Bog Myrtle & Peat

Despite the fact that I have been surveying the Chayne for wildlife over the past year, I have never seen any actual evidence of hares until quite recently. Discovering some small round droppings in the heather laboratory got me thinking, but it was only when the snow fell and continued to fall over the past few days that I have had any better evidence of their presence.

The Chayne is still under snow, and the longer it lasts, the more inclined it seems to be to drift. The entire property is criss-crossed with fox tracks, but following a strange set of prints this afternoon, I realised with delight that I was looking at snow where a hare had been moving. Now all I need to do is see one in person and I can tick hares off my list of resident mammals.

Along with foxes, hares, stoats and weasels, the snow has also revealed some fantastically random woodcock tracks which move out over the pasture and through the rushes. Thrashing through the undergrowth with a friend this afternoon, we flushed five of them but none presented any shooting. They’re here, but how best to get under them…?