I made a Red Squirrel feeder (may also double as a Pine Marten lure, the mammal that lives all around us but I've never seen). The Red Squirrels that come in to our garden every morning don't like my feeder much. Skip along the back wall, past the feeder, shin up the Wych Hazel, decide they don't like Nyjer seed having had a peek at that feeder. Down the Wych Hazel, past the squirrel feeder, rummage around in the grass.
It's all a bit disappointing....
The addition of the camera trap, some jam sandwiches (at night only, apparently Pine Martens love them) and some bits of carrot and sweetcorn might help, anyway the birds enjoy the peanuts etc.
Moth lights are out, despite the rain. It's not supposed to be raining, just as earlier it was supposed to be raining and wasn't, but forecasting here will be confused by the hills for sure. (This was written some days ago, subsequently Storm Bram has provided some entertainment water-wise.)
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| Winter Moth, this one on the kitchen window but there were five around the synergetic trap. |
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| Spruce Carpet |
There were also two crane flies, a Tipula rufina and, new for the garden Trichocera major, with a wing length of 8.5mm out of the range of the other species in this genus, and the cerci shape looks good too.
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| Trichocera major |
I've been working on compiling the species list for the community woodland. https://www.cultybraggancamp.uk/community-woodland The site is 18 hectares and was MoD land, connected to the Cultybraggan prisoner of war camp. Once the MoD pulled out, but still owned the land, it was apparently used as rough grazing for sheep for many years with little or no use of chemicals. The site is a north facing bank near the lower end of Glen Artney, it sits above the Ruchill, a river that due to the lack of trees, through over-grazing and land management for "sporting" purposes can turn into a dangerous torrent in just a few moments.
Anyway, prior to my turning up here there had been no great efforts to find out that much about the wild species present, except for birds which have been monitored and more obvious and larger insects like butterflies. A few botanical visits had discovered butterfly orchid, fragrant orchid and various Dactylhoriza species, without getting fully accurate determinations to species. Quite a few common plants had been identified though and a few less obvious insects had been photographed and identified. There is a sightings board, and I still need to obtain the lists from that board. Anyway to cut a long story somewhat short, with compiling other folks' sightings and with my own moseying about I've now got the list to 442 species. (This link might get you there... https://panspecieslisting.com/my-lists.html ) - initial target 1,000 species for the site. Currently the list doesn't include Pine Marten, which I know has occurred but I've not seen a record, Short-tailed Field Vole and Slow Worm likewise.
Here are the photos of one of the fallen but still alive Goat Willow Salix caprea on the site, photos I meant to put in the previous post.
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| Goat Willow Salix caprea - I bet a litter sample here would reveal a few interesting things... |
Next year's project is to get to grips properly with the botany of the site. And run light traps more often. I'm making a start this winter working on bryophytes and lichens. In the last week or so I've added a few of these.
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| I've identified this as Cephalozia bicuspidata, but I might need to review that ID, I'm not entirely convinced I've got this correctly. |
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| I'm a more convinced by this, Lophocolia bidentata, another liverwort. |
It's a slow job finding these, often hidden in samples of moss and only revealed once under the microscope, and then identifying them. For a group of only 72 species liverworts are pretty tricky. I'm also working on mosses, rather a lot more species.... AI is no help with bryophytes I find, however, it is much more helpful with lichens.
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| Hypnogymium physodes |
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| Phlyctis argena |
However, these Cladonia species required a more traditional approach. I'm fairly happy with these identifications.
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| Cladonia coniocraea I think |
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| Cladonia fibriata |
Hopefully someone will put me right if I've got any of these incorrectly.
I'm being encouraged, and thinking I might enroll on a BSBI course next year to develop my botanical skills. I think it would help me improve my rather lacklustre skills. I used the BSBI botanical skills ladder and place myself on just their second step, oh dear! Improvement required I think.
4 comments:
I have no experience of feeding Red Squirrels, but do you think that they would rather access the feeder by climbing vertically down to it (and escaping up away from it)? It's a lovely fence post, really it is, but maybe not as tree-y as a squizzel would prefer. Fantastic news of the woodland site, well done!
Graeme, I have indirect contact with a Red Squirrel expert, through a friend, I will run this past him when we meet. I think they take a while to aclimatise to new feeders, and they can be a bit contrary. I do think they can reach this easily enough, but you may well be correct. However, I want to be able to monitor the feeder directly, as well as via the camera, it is in view from the kitchen on that post. When all this rain goes away jamsandwiches will be deployed!!
Hi Al, When on holiday I can soon get Pine Martens to feed. I shy away from too much jam and bread as its not good for them but a little is ok. I make a meusli of peanuts, sunflower hearts, small cat biscuits/food, chopped apples and grapes drizzled with some watered down jam and honey . You could add a bit of boiled egg if meat too if needed.. The small bits means they cant just snatch a gobful and run off. I find them not too afraid of people either as long as you are behind a window they come within inches! To start with every night at dusk put out only a few scraps of food, a table spoon or two and if it vanishes over night, continue each night at the same time. They are like clockwork once they know the routine.
The comment above about Red Squirrels might prefer to climb down onto a feeder is not 100%. When they were common here, they happily jump up to feeders like yours beside windows.
Stewart, many thanks for the Pine Marten advice, I will try that programme. Or at least I will when the rain stops. If I put it inside the "squirrel" feeder, it should avoid getting washed away. Pine Marten are quite common here, just darned elusive. Neighbours have had them running around on their veranda, and as you suggest not being too nervous. We are just outside the woods, so I think they will need something smelly and tasty to tempt them into our garden.
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