17th May 2008

Hi

only a few of us managed to make it up to LM, but we all saw impressive displays by an Osprey of how not to catch fish. The spraint evidence told us that otters were using the area and so we sat in the lower hide as dusk approached. At 10pm one of us saw a wake in the centre of the pool and an otter appeared in rough water, it quickly swam away to the left and through the gap towards the public hide. Sadly, we were able to watch it for about 5 minutes only. We left the hide at about 10.30 but with the surrounding fields lighted by moon light not much was revealed, except being buzzed by bats on the path back. We returned to the hide for 3am and there was just enough light to see wakes on the water - however, they were caused by ducks rather than otters. At 3.45am we noticed a wake by the near left edge; we then saw an otter surface before it moved behind the nearby iris Island. We left the hide to full sun light at 5.30 to watch red and roe deer in the fields.

15th May 2008

Tonight we got together for our Dormouse AGM. As per usual we discussed our Dormouse surveys from the previous year and the plan for future ones. Overall we appear to find a decline in the numbers of Dormice or the number of nests that we find when compared to previous years. However, whether this means a decline in the Dormouse population in general cannot be discerned from our current data. We also discussed the possible inclusion of new sites and we have decided to use some plastic tubes alongside our usual wooden boxes to see which kind of artificial home Dormice prefer. It looks like there are quite a few sites where we will stop carrying out surveys as of the end of this year. This is due to not having found signs of Dormice for several years in those areas. Last but not least we discussed Dormouse Licenses, which one needs in order to be allowed to handle those wonderful mammals. There are many sites to check, so better stop chatting, blogging and the like, put some boots on, grab the gear and get checking. Hoping to see you at one of our events soon. Check out our calendar on the main group website for more information.

07th of May 2008

This evening we met at Tittesworth Water Reservoir. Derek had placed traps in the ground in the hope of catching some moles alive. When digging out the traps, however, we were able to see the evidence of how cunning moles can be. One particular exemplar managed to avoid 4 traps that had been placed along its route. The group then proceeded to a different area on the site to look for evidence of moles in tall grass. We managed to identify a nice sized tunnel system that was impressive in its length and variation of depth. Having used thin sticks to trace the tunnel system we then moved on to listen, identify and catch glimpses of the local bat population. To our surprise we managed to observe a Daubenton's bat in daylight which is rather unusual for this species as they normally do not come out until it has gone dark. All in all a really informative and enjoyable evening.