should point out that my remarks about people not knowing much about dormice isn’t a slur against my friends and family for not knowing, just something I found interesting. Particularly since mammals are the animal group that people usually identify best with, yet the overall knowledge of even this group can be rather low. One of the reasons I enjoy doing small mammal trapping with children, it’s a chance to create some memories of wildlife that can stay with them for life. But the topic of children and wildlife is a whole other kettle of fish (or a nest of mammals?).

References

Ambrose, M. et al (2012), Wilder Wych Dormouse Research Project, A study of the re-introduced dormouse population in the Wych Valley, Cheshire.

ARKive, Common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), http://www.arkive.org/common-dormouse/muscardinus-avellanarius/ [Accessed: November 2013]

Bright, P. and Morris, P. (1991). Ranging and nesting behaviour of the dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius in diverse low-growing woodland. Journal of Zoology, London, 224: 177-190.

Bright, P.W., Morris, P.A. and Mitchell, J.T. (2006), The dormouse conservation handbook, English Nature, Great Britain.

Mammal Society, Dormouse FactSheet: http://www.mammal.org.uk/species-factsheets/Dormouse

Md. Naim, D. et al (2011), Prevalence of multiple mating by female common dormice, Muscardinus avellanarius, Conservation Genetics, 12, 971-979.

Morris, P. (2004), Dormice, M. Avellarnarius, Whittet Books, Stowmarket, UK.

Morris, P. (2012), Taking a closer look at the dormice in torpor, The Dormouse Monitor, (1), 7.

People’s Trust for Endangered Species (2011), The Golden Great Nut Hunt report: http://www.ptes.org/files/1640_gnhreportnov2011.pdf

November 29, 2013/0 Comments/by admin

Dwarf Mongoose, South Africa

Wherefore art thou mongoose?

This was meant to be published in early October but my internet connection wasn’t good enough for upload photos, so here it is now.

Oh the frustrations of finding dwarf mongoose in the bush. To start off, they are pretty small – less than 30cm in length! Add to this, that they are a lovely brown colour that happens to blend in quite well with wood and the ground. In addition, they can be very quiet. I’ve been with a group before and they have gone silent, leading me to believe that they have moved but actually they’re just being quiet. So when you’re looking for them, that’s no help.

It’s easiest to look for them in the morning and just before sunset, as they will either at or near their sleeping refuges. At these times of day, it is a case of making the rounds within their territory and hoping you catch them before they leave (in the morning) or go to sleep (in the evening). This usually works, but occasionally the group will be using a refuge that we don’t know of, so the theory falls down there.

A mongoose up in a tree!

During the day, it gets a bit more difficult as you have got to walk throughout their territory calling for them. Yes, we call out to them and we actually call “Mongoose”! It sounds a little bizarre, but they’re habituated to come to that call and receive a little bit of food for it. Some groups are great, they’ll respond to your call with enthusiasm. I have had one group come running to me from almost 50 metres away. On the other hand, I have been right next to a group and been completely ignored by them.

So you still have to rely on your eyes and ears for any tell-tale signs of mongoose presence. The slightest rustling can get me suddenly veering off my path and calling hopefully for mongoose. I say hopefully because it is usually a couple of birds that I’m scaring off. They do make small contact calls to each other, but you usually can’t hear them unless you are fairly close.

As for seeing them? Almost no chance unless they’re moving between foraging spots or in an obvious sentinel position. Take these photos below, can you spot the mongoose? To myself, the mongoose in the first photo is very obvious, and in the second photo, still quite noticeable. But usually, they’re hidden amongst the rocks or branches and it’s a bit more of a challenge.

Spot The Mongoose – Level: Easy

Spot The Mongoose – Level: Medium / Hard

October 24, 2013/1 Comment/by admin

Moths, South Africa

Domestic wildlife – The South African version

Due to the recent increases in temperature, the middle of day is now quite hot and as a result, the mongoose flake out in the shade for a few hours and we head back to the house. During one of these midday breaks, I got a good view of the local troop of baboons as they cavorted on our back lawn. One of the larger males even came and sat himself on the stoep (patio-type area), no more than 5m from me – although I was inside and hiding behind my curtain. When I moved and took a photo he freaked out and ran off.

Not the big male, but a nice photo of one of the others

Not long after, I heard a noise from the other side of the house and moving to investigate, I found another part of the troop, including the cutest little youngster who was exploring various things by chewing them – twigs, grass, even his own foot at one point!

My favourite photo of the baboon family

A number of reptiles are present both in and around the house. Before I came out here, there were apparently some baby Mozambique Spitting Cobras in the grass outside my bedroom. Nyala and Kudu both have skinks in their room, whilst Kudu also found a tiny gecko. We recently found another gecko in the kitchen, which moved into my room a few hours later. Despite flicking through a reptiles book, we couldn’t identify it. If you know what it might be, we would be very interested to find out!

The unidentified gecko

Talking of things I’m interested in, I found a pretty awesome moth the other day. A Walker’s Owl Moth which can have a wingspan of 12cm! I put it in a box and into the fridge to reduce its activity (standard practice for restless moths), which the others were somewhat bemused by. But it worked, as I managed to get a decent photo of it for identification.

Huge Walker’s Owl Moth!

We’ve seen kudu and bushbuck down at the riverbank, vervet monkeys scrambling around the trees and across the lawn, and waterbuck grazing on the lawn. Hippo have also been heard on the lawn at night (slightly unnerving when you’re just dropping off to sleep). So even being at home can be exciting for wildlife … and it helps when that home is in South Africa!

September 29, 2013/0 Comments/by admin