Friday, 16 April 2021

Evening visit to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas – 16th April 2021

Date: 16th April 2021

Time: from 8 p.m.

Weather: dry, sunny, dark, 7°C

On my recent visits during the day to the site, I have noticed that the spoil heap outside one of the Badger sett entrance/exit holes has shown up tracks. It is evidently an active area for potentially seeing Badgers but a different location from that which I watched on a regular basis last summer.

Therefore, for the first time this year, I took some dog food, dog biscuits and peanuts in the hope of attracting the attention of a Badger with its remarkable sense of smell. Unfortunately it didn't work!

I accessed the site via the track by Larkins Tyres and whilst it was still light I saw a Red Fox in the area of scrub and bushes immediately next to it. It spotted me and we both watched each other for a couple of minutes before boredom set in (the Red Fox, not me) and it wandered off.

As I walked up towards and through the cemetery, the sound of a “barking” Reeves’ Muntjac became louder and louder and was evidently coming from the area of bushes and trees at the extreme western end of the cemetery. It was soon joined by another “barking” Reeves’ Muntjac and both animals continued to “bark” either to or at one another for some 30 minutes until it was almost dark.

On reaching the sett entrance, I baited it with the dog food, dog biscuits and peanuts. Within 15 minutes of sitting, watching and waiting, a Red Fox appeared out of the darkness and clearly caught the smell of the dog food. However, it must have either seen or heard me and as it panicked and ran off.

A further hour of waiting for the emergence of a Badger proved to be unsuccessful so it was my third successive visit this year where I failed and it remains an elusive species still waiting to be added to my site list for the year.

This watching location is also proving to be problematic compared to last year’s location since it falls in to almost complete darkness whereas my location last year had the very slight illumination of street lights. I am therefore looking in to buying some night vision optics although I am not sure the expense can be justified unless the Badgers do the decent thing and put in an appearance!

With regard to birds, a short evening chorus prior to full darkness falling comprised the usual expected species: RobinBlackbird and Song Thrush.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Red Fox
Reeves’ Muntjac

Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush

Site totals to date (2021 totals in brackets):

Birds = 52  (38)
Mammals = 6  (4)
Butterflies = 21  (4)
Dragonflies and damselflies = 7  (0)
Reptiles = 1  (0)
Amphibians = 0  (0)

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature



No comments:

Post a Comment

If you feel like commenting on my blog, you can contact me by completing the comment form below. I will respond to all comments and enquiries and constructive criticism will always be welcomed.