Wildlife Activity in the Beck


The beck is always a good place to pick up wldlife activity on camera and with a long dry spell and so no longer flowing it has been even more fruitful. I have put a ‘leaky dam’ in place to hold up the water when the flow stops and this attracts wildlife. This has been followed by a great deal of rainfall and the wildlife have enjoyed washing in the dappled sun. Here is my top selection of stills and videos. 



I love to see the Otter passing through which they do at this time of year. Once again this coincides with froglets appearing. I am frustrated that the otter is always running away from the camera! I shall persevere and will post a face to face one if I get it!


Otters travel large distances and this one will go between Morecambe Bay, the River Gilpin and this beck alongside many others searching for food.



Back in March I picked up tihs Grey Wagtail which is a first for the wood


My most common footage is currently the Sparrowhawk 

Drinking

Washing


Mating

I nearly always see buzzards circling over the wood, sometimes really high and sometimes low and hunting. I have never seen one on the ground at the wood before and I assume this was due to the lack of water elsewhere.

Buzzard Drinking

I hear Jays a lot at the wood but don’t see them very often. This is a lovely piece of footage with the Jay posing for the camera showing off its plumage.
Jay Drinking

I hear and see Woodpidgeons all the time. I have included this footage as it shows their camouflage in the sunshine so well.

Woodpidgeon drinking


Magpies are of course common too. This footage has caught 3 briefly and the one on the right is a juvenlie.




I pick up other mammals too. Here is footage of a badger and a stoat. I have not included (grey) squirrels or the many mice who scuttle around really fast in the dark!


Stoat rscing through - still below to help pick him out




The fnal piece of footage is a favourtie of mine with a young fox setting out on an adventure with its Mum or Dad but finding the beck too intimidating and turning back. This works best with the sound on.















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Image
In that wonderful spell of sunny weather we had in April 2025, I decided to once again sleep out at Bel’s Wood in my hammock. I have got out of the habit of sleeping up there and also my tarp got ripped in a storm last year so I needed to do some prep.  After a few practices with my much larger tarp which I had bought as a rain shelter and replacing some tent pegs I chose a date. A couple of friends joined me for supper around the fire which was a lovely  way of starting my mini adventure! I kept warm in front of the fire as it went dark and the temperature began to drop.  The bird life quietened down for the night with just a few owl squarks and barks from the foxes in the background. The sky was clear of cloud but full of moisture with poor ‘seeing’ for star gazing. With a bright  moon only the large constellations and planets were visible. I walked around in the evening by moonlight, no torch required. Moon above the dying camp fire Orion looking large and stan...
Read more

Trees 'Getting Away!'

Image
I first heard the term ‘when the trees get away’ a few years ago and didn’t really know what it meant. It was the answer to questions such as 'how long do tree guards stay in place?', 'how many years will I need to manage the bracken?' and 'how long to leave the deer fence in place’. Although I knew it meant in some way when the trees were established; all of a sudden I know what it means. I have been gathering footage of trees over the summer and here are a selection to show what is now a new woodland. Scots Pines planted in January 2024 growing up fast August 2025  Hard to get the scale  As conifers these are slow growing but have made great progress over the summer. Some are now really sturdy with branches. Others haven't quite got away and I laid new mulch mats on some of them and that seems to have helped. Their shape means they won't shade out bracken for a while yet. There are Downy Birch planted alongside them and will handle the bracken for the Scot...
Read more