'Jack' in a box!

Another month, another dormouse box check at Coed Pendugwm Nature Reserve. This time no live mice of any kind, although there were plenty of their signs (nests and caches). However, three mammal species were seen; two Rabbits were seen on arrival and I startled a Fox not far from the car park, but the best was definitely saved 'til last!

When I opened the penultimate box, there was a stir of movement. I expected a Wood or Yellow-necked Mouse, but when I opened the box, a Weasel shot out in to the bag!! It was not at all happy, whizzing round and round and making a rather disturbing screech at intervals. Consequently, my attempts to photograph it, were rather fruitless and all I managed was this:

If you want to see what a Weasel actually looks like, head here: http://mammal.org.uk/species-factsheets/Weasel

Moth & bat night, Llyn Coed y Dinas

Last night was Moth & bat night at Llyn Coed y Dinas, a collaborative event run by Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust & Montgomeryshire Moth Group. I was there to record and interpret the bats.

Couldn't have asked for better weather; warm enough without a coat even at 1:30am, dry and quite clear, but a slight breeze largely keeping the midges at bay! 20 people turned out to discover the nocturnal creatures on this nature reserve. Despite it being an MWT reserve for over 20 years, moths and bats have not been surveyed before, so every record was likely to be new to the site.

Following introductions to moths by Peter Williams (County Moth Recorder) and bats by myself, we set off to look for some of the latter. As soon as we switched on the detectors, we heard Soprano Pipistrelle and indeed, these were the most numerous species recorded all night. In fact, they were the only bats we heard on the heterodyne detectors; they were EVERYWHERE!

Thankfully, I had also brought along the Trust's Anabat, installing it in a quiet part of the site, well away from the numerous moth traps and beside the lake. This also recorded lots of Sopranos, but there was a brief pass by Common Pipistrelle and several recordings of Daubenton's Bat. This brought the total bats recorded to three, covering all the species I had expected to easily detect on the site.

When I left about quarter to two, the moth-ers had reached a total of 74 species, but they weren't ready to pack up yet! You can find out more about their night on the Montgomeryshire Moth Group blog.

Mammaly summer's day!

It all started with a dead Mole this morning; poor thing had been caught by a cat, I suspect. Then I found a young House Mouse in the (live) trap in the shed. The trap was on top of the boiler, to avoid catching a rather 'trap happy' Bank Vole, so I was surprised to catch something so quickly.

Off to Coed Pendugwm to check the nest boxes. As well as the gorgeous female dormouse below, I found two Wood Mice and two Yellow-necked Mice (the latter, a male and female in the same box) and spotted a Rabbit warren and Fox scat. Sadly, still no footage of Otter on the trail camera.

My return to the village was heralded by a Grey Squirrel chastising me for frightening him off the road! On the way to Welshpool, sadly I saw a young a Badger flattened into the Tarmac.

Half way through my dinner, the door bell rang. It was a couple of kids from next door who had found a rather sick looking Hedgehog. I was happy to take him in, but sadly, I don't think he will make it through in the night.

A bat group meeting took me out to Montgomery. I'd taken a bat detector just in case and decided to stop in Berriew on the way back to see what activity there was around the canal. I'd barely been out one minute, when I heard the first, of what turned out to be many Soprano Pipistrelles foraging over the water in typical fashion. I also very briefly heard a big bat at 16kHz. It was probably a Noctule, but the frequency is a little low and the pass brief, so I couldn't be sure. Pulled in again just outside Castle Caereinion and here I heard a Common Pipistrelle.

The really spectacular bat sighting was over the main road (A458); as I joined the back of a queue behind a tractor, I noticed a big bat flying low over the car, keeping pace with us, at the approx 30mph we were doing! It wasn't alone; at least two, but more, I think, were either playing chicken or following a source of food.

Shortly after arriving home, I filled the Hedgehog feeder and topped up the saucer of water and had no sooner checked on the patient, then I was able to watch one enjoying the food!

A remarkable day of mammals, recording 13 different species in one day! Get spotting and see if you can beat me!

Swarm of pipistrelles!

Lovely evening for a stroll, last night, much as it is tonight. What a fantastic spectacle over the river...



As I leaned over the bridge parapet, my bat detectors burst into frenzied life. Impossible to count, a positive swarm of pipistrelle bats were swooping backwards and forwards, foraging for tiny insects. True to form, the majority of the bats were Soprano Pipistrelles, which usually feed in wetland habitats. I'm sure that if I'd waited a little longer, the pips would have been joined by that real water specialist, the Daubenton's Bat, but I'll leave that to another night.

If you live near a river, canal or large pond, do get out and enjoy the experience of these superb masters of the night air. Don't forget to send me your records!

Make your smartphone work for mammals

Since the launch of the Mammal Society's new Mammal Tracker app, my mammal recording output has drastically increased. I have recorded 62 mammals since May 13th, of 14 different species, as shown on the chart below:


The reason for this increase is the app's ease of use, allowing me to record mammals when I see them, rather than leaving it until later and then forgetting to do it or exactly where the mammal was.

If you have a smartphone or tablet running android or iOS, please do download this free app and get recording. It will not only help improve our local understanding of mammals, but also feed in to the National Mammal Atlas. To find out more, or download the app, please head here. Alternatively head to Google Play or the Apple AppStore and search for 'Mammal Tracker'.

I look forward to seeing your records!

Three dormice recorded at Cors Dyfi this week. More info here :

Cors Dyfi & Observatory

New app for your mammal recording

The Mammal Society have just launched a new smartphone/tablet app for mammal recording. Called Mammal Tracker, it is a free app, available on android or iOS.

It is easy to use and works with iRecord, so as a County Mammal Recorder, I can get access to your records, as well as making an important contribution to the National Mammal Atlas.

So, if you have an android or iOS device, why not give it a go and improve our knowledge of mammals in Montgomeryshire?!

Download from Google Play here or iTunes here.

2014 Living with Mammals survey commences

Today sees the start of the PTES 2014 Living with Mammals survey. I've been taking part in this nationwide survey of mammals in the built environment since it started in 2003. It's an easy one to take part in as you can give as little or as much time as you are able and it is designed to be done in your garden or other 'built' space. It is surveys like this one which tell us important information about how our mammals are doing; for example, this survey, along with Mammals on Roads, has helped highlight the continued decline of our Hedgehogs. Do take part if you can.

I popped out for five minutes tonight on returning from dog training class, to see what was about. I took my new Elekon Batscanner and I hadn't even stepped out the door and I heard a Soprano Pipistrelle. This was shortly followed by a Common Pipistrelle, so in less than a minute I could confidently say that I had at least 2 bats flying round the garden.

Living with Mammals does not require you to identify species of bat, so its great if you just see one or two flying around. However, if you do record any species, I would love to know.

Hedgehogs emerge from hibernation

Well, it has been mild, so it is perhaps not surprising that the Pontrobert Hedgehogs are once again frequenting our feeder. It's great to see them again!

Don't forget to report your Hedgehog sightings to me, dead or alive!

Cardiff Uni plea for volunteers

Cardiff University are hoping to recruit volunteers to help with otter spraint collections - can you help?

Background
During national surveys in the 80s and 90s in Wales, spraint from some catchments (including the Teifi, Tywi, Wye, Cleddau and Severn) was collected. Initial analysis of some of these samples indicates a marked drop in eel remains between the two decades, and a shift to other prey species.

Cardiff Uni would like to repeat spraint collection on all the catchments for which we have historic spraint collections to analyse prey remains and identify both the decrease in reliance on eels (and how this varies between catchments) and what other species are making up the deficit. For example, is this causing increased pressure on other vulnerable species like amphibians, or on resources such as stillwater fisheries?

Practicalities
The hope is to collect spraint this summer; there are details of exactly where spraint was collected in the past, so they want to repeat this as closely as possible.

Funding applications are currently being written to cover costs such as volunteer travel. It will help the funding bid to have a good list of collaborators, so if you think you might like to get involved, please let me know asap. Otherwise, watch this space for more details!

Otters

Probably the same otter family at Cors Dyfi over the last few days as in the image two blogs down. Almost certainly a mother with two kits.

Short video here