First, a composite trailcam video of recent deer footage, with:
- Muntjac doe and fawn
- Fine muntjac buck, and showing Oakley Wood at its best
- Nighttime visit of two fallow does with male suitor
- Particularly splendid-looking roe doe and buck
Birds
Our bird sound recorders are continuing to give us information about birds in the wood. Much of this confirms what we already know about the species that are present, but also provides information about where and how many, and alerts us to the possibility of overlooked species.
But can we trust the AI analysis of the recordings? Odd false positives (incorrect identifications) are easy to dismiss, such as those in completely the wrong environment, such as water birds (waders, ducks, etc). Others are not so easy.
Firecrests are found in the same sort of habitat as Goldcrests and we have lots of those in Oakley Wood. The recorders register Firecrest detections regularly in low numbers and these correlate with the places in the wood that Goldcrests are also found, and importantly not where Goldcrests are absent, so I think it’s possible that they are present.
The Short-toed Treecreeper is a species of Treecreeper (the latter commonly found in Oakley Wood) that is almost entirely absent from the UK. We record small numbers of detections for the Short-toed Treecreeper which certainly in some cases are Coal Tits that have been wrongly identified. But if they were all mis-identifications, you’d expect Short-toedTreecreepers not to be detected where Coal Tits are absent, and this is not the case.
Both of these are worth further investigation, and we will discuss this with our WKWT Reserves Officer and ex-RSPB warden, Nick Martin.
Butterflies
Because of the warm dry weather this year it’s an excellent time for butterflies. In some previous years I’ve walked around the wood and could count on the fingers of one hand the butterflies I saw. This year – what a difference! Butterflies are everywhere. A recent walk turned up: Red Admirals, Peacocks, small orange butterflies (probably Gatekeepers), Brimstone, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Comma, more whites (Large, Small, Green-veined) than you could shake a stick at, and last but absolutely not least, the beautiful Silver-washed Fritillary. Oakley Wood was known as a place you could see this butterfly but I’ve not seen one for a number of years, so welcome back!
And finally…
There was a comment submitted just recently by someone complaining about the smell of dog poo. I suspect that the culprit was actually the aptly named , or the Stinkhorn mushroom. It’s quite common around this time of the year, and you certainly catch unpleasant whiffs of them as you walk around the paths.
