Last month's blog posting featured mammals that have visited our garden but I don't want you to think that they were the only mammals I have ever seen. I have photographed and filmed many other mammals in the UK over the last few years, so I thought that I'd share some of these with you.
Here are just some of the mammals not in our garden, starting with a common garden visitor for some people, the Red Fox., which I have seen in both an urban context and in a rural context.
Firstly here is a short video of a Fox visiting the caravan park at Crystal Palace near London back in 2018:
This would probably be considered as an urban Fox, the next one however was in a field adjacent to a holiday home we had rented in Somerset in 2015, it was definitely a more rural Fox:
I have seen foxes in our housing estate, but to the best of my knowledge they just haven't ventured in to our garden.
Next up Squirrels, now you know that we have had Grey Squirrels visiting our garden, but not proper Squirrels. I am of course referring to the much cuter and definitely more native Red Squirrel. Here is a photo of such a creature that I took in the woods near Carrbridge way back in 2006:
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| Red Squirrel in Glencharnoch Woods, Carrbridge |
They are quite hard to capture with a camera as they don't sit still for very long, except if the are visiting a feeder. I have seen Red Squirrel in many places ranging from Speyside down to Formby in Lancashire and have managed to catch one or two on video:
Here is one visiting the feeder at Anagach Woods near Grantown on Spey:
And here is one filmed using my trail camera, taken when we were staying at Tarland Caravan Park in Aberdeenshire (yes it is also at a feeder):
Very cute all the same.
Let's move on to somewhat bigger mammals now...................Deer........................ there are several species of deer you might see in the UK but ignoring the more exotic species such as Sika, Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer (mainly because I haven't seen them) I want to concentrate on the three most common species.
Let's start with the most common in our area, the Roe Deer. I see these smallish deer quite regularly, particularly in the fields and woodland edges at the back of Edinburgh Airport. Here are some Roe Deer hinds sharing a field with some Greylag Geese near to the Pepper Wood:
I filmed this sturdy Roe Deer buck in another field nearby, just off the old railway track:
I have been fortunate to see Roe Deer on many occasions over the years, each time it has been a pleasure and reassures me that wildlife will find a way to survive.
Slightly more tricky is a deer that is much less common in Scotland, I am referring to the Fallow Deer of course. Back in 2015 we were on holiday in London for a few days and took a trip to the place you are almost guaranteed to see Fallow Deer, Richmond Park, we weren't disappointed:
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| Fallow Deer in Richmond Park |
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| White Hart Grazing |
Back in Scotland we do have a large deer that is slightly easier to see, provided you go to the right places, and have your camera at the ready:
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| Red Deer in the Snow near Aberfeldy |
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| Red Deer Stags in Winter |
You don't always have to go up to hills in the middle of Winter to see these magnificent beasts, sometimes you can get a 10 pointer stag at the side of a layby on the A82 (if you know what layby to go too that is!)
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| Red Deer Stag at Loch Tulla Viewpoint |
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| A Magnificent Ten Pointer |
The next mammal is a bit of an embarrassment to me, mainly because I haven't made the effort to go and see them in the wild, even when I know where they can be found. I am talking about the beast that is known as the Badger. I have been reluctant to go to known Badger sites and sit in the dark woods being eaten by midges for hours in the hope that I might get a glimpse of one.
I have seen semi-wild Badgers in Somerset may years ago, they had been provided with a home (a man-made sett) but otherwise could go out into the wilds to forage at night. Does that count?
The nearest I have come across them in my local patch is some Badger footprints in the mud at Pepper Wood:
You can tell they are Badger prints and not a dog as they are wide and have five distinct toes each with long claws.
Moving swiftly on, another mammal I have seen on several occasions and in various places throughout the country (including Avalon Marshes in Somerset and Loch Duich in Kintail) is the Otter.
I however have failed miserably to capture a decent image of the Otters during these wildlife sightings and have to resort to showing you captive Asian Small-clawed Otters I filmed at the London Wetland Centre:
A poor substitute for a sighting of a wild Otter, but entertaining non-the-less.
I do however have plenty of photographs of wild Rabbits, but I won't bore you with that and instead will show you a video of a wild Brown Hare:
Once again my 'go-to' place to see Brown Hares round here is the fields at the back of Edinburgh Airport. I have yet to get a proper view of Mountain Hare but not around here I am afraid, I did however see Irish Hare on Mull back in 2013. I know that Mull isn't in Ireland, but it does have a population of Irish Hares!
What about the marine mammals I hear you say!
Well, I have seen Dolphins and Porpoises in the Forth Estuary, I have witnessed the Dolphins at Chanonry Point fishing for salmon in the Moray Firth, but as usual I didn't catch them on film. I did however manage to capture a (not great) video of some Dolphins swimming in the bay at Stonehaven:
Back in 2014 whilst visiting Tentsmuir I spent about an hour watching dozens of Atlantic Grey Seals hauled out on a sandbank which was gradually disappearing on an incoming tide:
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| Grey Seals on Sandbank near Tentsmuir |
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| Sandbank disappearing under incoming tide |
This little video captures the Seals' reluctance to leave the sandbank until the very last minute:
That is about the sum total of my marine mammal photos and videos.
With regards to my land mammals (excluding humans) all I have left is a few fuzzy photos of Field Voles and Bunny Rabbits...................... Oh! unless of course you want to see my favourite video?
Pine Martens at Cruachan, you beauties!
They say to be a good wildlife watcher you have to be at the right place at the right time. I would also add that you need to also have your camera ready if you want to share it with others.
I guess I will need to go looking for Badgers now.
Take care everybody
cheers
Teddyedward
