Bel's Wood

The beck is always a good place to pick up wldlife activity on camera and w ith 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 s...

With so much tall grass and bracken triggering the cameras I have been placing them up trees recently to see what is happening in the canopy. I have picked up a good selection of secret goings on over the last month or two including some lovely Woodpecker, Jay and Owl activity. The downside of watching the activity in branches is the number of grey squirrels running up and down. It looks like the numbers are up this year and I am talking to neighbours about managing the numbers as the South Lakes grey population migrate north and threaten one of the last remaining populations of Red Squirrels. They will also pose a threat to the newly planted trees as they become more established as they will be vulnerable to damage to the bark. The ratio on the cameras is about 80% squirrel to 20% something else. Here I am including the ‘something else’.  NB the temperature reported on this camera has always been out by about 8ºc! One of the most common birds I see and hear at the wood is the blue...