2023 was an abysmal year for undertaking wildlife checks in the latter months. These checks were required to be undertaken on dry days but the weather proved to be so changeable that they couldn’t be planned very far ahead. Dry windows suddenly emerged in a persistently wet forecast and arrangements to undertake them had to be made hastily. This led to problems finding volunteer help to form the teams at short notice. It also made it difficult to run them concurrently with our major site volunteer days as they competed against each other for the help required. This problematic weather pattern affected our 2023 bat survey in late summer as we not only experienced continuously wet days but also periods of high winds, two of the least favourable elements to encourage bat box occupancy. The weather also cooled dramatically adding another negative factor to the activity.

The bat box checks were therefore commenced with very low expectations of finding any bat occupants. It had a big impact on our results in terms of numbers of different species found but proved not to be a complete waste of effort as many boxes showed evidence of occupancy at some time even if they did not contain bats at the time of the survey. The results we achieved therefore, were disappointing compared to other years but showed us that occupancy overall was being maintained. Some of the results are shown below.

 

Volunteers capitalise on dry intervals to undertake the bat box surveys.

 

Aware of the short duration of each dry opportunity….

 

….the inspections were progressed as speedily as possible.

 

Every box in the wide area of local countryside was carefully inspected and the occupants recorded.

 

Team members worked together….

 

….to transport ladders over the long distances it was necessary to travel.

 

At the end of the final woodland survey and the last record is entered, the team members relaxed.  

 

Due to the unfavourable weather conditions…. 

 

….only the hardy Common and Soprano Pipistrelles were found in the majority of boxes.

 

Most boxes however, were found to be full of droppings….

 

….indicating that they had been well-used prior to the onset of the bad weather.

 

Bats were present only in ones and twos in many of the boxes….

 

….making it initially appear their numbers were down on previous years.

 

Other boxes however, told a different story….

 

….and were found to contain clusters of up to seven.

 

This was still less than previous years when groups up to a dozen were often found.

 

The number of boxes occupied were similar to recent years….

 

…but the variety of species normally found….

 

….were sadly lacking.

 

It is hoped that the next season’s weather is significantly better and the number of species found are greater and include the rarer ones we have previously found in our boxes. The results overall were however, higher than we had anticipated in such unfavourable conditions.

 

Our dormouse checks this year followed a similar pattern but with much more warm, dry weather to capitalise on. We visited all sites at intervals from April until November. The checks revealed no dormice in residence in any of our boxes this year. This followed a similar national trend, as revealed in the People’s Trust for Endangered Species 2023 report on the state of Britain’s dormice. This document highlighted an alarming progressive decline in the country’s hazel dormouse population which since 2000 had seen a reduction of 70% in total numbers. This reduction which has been tracked by the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme into which our results are fed, was found to be mainly due to loss and degradation of natural habitat, climate change and less effective management being applied to hedgerows and woodlands. Despite these alarming figures, it is not a completely lost cause, as conservation work continues with volunteers and partner groups in an attempt to combat it. Habitat restoration and re-introduction of dormice in selected areas they have previously completely disappeared from is being attempted nationally, to give the species as much help as possible to survive. 

All our dormouse box locations are in areas where we have previously seen them or detected a presence, so we will continue with our efforts in the hope of an improvement in our results. Our results this year indicated a growing wood mouse presence with the early season addition of many blue tit’s and great tit’s nests. The following pictures illustrate some of our findings.

 

The boxes were visited at monthly intervals when possible.

 

Occupancy of each was recorded. This one contained one of the many resident wood mice found. 

 

These inspections were undertaken by working parties of licensed volunteers.

 

Each volunteer undertook a different role to make the operation proceed as smoothly as possible.

 

This box contained a wood mouse nest.

 

This one contained a nest of birds eggs.

 

A devoted bluetit mother remained firmly on her eggs in this box. She was disturbed as little as possible.

 

 This box contained young chicks who were at a more advanced stage and obviously very hungry.

 

Young birds were found in many of the boxes in early summer.

 

These eight great tit youngsters were almost fully feathered. Once all birds nests were emptied after the birds had fledged, the nesting debris was removed so that they were available for dormouse occupancy again.

 

Inspections carried out in mid summer after the birds had vacated the boxes, found wood mice had moved into many of them.

 

Again, the occupants were treated delicately with as little disturbance as possible.

 

All boxes containing food stores were left intact to benefit the breeding mice.

 

Each member of the team worked together to ensure inspections were carried out as efficiently as possible.

 

This mouse was found having a meal in a food store.

 

Each finding was recorded….

 

….to create a comprehensive annual record of everything found.

 

Inspections undertaken at the end of the season found an increasing number of boxes occupied by wood mice….

 

….with a large number utilised for food storage….

 

….and new nests….

 

….to ensure the mice successfully survived the imminent winter conditions.

 

Once the final check was completed all results were collated and the data forwarded to the national database.