News from WeaselCam

First a first.  Ever since a stoat appeared in September (but didn't go into the camera box) I have had two boxes in action all the time in the garden, with wider entrance pipes than before.  And at last a visit from a stoat - larger and more strongly-built than a weasel and with a longer, black-tipped tail.  It was only brief so I have added a slow-motion replay which makes it look even more powerful.  Note the straight border between the brown and white fur (it's a wiggly line in a weasel).

After the flurry of weasel activity in the camera box in August things quietened down a bit with nine recordings in September and four in October.  Since then it has picked up again with a weasel visit to at least one box roughly two days in every three in November and almost every day this month.  Judging by the fur patterns under the chin and the size of the weasels I think there is more than one visiting.  The first one below, in the same box as the stoat above, is longer, and probably a male, while the second is smaller and presumably female.  The colour variation is due to the camera which reacts a bit unpredictably to varying light levels and isn't easy to correct.

The weasel I am seeing most often is the larger of the two above.  He (I presume it is a male) has a distinctive under-chin mark and is different from the three individuals that appeared in August.

The weasels are confidant and inquisitive in the boxes and often have a quick look round, sometimes round behind the camera.  They are very often scent-marking as well so I expect the boxess smell of weasel, not that I can smell it.  This probably attracts other weasels but seems to be discouraging smaller mammals - the cameras now rarely see shrews, mice and voles in the daytime, only at night when the weasels are asleep (they hope).  Incidentally I have only once seen a weasel in the box after dark, with now dozens of daytime recordings.

One very windy day a lot of dead leaves blew into the box.  The weasel(s) made several visits but didn't find anything hiding.

Last week a weasel turned up with prey.  It dashed through the box in a blur twice.  There was five second gap, which I have edited out, and I added a 1/10th speed replay.  It isn't easy to see what it is carrying but whatever it is has an impressive tail.  I think it is probably a baby rat.

At the beginning of the month we had snow and I found weasel tracks in the garden - the first time I have ever seen them.  The snow was about two inches deep, so quite deep for a weasel.  As it bounds its back feet land exactly where its front feet were.

The weasel came into the box during the snow but didn't stop and was still busy hunting.  Having checked round the box they very often run back straight through like this, sometimes more than once.

News from OtterCam

After several months with not much happening, suddenly there is exciting news from OtterCam. The first evidence of new cubs was about three weeks ago, with a glimpse of two tails and a tell-tale squeak from a cub.  A week later a clear, if brief, sight of the mother otter with two small cubs.  At this young age they keep very close to her.

These cubs are small.  The previous cubs were last seen with their mother on 03 May, on which night she was seriously courting the dog otter.  Assuming she mated around then, the new cubs will have been born in early July.  They turned up on the cameras again last weekend in the snow at perhaps 22 weeks of age.  This time the family came up the bank twice, towards three cameras although the bottom camera missed the second visit.

The dog otter also went by in the snow, having a little slide down the slope.  You can see how he isn't sure about the ice and tests it before deciding it won't bear his weight.  He then dives through a hole in the ice made by an otter, perhaps him as well, about an hour before.

And on the most recent episode he caught and ate a fish.  Luckily he had just gone down into the water so the camera was already recording.  He must have caught it immediately and it didn't take him long to polish it off.

The new cubs are the sixth set I have seen on the cameras since I started following my local otters in February 2019.  I'll post more photos and videos as these cubs grow over the next few months.

BadgerCam in Ardnamurchan

This is probably the last set of images from my trip to Ardnamurchan a few weeks ago.  The trail cameras and food put out for the pine martens mostly attracted badgers.  The white flash Wingscapes camera did better with the badgers than it had with pine martens, probably mainly because the badgers didn't move around as much.

Each night the badgers stayed until all the peanuts and raisins had gone so I ended up with dozens of videos of badgers eating, all pretty much the same.  They don't have great table manners and are very noisy eaters as you can hear on this video.  The occasional flickering is caused by a second camera to the right switching off and back on.

The badgers also took a liking to the peanut butter and strawberry jam I put on a stick to encourage the pine martens to climb.  The badgers are less agile but taller and can reach without climbing.

PineMartenCam

You won't be surprised that as well as my cameras I took a few trail cameras to Ardnamurchan last month.  Although the pine martens were extremely co-operative with normal photography I wanted some video away from the feeding station.  I set up nearby and put out some food (raisins and peanuts) to keep them interested.  Notice how the marten scent-marks the rock as it leaves, something all mustelids do frequently.

I also tried my old Wingscapes Birdcam 2.0 which takes white flash (colour) stills rather than videos at night.  Two martens turned up but were rarely in a good position when the camera fired.

On the last three nights I also tried to get video of a pine marten climbing.  I took with me a stout curvy stick and baited it with strawberry jam and peanut butter.  The first night the stick wasn't high enough and the marten just leaned against it and didn't bother to climb.  The second night was better but I hadn't allowed quite enough room in the field of view for the marten at the top of the stick.

And on the last night there was a bad reflection from one of the other lights on the trail camera lens, plus a bit of spider's web in the way!  It is probably still worth a look as there is a good view of how the pine marten uses its claws.

For much of the time the marten had its back to the camera, whichever way round I had put the branch.  It was a learning process for me and if I return at some stage I shall have plenty of ideas on how to improve the videos.

Badger portraits

My main aim on my trip to Ardnamurchan last month was to see pine martens but their fellow mustelids, badgers, also omnivores and attracted to free food, put in an appearance most evenings.  Although it was wonderful to see them, badgers aren't very exciting to watch as they are nose down in the food most of the time.  Fortunately they did occasionally look up to give me a chance of a photo.

Fox News

Ever since the blonde vixen was killed 10 weeks ago I have only seen the dog fox in the garden. One cub was here a couple of times but the father didn't seem welcoming and it hasn't been here since.

Then last night some good news.  I was watching the dog eating his dinner,

when he was suddenly aware of something off to his left - on the golf course - and he broke off to watch.

Another fox appeared in the background but I didn't have the right lens to get them both in view at the same time at first.  The new fox was hesitant but eventually it approached.  The dog wasn't welcoming but tolerated the approach (the newcomer is on the left here).

Here the dog is body-blocking and his arched back and curled tail say keep off.

I think the second fox must be his new mate but he wasn't being very gentlemanly.  Here she is on the right.

I hadn't put out much food because I have been seeing only one fox and he made sure he ate it all.  Eventually he left and she came up to check if there was anything left (there wasn't).

Here are the two of them - the dog on the left and the new fox on the right.  They are quite similar in appearance but he has a dark mark on his nose and she is darker around the eyes. She also appears to have darker eyes as well but I'll have to wait to see if that is a reliable distinguishing mark.  Not shown here but he has a large white tag on his tail while hers is smaller.

Tonight I'll put out a bit more food and spread it out a bit.  I'll be watching over the next few nights to see if she turns up regularly and how the two of them get on.

The egg thief

Pine martens are truly omnivorous.  My field guide lists their food as voles, mice, shrews, squirrels, rabbits, birds and their eggs, amphibians and insects.  It says they also eat honey, berries, nuts, fungi and carrion.  So almost anything.  I know from experience that they also like jam, peanut butter, peanuts, sultanas and raisins.  I planned to take quail eggs with me to Ardnamurchan but then I couldn't get hold of any.  I had thought hens eggs would be too big for them but not a bit of it.  Emma put out one egg each night as well as all the other food and the egg was the first thing to disappear.  The first marten on the scene would take it, either to hide or to eat under cover, before returning for the other food.  It took me many attempts to get pictures because they are so quick but on the last night this one was a bit slower and came towards me so I managed these few photos.