Here are some video clips snapped by the trailcam over the last few months.
- Roe deer, February
- Muntjac, April
- Fallow deer, May
- Badger, May
- Muntjac mother and fawn, May
(Hint: click outside the popup window to close it. If you want to watch it in full screen, click “YouTube” at bottom right to go to YouTube itself. )
Some months ago I startled a roe deer that briefly dashed away but it then stopped, turned and just stared at me. Fortunately I had my camera…
Thank you!
Then last week I heard what from a distance sounded like a dog barking and recorded it on my phone:
but when I got closer realised it was also a roe deer, hidden somewhere in the undergrowth.
Our bird recorders (we now have two) have confirmed the return of Garden Warblers and Spotted Flycatcher(s) to the wood. The Spotted Flycatcher is not a rare bird, but neither is it particularly common; iNaturalist has only a handful recorded for the Midlands in the past year, so it’s a good “spot” for Oakley Wood.
AI detection (mentioned in the previous post) is pretty clear on many species, but unexpected ones need to be looked at closely. These are some example of strange detections and what they really were when listened to:
- Lapwing (Song Thrush or Nuthatch)
- Oystercatcher (Song Thrush)
- Bluethroat (Robin)
- Golden Plover (Song Thrush)
- Cuckoo (dog barking!)
The Song Thrush has a very varied repertoire and does cause the AI detection problems.
Garden Warblers, Spotted Flycatchers and Chiffchaffs are summer visitors from Africa, and the recorders can tell us (when we have enough data) when they arrive and leave. Chiffchaffs are common in the wood and particularly noticeable with their constant “chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff” song. They are one of the first visitors to arrive, in late March or early April, one moment they are absent and the next, everywhere!
Placing the recorders in different locations is beginning to show that bird species are not distributed evenly throughout the wood. This is probably to be expected, but whether this is due to obvious differences like predominantly coniferous or predominantly deciduous, or whether there are more subtle factors only time will tell. Stay tuned.