Nightcam - Friday: Woodmice & Red Fox

I'm really pleased with the results of last night's Trailcam footage. I set up the Trailcam in Squirrel Copse alongside the Western Yar Estuary. Before leaving I constructed a little clearing amongst the trees with a small deadwood 'fence' in the background (as much as anything else to screen the leaves of the Stinking Iris which were blowing in the strong wind with the risk of setting off the Trailcam!). On the left-hand-side I built a small woodpile, filling the gaps with soil and leaflitter. The idea of this was to form a bit of extra habitat with a view to encouraging Mice & Voles and, ultimately, Stoats and Weasels. Well, the copse didn't look to me to have too much wildlife interest apart from the Red Squirrels, so I was amazed to find I had 180 separate clips of 30 seconds each, nearly all of them featuring these:


Woodmice! They began arriving just after 9.30pm, and were around almost constantly between then and 4.45pm, the last clip that the Trailcam picked up, apart from a foraging Song Thrush at 7.46am! I was really pleased to see that the Woodmice obviously took to the woodpile and, on a number of clips, were going into it and out of it! They spent most of the night bouncing around - it's no wonder they're asleep during the day! How many can you count in the brief bit of footage above from 3.46am? I reckon there's at least 6!!


The only time the Woodmice were absent - understandably - was when this character turned up - the local Red Fox! He arrived just before 11.30pm and stayed for three quarters of an hour or so, hoovering up the peanuts I had sprinkled around. If you listen carefully you can hear him sneeze in the first clip. He then makes his way onto the top of my woodpile and, a little while later, begins pulling it apart! I'm sure he's looking at the camera really sheepishly as the clip ends! He did reappear briefly at 2.30am.

So, my second night with the Trailcam and another result! It's out in another totally different place this evening....if my plan works, I should have some interesting footage tomorrow. But, even if not, I'm really hooked! :-)