The roe deer rut

The roe deer rut takes place from mid July to mid August so is now at its peak.  The bucks are busy trying to intimidate each other and impress the does.  The first video shows an older buck chasing off a younger one.  There was an element of good fortune in this video because the bucks are travelling much too fast to trigger the camera in time.  However, a few seconds earlier a kid had appeared at the side of the frame to start the recording but then disappeared, perhaps because it heard them coming.  The slow motion replay is at 1/8th speed.

Although mating occurs now the pregnancies won't begin until January after delayed implantation, so the young will be born next May.  This year's kids are now about two months old and must be wondering what all the excitement is about.  Here a doe runs off to avoid the younger buck, leaving him and her kid looking rather puzzled.

The bucks follow the does around to show their interest and to be ready when the doe shows hers.  Here the older buck was trying to look cool as he followed the doe through the woods but he misjudged a jump and fell in the water.  Let's hope she wasn't watching.

In a couple of weeks' time it will all calm down again so we'll hope for a bit of excitement from something else on the trail cameras.

RoeDeerCam

Roe deer are regular non-target captures on my trail cameras but because the cameras are set low to look for otters I usually see only the deer's knees and ankles.  Occasionally there is a good view of the whole animal, as in this recent video of a buck.  Deer have a very acute sense of smell and this one sniffed out one of the cameras.

Another video from early spring, again on a camera set to look for otters.  It begins with a doe taking a leap in the dark, then two does and a buck in daylight and buck making the return journey.  The buck still in velvet and all in their darker winter coats.  This is a very easy jump for a roe deer which could leap much higher and farther.

Roe deer on the otter bridge

The trail cameras are set primarily to keep an eye on what the otters get up to but they record whatever comes into view.  At the moment fewer than 1% of recordings are of otters.  Non-target captures in late spring and early summer were mainly of young birds, especially water rails, moorhens and mallards, but there are plenty of mammals as well.  They now outnumber the birds and in perhaps ascending order of size they are common shrew, water shrew, bank vole, wood mouse, field vole, brown rat, grey squirrel, red fox, badger and roe deer.

Deer aren't the most exciting subjects on trail camera because they usually don't do much but the kids are charming.  They are now a couple of months old and still have some of their camouflage but they find the bridge a bit of a challenge because it is built rather like a cattle grid. If you have dainty hooves it requires a bit of concentration to get across safely.  Here are mother and the twins all managing easily this time.

Here one of the kids has discovered the camera.

Here is one of the twins showing how not to do it.  After falling through a couple of times it came back to have think but realised it was left behind and had to try again.  You can hear it squeaking as it set off a second time.

The last video shows one of the kids on the bridge.  As I said, roe deer don't do much but it is quite relaxing to watch if you have a couple of minutes to spare.

SardineCam 2

Two of my cameras have been on tour again, this time to Denise and Phil near Riding Mill in South Northumberland.  As before, one camera was set up with a sardine scent lure and the other was in a camera box.  SardineCam was set in woodland edge for the first week and within woodland the second week.  It recorded 1061 videos in all, most of which were of wood mice.  As last time, the mice were fascinated by the sardine smell.  A domestic cat also came by to sniff but the highlight was a roe doe.

Passers-by taking no interest in the sardines were fox, American grey squirrel, robin, blackbird, song thrush and wood pigeon.

The camera box was set at woodland edge in the first week and recorded 546 videos, almost all of wood mice.  In the second week I put it in a rough grass field, still not far from woodland. This time there were only 163 videos and almost all were of shrews - common shrew, pygmy shrew and, most excitingly of all, a water shrew.  There is a small garden pond nearby but the nearest large pond is 160m away across a railway line.  Here are the three shrews in frame grabs from the video to compare their size, body shape and tail length, common shrew above, pygmy shrew middle and water shrew below.

And here is the video.

It was fascinating to find another water shrew away from water, so soon after the one in my garden.  Here is a montage of more water shrew action, all high speed.

If anything the common shrew is even more frantic.  It was interesting to see it collecting the sunflower seeds I had put in.  Shrews are insectivores but water shrews and common shrews both take sunflower seeds in my garden.

The smallest of the three, the pygmy shrew, seems a bit less hyperactive.

We did get a glimpse of a vole but it was very shy and didn't venture past the entrance pipe.  I can't tell what it is with any confidence but from its size I suspect it is a field vole rather than a bank vole.

So no mustelids, which we were hoping for, and no wood mice in the field, but it was great to see all the shrews.  And it is fascinating that moving the camera 50m from woodland to grass completely changes the clientele.  I am not sure it will be worth persevering with the sardine lure but the camera box seems by far the best way to see small mammals.

My mammal year

2023 has been mostly about mustelids, from weasels and stoats in my garden, to otters nearby, to pine martens in Ardnamurchan, with badgers here and there.  Other mammals have been foxes, mice, shrews, voles and even a roebuck in the garden, not to mention rabbits and squirrels.  Oh, and a bat I rescued from a pond.  Here are some highlights.

A surprise in the meadow

I have been caught out a few times before so I always check the coast is clear before I put out food for the foxes.  This time I looked through the kitchen window and thought the fox was here early.  Then I looked closer and saw this.

There was just time to grab the camera for a couple of shots before the buck moved out of view. I don't know how long it has been here or even if it is still here.  The top of the garden is pretty overgrown, deliberately left wild for things to live in, but I wasn't expecting a roe buck.  I am not even sure how it got in.  In previous years I have left the gate open for the deer in late winter or early spring but they have always left in early morning.  It would be possible for a roe deer to jump the 4ft gate but there isn't much of a run up.  The lowest fence is 4ft as well but it is nearly all overgrown with hedges.  If the buck stays I hope it doesn't eat too much of my meadow.

End of year review - Video 6

This is the last of my end-of-year trail camera videos and is my favourite.  I don't often target roe deer because they aren't very interesting subjects - they usually just wander past the camera.  A fair amount of planning went into this.  I knew the twins were about and I used two cameras to cover a bigger field of view.  Even then it turned better than I had hoped.

The buck stops here

The roe deer rut is over for another year.  This handsome chap was probably still getting his breath back when I met him last week.  He seemed completely unconcerned as I watched from a path only 20m or so away, looking up occasionally to keep an eye eye on me as he continued the more important task of eating.  He is still his foxy-red summer coat.  It will get thicker and darker as autumn progresses.

An intimate view on RoeDeerCam

Just a short post this time, with only a couple of videos.  The cameras have recorded a mother and fawn in the rain, almost too close.  The camera is set to record for one minute but will go on for longer if the target is still detected so I have trimmed the video a bit.  It is amazing to see the fawn so close up and curious about the camera.  The fawn is probably only about six weeks old but has already nearly lost its newborn camouflage.  I expect it will soon follow its mother all the time.  The doe is still moulting but the bucks are already in their foxy-red summer finest.

The second video shows the fawn on its own at midnight.  To start with the action is on the upper camera, a standard low-glow (850nm) trail camera.  As the fawn moves across the scene the video cuts to the second camera which is a no-glow (940nm) and for a few moments it benefits from the light from the first camera.  When the low-glow stops recording the no-glow is on its own, with a noticeably poorer picture.  After a few seconds the fawn re-triggers the first camera and the picture improves again.  It is interesting how much the cameras (the no-glow especially) benefit from extra lighting.  I have been using additional lighting or multiple cameras for the otters for a while but it isn't as easy to achieve out in the open for the deer, although it is something to think about.  The fawn is calling throughout and is obviously starting to eat for itself.

Both cameras are still in place and if anything else interesting turns up I'll post it here.

Exciting news on RoeDeerCam

Roe deer are difficult subjects for the trail cameras so I don't often target them, although they do sometimes wander past when I am after other things.  This time it was deliberate, and I ended up with some of the best footage I have had so far.

Roe deer fawns are born in mid May.  For several weeks they are too small to follow their mother around so she leaves them in cover while she forages and returns several times a day to suckle them.  Now a few weeks old, the fawns don't just lie up all day but wander around while they wait for mother to return, hopefully staying out of trouble.  I'll show the recordings in the order they were made.

The first recording was of a single fawn.  It was being pestered by mosquitos  and was calling for its mother.  Listen carefully and you can hear it squeaking.

Next up was a doe.  Although it is June she is still moulting out of her dark winter coat into a foxy red summer coat.

Even though they are not yet weaned, the fawns are starting to feed for themselves.  This short montage includes the first sign that there are twins.

And then this was what I had been planning, but it turned out even better than I had  hoped.

This was the camera set-up, with the cameras low down at deer eye-level.  I don't often use a tree but it was the only available support here.  The lower camera has a close-focus +0.5 dioptre lens.

And finally a yearling buck (with uneven small horns) in the early morning light.  The cameras are still in position in the hope of more exciting footage.

Guest appearances on OtterCam

The otters are very used to my cameras and mostly ignore them or give them a sniff as they pass.  Badgers are less keen, both on the red light and the human scent.  They often don't seem to notice if they just walk past but soon beat a retreat if they spot a camera.  Here is one investigating the otter run.  It is in complete darkness of course and sniffs its way around.

On another evening twice a badger went down the gully and retreated when it saw the bottom camera.  The second time it returned to check out the top camera.

Roe deer largely ignore the camera but sometimes take an interest, probably in the hope that it is something to eat.

Other recent non-target species have been wood mouse, brown rat, moorhen, robin, blackbird, teal and mute swan but they don't make for an interesting video.

Leaving the gate open

I can't see what is happening at the gate from the house in the dark so I have been using a trail camera to keep an eye on things.  I have been leaving the gate open for the deer who come in most nights.  Three nights ago the only two here were a buck and a doe but they came in at 2000 and left at 0500, so they were in the garden for nine hours.

In chronological order here is a taste of the action that night.  Two deer in and two deer out, eleven foxes in and four foxes out, but the foxes can leave in many other places.

Foxes will do anything for an easy life and I am sure they are delighted I have been leaving the gate open.  Usually they have to jump over or through the fence but now they can just stroll in.

The next video shows how things unfolded on one misty night earlier in the week.  A fox or a pair of foxes came and went through the gate 34 times in 11 hours between 2000 and 0700.  I can't tell how many individuals were involved but obviously several came in more than once.  The fox walking with a stiff tail is presumably a (or the) dominant male.  I haven't included all the clips here but this gives you an idea of what was going on.

Looking through videos from two nights ago there are clear differences (in size, extent of the black socks, tail colour, etc) between some of the foxes but I can't easily relate them to the individuals I recognise when watching through the window.

On the same night a new buck arrived, younger than the previous two and only just growing his first set of antlers.  He was very wary and stood for a long time looking towards the house before coming in.  He stayed for only 25 minutes, mostly feeding not far inside the gate.

Last night there were three deer.  The mature buck was here and it is notable how much his antlers have grown in a couple of weeks.  He was followed in by two does who both posed for a photo.

One thing I have been concerned about is the risk of rabbits getting in.  There is a rabbit fence all around so the garden is secure when the gate is closed.  Twenty years or more ago therewere hundreds of rabbits on the golf course but now there are very few.  I was dismayed to see this one come in but not leave.

But two nights later it sneaked out between foxes, having decided there was nothing to eat (and rather too many foxes around for comfort).