A walk around my local patch and a few little surprises along the way PT2of 3

Pt 2 of 3 a long afternoons walk - As I knew I was passing by the Tawny glade hide half way around my walk around my local patch I took a piece of old plastic guttering for the hide so I could bring the birds to the front of the hide and a closer experience and get them used to the hide more and sometimes they were coming right inside the hide and flying out the other side. I took the photo below just after putting some seeds on the new feeder which they used straight away but after realising that it blocked the camera views we relocated to the side of the hide so not to restrict any view from the front.

Below is one of the first test shots of a Great tit from the new view but its very tricky as the birds take a seed and fly to cover so you have to be very quick. 

As the Sparrowhawks are back and are setting up there territory for next spring about 50-100 metres away I understand why they are so nervous and we always know there nearby due to the call of the Long tailed tits that seem to follow them around as if to keep the enemy in view until they leave the woodland area I hope to get a camera on the nest when the weather worsens and both birds leave the woodland to find prey but I wll post about that in the future.

Not bad for a first shot and this bird was about 6 metres away the next stage is to try and get some macro close-ups from close range.

After leaving the wood I wanted to visit the river to check for Otters signs and now that there is less ground cover areas which were hidden by nettles and brambles are accessible revealing holes and signs of mammals from footprints to droppings and food leftovers.

I visited one of the Otters favourite spots and Winter is the time when I begin to track the male Otters visiting times to this spot and as they can travel miles you can see how important it is knowing when and where the Otter visits to scent mark.

Today there was some fresh spraint and digging with prints heading down river from a few days before so I know hes still visiting the spot and the next time he returns he will be coming upriver but to get the exact day I need to check the spot everyday then work out the amount of days in between so I can predict the next sighting night which then enables me to setup cameras ready to film but as I am still gathering data it might not be till next spring before I am 100% positive on an exact night when the river Dane Otter will show up.

One more post to complete my long walk and that follows 

my journey from the river to the canal and Otters pass.

Thanks for reading 

Mike