How is your wild life doing

Gairloch
Blue tits, blackbirds, robins, dunnocks, siskins seem to have bred well with a few young of each in the garden (particularly blue tits and blackbirds). We have also seen two young goldfinches. Up until two or three years ago we never saw a goldfinch. There are not as many coal tits around now and we haven't seen any young ones.

Saw a red breasted merganser with eight young on the sea on a couple of mornings, but the following day at about the same time an otter was swimming in the same area and I haven't seen the merganser or the chicks since.

The badgers are visiting most nights. Usually only one but we have had two on a couple of nights recently. Unfortunately a badger was killed on the road over to Poolewe in the last couple of weeks.

Two pine martens visit most nights but at present they are not getting on, as the video clip I posted in the Camera Traps section shows. One appears slimmer,(could just be the summer coat) a bit smaller and much more active than we have seen at other times. I don't know if it is a young one from last year (I'm assuming this year's young would not be out and about yet and still really small just now)

The trail camera has picked up a male and a female roe deer wandering through the garden on a couple of nights but they are very irregular visitors, we have seen them more in the last couple of weeks than all of last year.

Two wasps' nests are being built in the shed. I thought wasps did not build a nest close to another wasps' nest (these two are about one metre apart). Although one nest is bigger than the other the size difference is not great so perhaps it is only a completed nest that deters other building. 


Dave