Mammal Surveys at Fairburn Ings

My post course assignment for the MMU/FSC Land Mammals course was to carry out a mammal survey on a site of my choosing. I was lucky in that one of the other students, Heather, lived close by, so we worked together to carry out the survey at her workplace which is the nature reserve at RSPB Fairburn Ings. This had the benefit of us being able to share the experience and support each other in helping confirm identification. It also meant we could share the workload and could visit the traps frequently, one of us being able to do so even if the other was working.

It was quite an intense couple of weeks, but I must say the most fun I have had on a project!  We carried out 2 x 2 days of trapping with a short pre-baiting period to familiarise the small mammals to the Longworth traps. We set up twelve traps along a disused track separated from the main reserve by a locked gate, which gave a little confidence in being able to leave traps out safely without worrying about them being stolen or disturbed. We had good results: with a 75% average capture rate we caught a mixture of Bank Vole, Field Vole and Common Shrew.  As well as getting lots of experience in setting the traps, we had lots of practice handling the voles and even had a go at sexing them (though I think a bit more practice is needed here!).

The staff at the RSPB were all very interested and friendly. On several occasions, I turned up in the afternoon to empty the traps and was greeted by a small crowd of people, as Heather's colleagues were keen to see what was going on. One of them came in very useful, being a vetinary nurse in the past, as she was able to remove ticks that were infesting one of the captured Bank Voles.

In addition to the small mammal trapping, we carried out wider surveys around the reserve, concentrating our efforts on those places we were most likely to find field signs. This was repeated on two different days. We walked through a reed bed and found more Field Vole signs and, to my delight, a Harvest Mouse nest.  In the woods, we found numerous burrows. These looked too small to be badger. We set up a trail camera which confirmed the burrows belonged to rabbits, though we did capture a fox on the camera too.

At the eastern end of the reserve, we walked along a path known as The Cut which runs between two lakes and joins to the River Aire. We had hoped to survey for Water Voles, but it was too overgrown to get down to the river bank. We did survey in small patches around bridges and where there were gaps in the vegetation for anglers, and were really pleased to find a fresh otter spraint as well as mink scat and rat droppings, but sadly no sign of Water Voles.

Writing up the project was really useful too (dare I say enjoyable) as we had to consider which species we had not found as well as those that we had. This involved further research via the NBN Gateway to find out what could potentially be found in the area.

Last weekend, the YWT LAV volunteers with help from the Mammal Society held a small mammal trapping session at the Ledston Luck reserve. This is less than three miles from Fairburn Ings, so I was interested to see what would be found.  As well as the three species seen at Fairburn Ings, we also caught numerous Wood Mice and a Water Shrew, which is the first I have ever seen. This gave me some new data to work into my project write-up. These species could feasibly have been present at Fairburn Ings but were missed, so I could consider where we might have placed additional traps to carry out a more comprehensive survey.

It was good to meet members of the Mammal Society local group at Ledston Luck, and I am looking forward to attending some more of their events in the future.