Partridges in Sussex, a new species for the blog

The video is a bit smudged from our friend the badger, and on first glance a friend of mine thought they looked more like a New Zealand Kiwi. Kiwis they are not, or else I'd have every birder in Britain trying to find out where the trailcam is and trying to obtain the most tickable bird ever probably)..... but at least for the BCIB, we can now tick off partridge on our species list.

Charlie Bones (BCIB Sussex)

Bornean Clouded Leopard Programme, Leopard Cats and Flat Headed cats

One of joys of creating this blog, and using trigger cameras, is finding out about other organisations using the same methods, to capture images of their local wildlife. One research programme, I have been following from my armchair for the last few years is the Bornean Clouded Leopard Programme.

The Bornean Clouded leopard Programme, is a joint multi-site research collaborative effort between the Sabah Wildlife Department in Borneo and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), University of Oxford.

They aim to advance understanding and enhance the conservation of the Sunda clouded leopard and other threatened Bornean wild cats in Sabah. This is being done by short term camera trap surveys designed to estimate clouded leopard densities and felid community structure in six key forest areas within Sabah, Borneo. In addition, an intensive camera trap survey is being implemented for approximately 2.5 years at a single forest site, designed to provide insights into the ecology of the clouded leopard.

The project is being led by Andrew Hearn and Joanna Ross.

Andy and Jo during their last project in Borneo

Andy describes their trail cam methods as such,

We're using several models: Snapshot Snipers (which use a Sony P41/P43 camera), Cuddeback captures, and Bushnell Trophy Cams. We have bait in the past, food items such as shrimp paste etc, as well as trapping lures from the US, but these tended to attract non-target species (bearded pigs and civets mainly), or had no discernible effect on attracting Bornean felids (trapping lures). Having first determined that we could get some of the cats on the cameras we started using mark-recapture methods to estimate their density - and generally it is better not to use bait due to methodological issues.


When available, we place the cameras along existing human trails, the drier, longer and clearer the better. Abandoned old logging roads, again, ideally dry and not too degraded (i.e. still relatively clear of vegetation) are also preferred sites. Natural ridge lines, or other topographical features that may filter animal movements are also used - ridges in particular appeared to selectively utilised by a number of mammals. In the absence of such features, we create our own trails, clearing the vegetation and even sweeping the trail clear of leaf litter. Such trails are typically 4-500 m long, ideally longer, but logistics often mean that this is all we can realistically achieve given our timeframe. Again, many mammals start using the new trails, as can be witnessed by the cameras snapping them moving down the trail.

We typically have a minimum of 35 pairs of cameras running (currently 40 pairs), and we move these to a second survey area, resulting in a survey of a min of 70 sites per 130km2 study area.

Andy and Jo have kindly given us permission to reproduce some of the pictures of cats they have recently captured on camera. There are many more images on their blog site of other animals caputured on camera during their previous research project. It's a blog I would highly recommend to everyone with an interest in wild cats or wildlife in general, it is full of details of the project and its aims. I for one will certainly be following this blog with interest over the following year or so.

All these images are copyright of Andy Hearns and Jo Ross, and should be contacted via their blog if you wish to reproduce these images elsewhere. I have repoduced the comments from the team that accompanies each photograph from their blog.

Our first wild cat photo- capture - a flat-headed cat

A leopard cat. This adaptable species is thought to respond well to habitat disturbance, and unlike the other 4 Bornean felids can be found residing in oil palm plantations. It's a little surprising then, that this is our first photo of this species - but again it is early days.

Our second flat-headed cat photo. Frustratingly, the other camera failed to pick up the cat.

More images from the muntjac carcass site.

Tim Jenkins (BCIB Warwickshire), checked his muntjac carcass site yesterday and found some squirrel, deer and fox pictures as well as his first pictures of a badger. When Tim got there the cam had big muddy paw prints over it where the badger had investigated it VERY closely. This is the second badger in less than a week that has had a go at one of our cameras in locations hundreds of miles apart.

Hungry badger taste testing the camera.

I had a bit of a shock when I recently checked the trailcam. I check it every week, the batteries and memory can last at least a month but I look forward to viewing what pictures it's captured, I find it very exciting and captivating. Plus if anything has gone wrong, I can sort it out.

On checking the camera this time I found the camo net was torn and the lens was smudged. Although the angle was still roughly right it certainly wasn't how I left it.

The culprit, as I played back the 30 second film was plain to see. It was the badger who shows up from time to time. Still, no harm done as it seems this cam is bulletproof and hopefully it will leave it alone now it's had a taste. I've set it for the prime purpose of capturing a cat, so even the up close shots should fit the whole body in. Although the videos now will be a bit overexposed as it points more up to the sky......

Charlie Bones (BCIB Sussex)

Badger, Fox and Roe Deer

Here are the latest batch of images from the same location as the unidentified large cat in Argyll. Along with tens of pictures of a fox, there was also one of the badger, that likes to make an appearance every now and then, (and I still can't find out where it is coming from as there is no sign of a badger sett anywhere nearby). Also a nice close up picture of a roe deer doe, and a blurry roe deer buck on the run

Shaun Stevens (BCIB Argyll

Black Cat and Rabbit

Once again the heart skips a beat when I saw it, but once again it's a black feral cat and it looks similar to the one I posted earlier. There havn't been any foxes show up on the cam since the end of July, but I doubt whether this sort of cat would put them off. Perseverance, hopefully, will pay dividends.

Charlie Bones (BCIB Sussex and Sussex Big Cat Watch)

The Culross Coo's

Bob Wallace, (BCIB Fife) has just checked his cameras in Culross, Fife and discovered a grand total of 114 pictures had been taken.........!

.........and every one of them of a bunch of cows. Someone up there is playing tricks on us I think.

Still, I think these beasts are much better looking than Mark Fraser's cows. Maybe a new organisation should be started with both Bob and Mark as founder members.

"Big Coo's In Britain"