A song thrush makes use of an otter spraint site!
A stone placed at an otter spraint site (to encourage the otters to pause in front of the camera trap) has proved useful as an anvil for...
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Stephen Powles
Nov 31 min read
Aerodynamics by Kelvin Willcocks
Tawny owls have some fascinating design features that allow them to fly relatively silently and with great maneuverability. Both...
7 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
Jun 111 min read
A green woodpecker "anting"
Green woodpeckers (also known as "yaffles" due to their raucous laughing call) specialise in eating ants. They can be seen feeding on...
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Stephen Powles
Apr 191 min read
Whose Poo? (2)
Looking like someone has left their cigarette to smoulder away without having smoked it, these “poos” can be found in short grassland....
22 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
Feb 92 min read
Owls a plenty but for how long?
Thirty two years ago I installed a barn owl box in each of two of my gable ends. Sadly, I have had very few visits from the intended...
11 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
Nov 5, 20231 min read
A warning from us Hedgehogs!
Lorraine attended one of my hedgehog talks (see https://www.stephenpowles.co.uk/presentations). In the subsequent correspondence I made...
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Stephen Powles
Oct 5, 20231 min read
The Rut Is In Full Swing in Mid-Devon ... and it's waking me up!
For the last few nights, the deep roar of a rutting red deer stag has echoed through the valley in which I live. So far, I have only...
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Stephen Powles
Sep 17, 20231 min read
Look out around a tawny owl nest site - if you are human or a squirrel!
Tawny owls will fiercely defend an active nest site. Only when absolutely necessary should one get close to such a site, and only then...
15 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
Sep 7, 20231 min read
Now is a great time to listen out for tawny owls!
Now is the perfect time to listen out for tawny owls. With the youngsters dispersing to find a territory of their own, resident “tawnies”...
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Stephen Powles
Sep 1, 20231 min read
Heat-seeking baby lizards
By putting out a "refuge" in a suitable location you may be lucky enough to see an otherwise elusive reptile. In this timelapse video...
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Stephen Powles
Aug 22, 20231 min read
Is There a Hazel Dormouse Near You?
Knowing what a hazel nut looks like after a hazel dormouse has eaten it is a great start to finding out if there are dormouse about and...
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Stephen Powles
Aug 17, 20231 min read
Whose poo? (1)
Some wildlife can be illusive but knowing the signs that they leave behind (in this case their faeces/scat/droppings etc) will give one a...
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Stephen Powles
Aug 8, 20231 min read
Bats leave a roost during the 2022 heatwave - with young "on board"!
A colony of bats (probably Pipistrelles) vacated a maternity roost in my house during the heatwave of July 2022. Within 72hrs, with...
26 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
Jul 14, 20231 min read
Ouch ... best use a jar next time!
Queen hornets emerge from hibernation in the spring and soon make a start searching for a suitable nest site. By July the embryonic...
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Stephen Powles
Jun 29, 20231 min read
Tidcombe Fen - Mid Devon's Hidden Jewel
Tidcombe Fen is a little known and hidden wildlife jewel in Mid Devon soon to be surrounded by an ever-expanding Tiverton. The present...
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Stephen Powles
Jun 12, 20231 min read
Tawny chicks growing fast ...
The pair of tawny chicks that fledged at the end of April (see previous posts) are nearing four months from when they hatched. They have...
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Stephen Powles
May 23, 20231 min read
Early July - I am giving a hedgehog talk at Quince Honey Farm, South Molton
On the eveing of Wednesday 5th July I am giving one of two talks at Quince Honey Farm. My talk will be "Hedgehogs in Need of Your Help"...
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Stephen Powles
May 18, 20231 min read
Listen out for tawny owl chicks ...
Twin tawny owl chicks fledged from a "barn owl" box in my roof space (see below), one on the evening of 28th April, the other soon after...
35 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
May 16, 20231 min read
Tawny owls approve of barn owls boxes - outdoors and in!
Having nested for each of the three last years in a barn owl box placed in a tree, this year the resident tawny pair swopped barn owl...
20 views0 comments
Stephen Powles
Apr 26, 20231 min read
Who has been visiting this spraint site?
A camera trap deployed at an otter spraint site one end of a 60m short cut across a field has, over the last 8 weeks (early March to the...
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