It may not be what I need, but at least one has landed on the perch. As you can see, this is a female due to the red lower beak, males are black. Could this be Princessa? Quite possible, I really hope so.
Interestingly enough, this was captured at 11:23am which is around a similar time to when my Nature Walk came near this area. It could be that she landed on the perch to hide from us.
A few years ago, I had a lot of problems with Bushnell Trail Cameras, which resulted in many being sent back under warranty. The current one I have is a few years old now but still a good performer, the model number 119740 (NatureView Cam HD Max Live View).
However, I still feel the build quality is a little “cheap” on these cameras and a few days ago, the strap brackets snapped, these are made from quite thin plastic. So this morning, a bit of engineering time in the workshop and have bonded some metal brackets to the back. Probably stronger than the original ones too!
You may have seen an Instagram post a few days ago about me setting up my Trail Camera to catch what I thought maybe Otter using a trail.
3 days of recording and nothing but a Mouse and a Blackbird had set it off, until I checked the camera from last night. Just at 11pm the camera captured the following footage. Blink and you’ll miss, but you will see that it’s a Common Genet (Genetta genetta). I have seen one before slightly further away from the house, but this is quite close to our house. I now hope to position the camera in a spot where it’s less likely to just walk straight past. The species of animals we keep finding near to the house is constantly growing and keeps us ever amazed to live in the hills of the Algarve.
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}Although Genets look Cat-like, they are not part of the Felidae family, they are Viverridae.
For a detailed description and photos, please see the excellent page on Wildscreen Arkive
We have a grassy (this time of year) bank at the front of our house and recently two holes have appeared near each other.
The larger of the two holes is about 7cm in diameter and as you can see, quite a lot of excavation work has been carried out.
The smaller one, around 5cm in diameter.
Being so close together, I suspect they both lead to the same place. I’m really not sure what has built these, possibly a Field Mouse but the only way to find out is to put the Bushnell NatureView camera there and see what happens during the day and night.
Hopefully, will have some video footage to share soon.
So, as promised in yesterday’s post (see here), I have relocated both the Bushnell NatureView and also the temporary perch.
I was expecting a few days of nothing whilst the Kingfisher got used to a change in its environment. I was wrong.
Just 12 minutes after I left, the Bushnell recorded a very brief visit of the Kingfisher. The capture only has a few seconds before it flies off so not really long enough to create a video, but here is a still image from the capture (continue reading below the image).
Sounds like the great start to a joke, but this is no joke.
Couldn’t believe my eyes when I viewed the footage from yesterday, two Egyptian Mongooses (yes, not Mongeese) sharing the pool with a Little Egret. I was waiting for a Mongoose to attack and whilst one of them takes a little interest, I think they realise that either they won’t catch it or it can do them some damage with its beak.
Then, the Kingfisher shows up, in fact, you can hear what I think is the Kingfisher’s high-pitched call from the start but isn’t brave enough to come whilst the Mongooses are there.
If you watch near the end of the clip, when the Little Egret walks out of shot, the Kingfisher returns, but doesn’t land on the perch. This backs up my thoughts from yesterday where I don’t think the Kingfisher is triggering the camera. I will be moving it later today to a different position nearer the perch. It does mean that I’ll probably miss out on the other wildlife visiting. There is one issue that really shows how important it is that we have more rain, the fish in this pool are reducing in numbers at an alarming rate. This is probably due to the Little Egret that seems to be visiting the pool very regularly to feed.
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}