Where is everyone?

While I didn't expect to hit anything like the 26-species target within a few days, I've been surprised at quite how slowly we're getting there. Common species that we usually see (either the animals themselves, or clear fieldsigns) such as moles, rabbits and squirrels, have been curiously elusive to date. Do they know we're 'after' them somehow? Our village is crammed full of hedgehogs and I regularly chat with one neighbour over the road who had them mating in their garden just two days ago. Last year I tripped over one on the doorstep (literally) as I headed out at 2:30am for a dawn bat survey, but this year, thus far, nothing!

Not to be defeated however, we headed up to Chilswell Valley Nature Reserve - a beautiful, idyllic fenland and wooded valley full of wild flowers, birdsong and woodpecker knocking, and with a couple of perfect trees for climbing which always adds to the allure of any place.

We had long chats about how the two horses, one of which was galloping around the field on the opposite side of the valley, could not be included because they aren't wild (nor even feral, although this particular individual was attempting to prove otherwise), and even I couldn't spot any rabbit poo on our perambulations. Rolling down the field back down to our starting point did however introduce Turtle to the particular delights of the tiny, early-season nettles and their particularly ferocious sting as she tried hard to roll straight down, rather than repeatedly off to one side!

Along the lane however, watching yet more horses in the early evening sunshine, we spotted a fox. Please do excuse the quality of this photo as holding two children and attempting to take a photo simultaneously is a skill I've yet to master, but hopefully you can make it out.  As we got into the car it duly sat back on its' haunches and watched us go, patiently waiting for peace to return to the valley once more.

British mammal tally: 4

More about foxes may be found here

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