Martin's Haven trailcam

 We often put a trailcam out in the valley here.

Winter is always the best time and, especially if we get a cold snap, the birds can be remarkable: during the March 2018 "Beast from the East" we got pictures of 20 species, including 7 species of wader and three different ducks. Many of these we have never seen in the garden during the day.

We left a trailcam up for three weeks over December, including the very cold snap before Christmas. No such range of species this time, but still a number of birds that we have not seen here otherwise, all visiting one of the old irrigation ponds, whose dam has now cracked open.

A Robin regularly visited in daylight.

We almost never flush Snipe any more (we used to get 2-3 most mornings), but they feed actively here at night: three individuals seen in some photos.

Jack Snipe are a real treat: almost as regular as Snipe, but only ever singletons

We have identified at least two different Water Rails from plumage: one very drab young bird, and a rather brighter adult. Unlike the Snipe, the Water Rails show relatively well on the daytime photos, as well as night

Two female Teal were the best of this set of photos. They both fed in, and roosted on, the small patch of water caused by mud and vegetation blocking the leaks in the old dam. The total area is probalby only 2 metres by 3 metres, and less than knee-deep, but it attracts the Teal

Rather distressingly, a Fox(es) make regular appearences. And the droppings around the garden strongly suggest that their winter diet is very heavily tilted towards birds, either in the valley, or the Snipe, Lapwings and other birds rooting on the Trehill Farm fields.

Apologies for the quality of the photos: these are cropped from the trailcam images.

As for the stats: c.250 pictures over a 3-week period, with recognisable images of birds or foxes in c.70 of them. Teal were in half the photos but, of the 35, 16 were of roosting birds on a single night. Snipe were in 25 pictures, Jack Snipe and Water Rail in 12 each. 15 photos were Foxes, and 10 were the Robin.