River survey for Trail Camera locations

Pools and falls in a defile at about 250 metres

I've been planning a camera survey of a mountain river bordered by a mix of farm land, forestry plantations and open hill. Yesterday I spent several hours in its middle section, looking for camera locations.

The river rises on the hill at a little over 400 meters, crosses the forest boundary at 300 meters and runs into the main river at 100 meters above sea level.

A number of tributaries and flushes increase its volume as it travels through a series of defiles, ravines, small oxbows and waterfalls.

The banks have, among others, a flora of Heath, Grass, Bilberry, Birch, Rowan, Scots Pine, Larch, Alder and away from the banks are plantations of Scots Pine, Larch, Norway and Sitka Spruce; with rough grassland at the river's lower end.

A pool at the bottom of a small rapid with what might
be an otter trail going down the bank to the water's edge

A well used deer trail parallels the river for most of its middle section with other trails going to river
crossings as well as in and out of the forest. In various places trees have fallen across the river which make potential crossings for cats and mustelids; and in one place a trail which looked typical of Otter going down into a pool.

I've recently had cameras out near the lower, middle section of the river and recorded Badger, Pine Marten, Red Squirrel, Red Deer, Roe Deer, Buzzard, Jays and Hooded Crows.

I now plan to trap the whole section over the next three to four months, ever hoping to find evidence of the elusive Scottish Wildcat or as it is often referred to these days, the Highland Tiger.

Camera survey of a local spruce plantation.

Norway Spruce plantation

Norway Spruce canopy

I was recently asked to carry out a survey for Red Squirrels and their dreys (nests) in a local plantation of dense Norway Spruce.

This is an area which normally shows a fairly high incidence of squirrel feeding during the late summer and autumn but the most recent signs I found were at least a month old and mostly green cone feeding from summer and early autumn.

This year has been extremely wet in this area and coupled with an almost non existent hazel crop, it's possible that mortality may be higher than normal.

I've looked, many times for dreys in this plantation and so far had not seen any. This occasion was no exception and as you can see from the images on the left, the tree density makes it an almost impossible task.

Fungi 

I used trail cameras in several places in the hope that one of them might catch a squirrel. In one part of the plantation where the most recent feeding signs were found I also discovered a group of fungi, which some animal had been feeding on. In the hope of finding out what, I set two of the cameras at different angles over these.

The other cameras I set nearby for several days but still no squirrels.

When I returned to collect the cameras I saw      where badgers had been turning the ground for earthworms and as you can see in the video composite below, the area was visited by a fox, two badgers and a Pine Marten in a hurry.

The light in the marten shot is the second camera firing. Both cameras are 'black flash' so this is just what the camera can see.

There are also two images of Red Squirrel dreys shown below for reference. These are both about 10 metres of the ground. They are not always this visible.

Red Squirrel drey in Scots Pine

Red Squirrel drey in Norway Spruce