What a fantastic afternoon! Although I was due to go on a romantic bike ride with Carole, I love her so much for encouraging me to go to College Lake in Bucks to try to see the polecat kits that have been reported in recent days.
I arrived at 2.15pm, a single kit having been seen about half an hour previously. There were 8 of us waiting in the little woodland hide with its pond right in front of the windows at waist height. It was a long wait, but well worth it as, just after 4pm, 3 kits arrived and, for the next ¾ hour, we had great views of them, on & off, drinking and exploring the area in front of the hide. At one point, one even ran across the area directly in front of the hide…about a foot from my nose!!
Wonderful! I love the mustelid family and I’ve now seen badger, otter, stoat, weasel, mink, pine marten and polecat (and beech marten in France)….just need a feral ferret for the set!!
The photos I took this afternoon were useless, but I managed some video which I’ll try to upload soon.
And here's a photo from Beds birder and wildlife enthusiast, Steve Blain, who visited College Lake on Sunday and who's given me permission to include it here. He's not pleased with it....but look how good it is compared with mine!!
Great post and great pictures - thanks for sharing. I had no idea until recently that we had polecats this far east.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to following your wildlife adventures!