Mammal Transects at Bunloit
As part of our summer baseline surveys at Bunloit, we enlisted the help of Dan Puplett, a local ecologist, to develop a series of transects not only for large mammal surveys, but also for future public engagement. Here, he talks us through the work developed and his experience with our student volunteers.
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Mammals can be elusive. Many are nocturnal, very wary of humans, or both, so detecting their presence isn't always easy. Camera trapping is a really useful and effective way to establish which animals are around. Being out at dawn or dusk can also increase your chances of seeing certain animals. Another, time-honoured way to detect the presence of mammals is by learning to read their tracks and signs.
It was a privilege to coordinate the large mammal transects as part of Bunloit’s baseline biodiversity surveys. The idea was to complement the findings of the camera trap surveys. We can't put the camera traps everywhere so using tracking as a tool is a way to expand our awareness of which animals are around and what they've been up to. The emphasis was on larger mammals, although we did records smaller species where encountered.
We established three transects covering different parts of the estate, adding up to 13.8 km in total. It was a real pleasure to involve students who were helping out at Bunloit over the summer. As well as gathering baseline data, the survey has an educational component - as we carried out the survey’s, the students received training in the field on how to recognise a range of tracks and signs, and about mammal ecology and behaviour.
We covered a range of different species and their field signs. For example, we looked at how to recognise badger tracks, with their kidney shaped palm pad, toes in a shallow arc, and long claws often showing. Fox tracks can sometimes be confused with certain breeds of dog, so we went into detail on features such as the fox’s tiny palm pad and many other tips for telling them apart. With practice you can also differentiate between the tracks of similar species such as sika and red deer.
Of course, tracking isn't just about footprints, and in Upland habitats in Scotland they are rarely the most obvious clue, so we kept our eyes peeled for other evidence. These include animal scat such as badger droppings in shallow pits known as latrines. Feeding signs of some species can also be very distinctive, a classic being hazelnut shells that have been neatly split into two halves by red squirrels. Alongside many other signs, we looked at evidence of foraging by badgers and wild boar. Shelters and burrows are among the other kinds of sign, so we kept an eye out for things like badger setts and red squirrel dreys. We found a lot of other evidence and even looked at things like bone and feather identification.
On top of this we included records of mammals that we saw directly including sika deer, while birds we heard or saw along the transect were also noted, so as to make full use of our time out there.
It was great to see how engaged the students were. They were very observant and really keen to learn these natural history field skills, which can be of great value for ecological surveys. We anticipate that by repeating the transects in the coming years we will be able to notice interesting changes, for example in the favourite routes or feeding areas of particular species, or increased evidence of certain mammals.
This survey is very much intended to engage people, so in the future we hope to involve members of the public who will be able to learn about our fascinating wildlife and the evidence it leaves behind. They will hopefully gain a deeper appreciation of Scottish biodiversity while contributing to our ongoing monitoring at Bunloit.
Dan Puplett - https://www.danpuplett.net
Find out what our results are from the baseline surveys at our COP26 event, tickets here.