You may remember I posted trail cam footage of a local Egyptian Mongoose a few days ago. The camera has been running to establish any pattern and the good news, there is a sort of pattern emerging.
Here are some still shots from fresh video captured on the trail cam from a few days ago and yesterday, more details below images.
As anyone following me for a while will know, part of the passion of photographing wildlife is getting up close with them to capture as much detail in my shots. I’ve been wanting to do this with the local Egyptian Mongoose so I set out a Trail Cam 2 days ago in an area where I had a close encounter with one 2 years ago. There was nothing on the first day but on checking the footage this morning, one came right up to the camera yesterday afternoon.
Not really what I was hoping for as I have the perfect angle and location here with the morning sun, but I will keep monitoring the area for a while to try and work out any patterns they may have and plan to hide and photograph them from a good vantage point.
For now, check the stunning but short footage. The bells you can hear in the background are some cattle and the random human voice is a lady who lives in the bottom of the valley. She is about 800 metres away, this camera really does pick up noise well.
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
Whilst walking I heard a quarrel (collective noun) of Sparrows fled a tree with alarm calls at high volume. This was out of sight and decided to sit and wait, it could of simply been a Cat but I hoped for something a little more wild.
Soon enough on a distant bank I could hear leaves rustling….but so could Wally! It didn’t take long until one came out into the open, an Egyptian Mongoose. I quickly managed to get this long distance snap before they spotted us and ran for cover. This gave me the opportunity to see all 3 of the Gaggle (another collective noun) as they fled.
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}After capturing a Kingfisher diving a few days ago (see here), I constructed a temporary perch in the area it was diving in the hope to capture some more footage.
I was out again today to watch the Volta ao Algarve, this time on Foia (Algarve’s highest mountain). As the route was coming around the back of the mountain before looping and then climbing, I decided to first go to a quiet spot where I could get a shot of the peloton swooping around a hairpin.
So, I climbed up a rocky ledge and started to take some test shots when something caught my eye. I looked up and just saw something disappear into the bushes.
On checking my test shot I noticed I’d been photobombed by an Egyptian Mongoose! They are quite common in the Algarve, but not seen too often.
Here is the test shot;
Here is a tight crop on the Mongoose.
