The Scottish Project

[ExposingTheWild]

Hello all,

We are, Samuel Waldron and Peter Moonlight, we have just started a 2 month photography project in the Scottish Borders.

Our aim is to document through film and photography the goings on of all things wild along a stretch of river bank approximately 2 miles in length. We will also be venturing around the surrounding area to find out what else is going on in the region.

I am keeping a very small and up to date daily diary of what we are doing. We have been going for about a week now so the first installments will be in three day bursts to catch up. Photos will be added as and when they arrive .

Long Weekend (4th-7th March) - (this weekend was in preparation for the project)
-Established 2 hides (hide 1 and 2).
-Coppiced 4 willow trees in a small wood planted 20+ years ago by David (Samuel Waldrons father), hide 1 is place in this clearing.
-Hide 2 is situated against a fence looking on to a recently planted field (now known to be oil seed rape), deer frequent this area.
-Tracking, found evidence of badger set (later found well established set), fox pellets, sparrow hawk kills (often seen in the area), roe deer tracks and many possible nest sites. (see previous posts)

[ExposingTheWild]

Friday 14th May (start of project)
- Arrival in Scotland
- Saw Roe deer at hide 2
- Sat on perimeter of badger set and observed at least 2 badgers, possibly 3

Saturday 15th May
-Hide renovation, fixing roof and removing noisy flooring (pine tree branches)
-fixed camouflage netting to hide 1
-Caught up with family!

Sunday 16th May
-Tried to speak with land owners for permission to film/photograph, no luck - weren’t in!
-Spoke with grant application ‘adviser’
-Dug Path 1 along the mill lade (small walled stream used to power the old mill) to connect Hides 1 and 2 without being seen
Finished renovating Hide 2

[ExposingTheWild]

Monday 17th May
Visited Duns (2.5 miles) bought peanuts (badgers), wild bird seed & feeders (birds), apple lick and treats (deer)
Set-up feeders and started baiting badgers with peanuts
Found 4 latrines used by badgers to mark territory (will continue to search for more)
Permission granted for filming badgers, setting up kingfisher hide and to interview Bill (William) Laidlaw
Contacted local suppliers for dead rabbits (baiting local buzzard population)
Built small rocky out-crop for buzzard (ambitious!)


Tuesday 18th May
First early start checked both hides, no peanuts or apple treats eaten
Sat in Hide 1 for one hour then Canon 7D arrived!! (Samuel's camera for stills and HD Video)
Create bird song playlist (play at hides)
Observation - Chaffinch boldest, other birds follow to feeders when chaffinches’ start to feed (hide 1)
Walked through lade to search along bank (too over-grown) found two territories of water vole and signs of otter (relatively old foot print)
Yellow hammer nest, 4 eggs suitable for filming
Fed badgers with almond oil covered peanuts, covered our cloths in almond oil (cover our scent, non threatening)
-

Wednesday 19th May
Office day!
Checked badgers, some nuts were left, not all eaten, no more food put out
Apple treats around hides not eaten, but eaten at the far end of field 1, fresh deer and badger tracks in the area
conformation of Yellow Hammer nest, perfect for filming
Suet in up right branch is most popular amongst birds, almost gone, not sure what species
Dippers on river, possible spraint - if so, old!

[Jim Ford]

Interesting project - keep it up!

If I did a similar thing on our local river it would be:

Thursday 20th May.
New supermarket trolley in river.
Shoal of Tesco poly bags drifting downstream.

I'm sure you get the picture!

Jim

[ExposingTheWild]

Yes I have to admit, I/we are very lucky. The weather is being very kind today too. I (Samuel) have been frustratingly kept in front of the computer today but will be out tomorrow. Peter is on macro today so should have some interesting pictures.

Kind Regards

Samuel

p.s. thanks for our 1st post

[ExposingTheWild]

Thursday 20th May
Visited yellow hammer nest and set up area suitable for filming/photograph
Found new nest, unsure of species, white-throat very close by but singing not alarm calling, (nest is not the same as white-throat nest)
Set up kingfisher perch and fish tank under with approximately 30 minnow in.
Searched the north end of the river (after bridge) for nests and spraints - no nests several mink spraints found.
Early summer swim in river.
-

Friday 21st May
Late start after late night
Kingfisher hide at 0930-1300 no kingfishers!
3 hours in Hide 1 no birds, tried meal worms, suet eaten very little left, have not witnessed the culprit
Mystery nest confirmed to be wren (cheers Dad!), we have decided not to film or photograph this nest as we walk past it daily and do not want to disturb it further
Changed water in Kingfisher tank as the ‘natural’ looking mud did not settle over night, changed minnows too
Filmed footage of the Yellow Hammer female incubating the four eggs, she was very relaxed and fell asleep before being woken by a cow eating over its head (footage out of focus)

[slicemydrive]

interesting thread, would like to see some pics aswell if possible, am subscibing so keep it up

[ExposingTheWild]

We will get some pics up today, promise. Watch this space :-)

PS thank you for posting.

[ExposingTheWild]

So here is a little array of pictures from around and about.

We are currently getting to grips with everything, website etc. so we are a little lost in paper work and organising things! Very frustrating in this beautiful weather.

So here are the pictures:

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[ExposingTheWild]

Saturday 22nd May
Early start 0500, behind the desk (Samuel) and the Kingfisher hide (Peter)
Editing in the afternoon
Visit badger set in the evening, we lay and waited until last light (2100) and called it a night

Sunday 23rd May
Late start 1100 (had a drink the night before (long day!)) lovely day, Dad saw greater spotted woodpecker from Hide 1 (we are yet to witness this!)
Designing and building website and editing/writing (Samuel) for a microscopy project