Hello everyone! This week I’m writing about setting trail cameras up at Eskrigg nature reserve in Lockerbie. Our wildlife sightings this week included two barn owls and a fox all in one night which was very exciting! First of all, I just want to remind everyone of the Australian bushfire crisis that is going on. There are various ways to help such as donating to charities and organisations. This article has a list of places to donate to help support firefighters, wildlife rehabilitation services and the people who have been affected. https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/bushfire-relief-how-you-can-help-those-in-need/news-story/a0476ac3538b8c373f281ea6be204421 If you are unable to donate, there are other things you can do. This crisis was caused by climate change, so changing your lifestyle a small amount can reduce your impact on the planet. Things such as eating less dairy and meat, especially beef, try to reduce the amount of times you fly, walk or cycle more often rather than drive, recycle and spread the word about climate change and the effects it is having on the planet! Even doing one of these things is a step in the right direction! Take a look at my various other posts about climate change if you haven't already. Now onto the camera traps. It was a few months ago now that Yasmin and I decided that we would like to set up some trail cameras up in one of our favourite nature reserves - Eskrigg in Lockerbie, just over the border into Scotland. I contacted Jim, who takes care of the reserve to ask him if we could set them up and if he could tell us any places where we might get some good footage of wildlife. I borrowed some trail cameras from uni and went up to Eskrigg to set them up. Initially we took two cameras to set up. We met with Jim and he talked to us about what we might see on our cameras and where he had seen various wildlife recently. We were mainly expecting to see red squirrels on our cameras as Eskrigg is a good reserve to go and see red squirrels. We placed one camera in a large branch pile, as Yasmin and I had seen a weasel go into the branches there before. Then we walked around the reserve and found what we thought was a mammal path (which is a trail that is used by different animals) a little way off the path and into the forest. About a week later we collected the cameras and I eagerly searched through the footage on my laptop. Camera 1 set up in the branch pile gave us a lot of footage of mice, a bank vole, a couple of red squirrels and a lot of birds - one particularly inquisitive great tit which was quite a funny watch! Camera 2 again caught footage of a few red squirrels and some mice, but most excitingly also got the tail of a roe deer, a hare and a tawny owl hooting! I think that the camera that recorder the owl hooting must have been set off by a spider or something - as they begin to record when they sense movement. Because of the success, I contacted Jim again and we met up with him to show him the footage and to set up more trail cameras. This time we set up three cameras. The first two cameras, we put in the same places as before because of the success last time and the third, we put in a clearing deeper into the forest. It’s very important to remember where you left them by taking photos of the surroundings and using GPS coordinates so that you don’t lose your cameras! Again, we left them for about a week and then returned to collect them. Camera 1 in the branch pile collected a lot of footage of birds again and mice during the night too. Camera 3 also didn’t manage to get anything except for mice running around on the forest floor. However, camera 2 didn’t fail to disappoint - again! We got a lot of mice on camera, a red squirrel, a rabbit kit, 3 hares on one clip as well as another following in a clip a couple of minutes later, another hare on a different day and a red fox! I couldn’t believe how successful this camera had been. We definitely had found a mammal path in use - especially by hares! Both times we had set cameras up we tied them to trees about a foot or two off the ground which proved to be quite successful in capturing footage. I’m going to attach some of the videos below. It really was exciting to get a glimpse of what goes on in the forest when we aren’t there! Even putting camera traps out in your garden might get some exciting footage. Remember if you are putting them up on nature reserves to ask the permission of whoever manages the reserve - it’s all thanks to Jim that we were able to get this amazing footage. Thank you for reading, let me know if you decide to put any camera traps up and if you discover anything!
3 Comments
Sarah
1/27/2020 06:56:06 am
Fantastic footage here, Xanthe. I enjoyed reading about the barn and tawny owls. It's so rare to either see or hear them where we are! Keep up the good work!
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Carol
1/27/2020 02:22:17 pm
Always exciting to see wildlife in its natural habitat. Thank you for sharing this.
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John
1/28/2020 12:23:42 pm
This footage is really exciting! You obviously chose good locations for the cameras. What's your next challenge going to be? I like your messages about climate change - you're right that we all have to just take small steps that we can incorporate into our lives.
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