Winter's back!

It doesn't seem long ago that I was writing about the snowfall and how good it was for finding animal tracks and signs. Well, winter's here again (with a vengeance!) and the snow has been so deep that it's made walking about the countryside very slow and tiring, and for the first week very few animal tracks were visible, as they also found travelling extremely difficult.
When getting to the cameras has been possible, I've been rewarded with some very good videos including otters rolling around in the snow and entering and leaving a Holt (can be seen on our youtube channel).
The cold weather doesn't bother Otters at all, as they're perfectly adapted to a life of cold and wet, as long as they can find somewhere dry and sheltered to rest through the daylight hours. Our Bird life on the other hand, doesn't always fare so well, and a prolonged cold spell can have a devastating effect on population numbers. Bird feeders are a vital source of nourishment at this time of year, but birds also need to find somewhere warm and dry to shelter through the long cold nights.
The thermometer read -11.5 c as I set off to check the bird boxes that are fitted with cameras, to see if I could film any birds that may be occupying them, and below is a clip of a Great Tit which fluffs it's feathers out to trap air as it roosts.

Update

Well, the second brood of Swallows have fledged and will soon be off on their long trip to Africa, the Barn Owl didn't lay a clutch in the nest box, and the strong winds put paid to one of the HD cameras. Although it was well secured, a large branch fell onto the camera , breaking it open and knocking it into a beck.

I've not managed as much night time filming as I'd planned, but I did make some progress with my experiments at adding extra infra red light so I could film in darkness with a camcorder. I've used the set up to film an Otter travelling beneath a bridge then swimming off downstream (the video can be seen on our youtube channel).

On the subject of Otters, we're coming to the time of year when more get killed crossing roads. The darker mornings and evenings coincide with the heaviest volume of traffic, so more animals fall victim as they cross busy roads. Just this morning as I was travelling to work I saw an Otter lying at the roadside and on pulling over I thought by the size of it that it was probably a Dog Otter, but when I got closer I saw that it was actually a large Bitch, and worse still it was obviously suckling Cubs which unfortunately will have very little chance of surviving. The picture isn't pretty but sadly this thing happens so often...

There's been a lot happening over the last few weeks, with the cameras continuing to capture lots of footage of all the usual animals. The Swallows have built a second nest and have just hatched their second brood. The Barn Owl box camera has filmed the pair mating (which can be seen on our youtube channel), so we're waiting anxiously to see if the female uses the box for her second brood (a first brood was reared in a nearby Ash tree).
I've also been experimenting (not yet as successfully as I'd hoped!) with different methods of filming some of the wildlife that's difficult to capture on our static camera systems, for example Daubentons Bats skimming along a beck. Watching them through a night vision device gives some fantastic views of the way they snatch insects from the surface of the water. But when I tried to record what I was seeing onto the recording device, the slow frame rate coupled with the fact that the night vision throws a relatively narrow beam of infra red light, the footage was not that good, though on the clip below, a Bat can be clearly seen plucking an insect from the water.

Another method I tried was using one of the variable focus cameras set to wide angle, overlooking a pool, to see if this would give any better results. The footage from this was very poor, as when the Bats were close enough to see clearly, they were only in frame for a split second, the rest of the time they appeared as small dots floating around the screen, so I'm now trying to come up with a suitable method of giving plenty of infra red light which will allow me to film with a better quality camera. On the plus side, just as I was starting to set up the camera, an Otter appeared just a few feet away, and I quickly managed to point the camera at it and get the few seconds of footage below.

Swallows nest

There's been a lot happening on the Wildplaces front in the Tees Valley over the last few weeks. One of the highlights being the result of a telephone call from a lady who thought she might have seen a Water Vole in the small stream at the bottom of her garden. Unfortunately a good check of the banks revealed no evidence of Water Voles, but the lady did say that she regularly had Foxes, Badgers and Roe Deer coming right up to her patio. She said she'd happily let me set up a camera there, and sure enough it captured images of a family of Foxes, and Badgers chomping on the scraps she put out for them, and Deer helping themselves to her Roses! The footage is very good, and I'll upload some of the highlights very soon.

As well as continuing to collect lots of footage of urban mammals we've had a camera on the Swallows that have nested at our office for the past few years. Here's a video of their progress from just after hatching through to fledging.

Sleeping Badger

I was intending to write a little about one of the litters of Fox Cubs that I've been watching and filming recently, but I'll leave that till a little later as I came across this while I was walking through the woods the other day.
At first I thought it was another dead Badger (I've found several lately, most of them have had nasty, festering wounds as a result of being attacked by other Badgers, which can be common), but as I watched, it became clear that it was asleep beneath a tree. I watched it for about ten minutes before it stirred and had a good scratch.

Badger watching

A couple of nights ago, I thought I'd have a go at filming the Fox Cubs, with the camcorder, but the wind, though not strong, was swirling, which would've made it difficult for me to remain undetected. As I'm not easily put off, I decided to see if any badgers would appear from a nearby Sett, which is fairly sheltered from the wind.
After getting comfortable, I sat and waited, and after seeing several Rabbits emerge from the Sett, a larger, stripey head appeared in the mouth of one of the holes. I readied the camera, and when the badger (a Sow) eventually emerged, she ambled steadily up the bank and away, meaning I managed only about 15 seconds of video.
It's been obvious from many of the trail camera videos I've got from near this Sett, that the Sow is suckling a litter of Cubs (her teats are clearly visible), and didn't want to hang around for long, prefering to get out and forage to replace some of the many calories she'll be using up feeding them.
I hung around for a while, in the hope that another Badger would emerge, and as it got too dark to use the camcorder, I switched to the night vision. About 10 minutes after it got totally dark, the Boar appeared, and I managed to get a few minutes footage. As you can see, it came very close to me, without detecting that I was there, and after it wandered off, I headed home content with what I'd seen.

First Fox Cubs

I've been waiting patiently (though not too patiently!) for a litter of Fox Cubs to emerge above ground, in order to get some footage. Now that they've eventually obliged, I'm having to change the memory card in the camera every day, as there's that much activity going on!
It's obvious from the clip, that these Cubs are being well fed, and several of the videos have shown them playing with dead Ducklings-no coinicidence that a Mallard on a nearby pond hatched 16 Eggs on Sunday, and by Monday all of the Ducklings had dissappeared, very easy pickings for the Vixen!
More of the videos can be seen on the wildplaces youtube page.

Badger

I've been asked a lot lately whether animals can see the infra red light from our cameras, or whether they're are disturbed by them.
I'm certain that most of the animals we film, are aware of the light from most models of camera, but very few seem to be actually bothered by it. This clip of a Badger sniffing at the camera is fairly typical of the reaction of most animals , and I've recently got footage of several species including Otter, Roe, and even a Stoat checking out the cameras in this way (check the youtube page for some more clips).

Volunteer day

Besides collecting video footage and mammal records, the wildplaces project also carries out practical conservation work. We recently did some habitat management on the outskirts of Middlesbrough, at a very wildlife friendly farm where a lot of the video footage is collected. The farm grows willow which is used as a renewable energy source, being burned at the local power station to provide electricity.

These areas of Willow are proving to be very good habitat for several species, including Harvest Mice (which I'll hopefully be able to film in the near future).

We were helped on the day by students from Guisborough Askham Bryan college, who were on courses ranging from first diploma in animal care, to foundation degree in animal management.

The students were all very enthusiastic, and had a good time, getting really stuck into the work, and doing something which really does help the local wildlife.

A sign of the times

We're still deciding what course of action to take regarding the new high definition cameras, but hopefully we'll get them sorted out, as they're undoubtedly capable of producing some good, clear video.
In the meantime, here's a clip of some Roe Deer, which was sent to me by Paul Marsh, filmed on his own trail camera. Unfortunately, after obviously finding a very good location, his camera was stolen, which is a very sad sign of the times, I'm afraid.
Though his free time is very limited, Paul keeps us informed with his sightings of Mammals, which are very useful for our records. He was also intending to be a regular provider of video footage for the Wildplaces project. These cameras are not cheap, and hopefully the person that stole it will have a conscience, and return it... We live in hope.

New cameras

I was like a child on Christmas morning, as I waited impatiently for the files from the new camera to convert. But when I eventually got to see the results, I felt like the naughty child who had got no presents!... There was plenty of footage, but it was all very dark, and not even as good as the standard cameras. To say I was disappointed would be a massive understatement, so the next day I replaced the camera and also set another one in a different location about fifty metres away, determined to find out if it was just the one camera that was faulty. To cut a long story short, I got lots of footage, and while the cameras definitely don't perform to the standards stated by the manufacturer (the flash range is quoted at being effective to 40 feet, when it's actually barely a quarter of that) what was recorded is quite good quality. The microphone is very good, so make sure you have the volume switched on before watching the clip, because some of the sound is very interesting, especially the Otters calling. The Woodmouse by the way, is feeding on the leftovers from an Otters meal (a part eaten Trout). To see some very good daytime video taken by these new cameras, check out our wildplaces youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/WildPlacesNE

New cameras

I've just received some new, high definition cameras, so tonight I'm going to replace the one that's been filming the Otters, and hopefully I'll soon have some better quality images to show.
I've had a camera in this location for a month now and, with the exception of the few days that it stopped working, it's recorded Otter activity every night, and I've noticed that at least four different individuals have been visiting the spot.
I've put together a few more clips that I find interesting, including a daytime video of a Heron that's been showing up regularly.

Please feel free to post comments about the clips, ask questions, or to request video or photos of other wildlife.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this time of year can be ideal for photographing birds in the garden. The cold spell has made it especially good, and I've been taking many pictures of several species.

Although I've not had any rarities, I have had these two birds with unusually shaped beaks visiting regularly. Both appear in reasonable condition, and neither seemed to have any difficulty in feeding.

Otter videos

Because there was a lot of Otter activity in this spot, I decided to set up a different camera and capture some videos. Even though it was over the xmas period, I was able to check the area daily, and found fresh evidence of Otters being here every day. Unfortunately though, the camera developed a problem, so I missed a lot of the action. I think you'll agree though that the footage it did get is pretty good.