With the warmer weather and light nights, we look at the activity at the wildlife hide over the past couple of weeks. It’s not always just about the mammals seen round the hide, as previously mentioned there has been lot of bird activity as breeding continues.
Swallow
With the first week being very mild and sunny, the evenings were alive with fresh midges and flies around the abundance of trees surrounding the area. This meant that passerines such as Swifts, House Martins and Swallows enjoyed swooping overhead for an evening feast. These Swallows had been active for hours, so a much-needed rest on the shed roof was needed. As the sun fell behind the hills and it became darker, Snipe and Woodcock were heard roding over the trees and in the nearby marsh. Behind the car parking in the dense woodland, a Tawny Owl chick was squawking for its parents.
Woodcock (Jane Hope)
As the work to complete aspects of the hide was put on hold, our new improved outdoor lighting has now been completed so that through the darker months we can continue to enjoy the wildlife. Although hard to try them out now with it only getting dark after 11 pm, they are working well. We should also be able to show you the completed feeding area on our next update.
Badger cub exploring
The most exciting news is that we had our first Badger cub arrive one evening with the fully grown male. We can already identify that it is a male and with its bouncy behaviour, size and coat confirm it was young. It was staying close to Dad but happily explored its new surroundings, enjoying the treats put out for it. Its tail is skinny with little fur and is alright quite big, growing to its adult size by the autumn. With wet weather over the weekend, it made it harder to identify but from our cameras, we think there may be at least another cub too.
For further updates on our cubs and the wildlife hide, follow our Speyside Wildlife blog and follow us on social media.