For today, I'm going to cheat a bit: I've adapted this from the blog I write for my woodland management project. The account is a few days old now, from a trip between Christmas and New Year to be precise, but I thought it was definitely worth sharing! As this goes live I will back out on another working trip to the woods, with an account of that trip doubtless making an appearance here at some point, even if only in passing. Hope you enjoy!
'A big surprise' is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but that's what the lyrics are so I went with it. 'A really interesting discovery' would perhaps be a bit more accurate, but read on to discover more.
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On my next working trip to the woods I went mob-handed with a few of my 'little' brothers (both in fact much bigger than me and hard workers!), just for a few hours to get a batch of firewood split and stacked, and another batch cut and stacked undercover to be split at a later date. Repetitive work to be sure, but I'd still rather be doing that than sitting in an office! (Not to rub it in or anything).
Immediately upon arrival we spotted a squirrel! We had come prepared to deal with such an eventuality and one of our number was promptly dispatched to reduce the population by one. He lost track of that individual, probably into a tree cavity unseen from ground level, but he did account for two others in the short time we were there which is a good start to reducing their numbers in the wood. Squirrel control is another controversial topic but one which is important in protecting young regenerating woodland, especially where a commercial value is required. In our case the commercial value of the wood is what supports our conservation work and as such any damage literally impacts on the conservation we do. Controlling the squirrels also helps to protect some of the species found in the wood. It is of course even more essential where remnant populations of Red Squirrels still hang on; sadly not a position we find ourselves in.
The highlight of this trip was a discovery in the woodpile. First of we found droppings on the piled wood, which had been covered by a tarp. From the shape and contents it was clear that it was from a predatory mammal and from the size it could only have been a mustelid (photo below). I immediately suspected a stoat because it seemed too big for weasel. As we worked our way through the drier portions of the stacked wood we found some feathers which we identified as being from a Great-spotted Woodpecker.
Sure enough just a few blocks of wood later we uncovered what was obviously a den of sorts, and very recently used too. There we found the rest of the woodpecker, or shall we say half of it. The top half had been consumed, the head, if not eaten had gone and I assume as with other birds the majority of muscle is in the flight muscles in the breast, which was entirely gone. But it was certainly fresh - the blood was still wet to the touch. Also in the den, aside from a collection of other feathers, moss and leaves was a piece of a squirrel tale (see the picture below, it's not great but gives you an idea).
I still think it was a stoat, but the selection of prey was a surprise. A squirrel is probably heavier than a stoat and while they are notoriously vicious, taking rabbits far heavier than themselves, I suspect a squirrel would put up a lot more of a fight than a docile rabbit! Also a woodpecker? Despite the now infamous weaselpecker incident, I dare say such a tree bound bird is an unusual and opportunistic prey item rather than a common target. It certainly was an exciting and interesting find, something I've never seen before.
But alas, we were there to work, and we needed to press on and split the wood so the den was gradually uncovered and left as we worked through the pile. Despite it being a recently used den I have no doubt that the individual using it, given the mild weather and myriad other options for shelter, including just a few feet further into the same pile, will not suffer as a result.
A short post today, certainly more to follow on what I find and see while I am working there.
Richard
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