2nd Mammal Rally Finland

 

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) our first species

At first, a bit of history:

Two years ago, the Finnish Mammalwatchers got an idea to arrange a Mammall Rally. The rules are almost the same as in Bird Rallies, the main difference is that in Mammal Rally, you are allowed to use mechanical and electronic aids, and also scents, to attract mammals.

The first ever Mammal Rally in Finland was held in June 2021, almost during summer solstice. It was a surprisingly bad timing at that time, twilight and night were too short, and the grasses were already too long, even large mammals, like Roe Deers, completely disappeared in them. We thought that by now in August all the fields would have been mowed and there would be a lot of young animals, i.e. more to see than in 2021.

Well, how was 2022? The fields were only half mowed and even the Roe Deers again disappeared into them. There were plenty of mammals in the fields, but the range of species in the fields was very limited; European Brown Hares, White-tailed Deers and Roe Deers. Besides, the pitch-dark night was already far too long, about 9 hours. Also, the hunting season had already started, which scared many mammals away.

This year, the 2nd Mammal Rally Finland was held on 26th -27th of August, from 6pm to 6pm. I joined to rally with my sons Petro and Roni. We had fun and we saw lots of mammals, especially European Brown Hares (Lepus europeaus), total of 140 of them! We found also 29 Roe Deers (Capreolus capreolus) and 26 White-tailed Deers (Odocoileus virgianianus). In addition to them we found 8 Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), 1 Moose (Alces alces), 2 Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 1 Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides ussuriensis), 1 Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), 2 Yellow-necked Mice (Apodemus flavicollis), 2 Northern Bats (Eptesicus nilssonii), appr. 10 Moustached / Brandt's Bats (Myotis mystacinus / brandtii), appr. 20 Daubenton's Bats (Myotis daubentonii), 1 Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus), and 1 Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) ! The Lynx was already the 3rd for me this year!

European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)

Most of the mammals we found between 9 pm and 3 am. During next day I saw only couple of red Squirrels, even though I spent whole afternoon in the forests, looking for shrews, voles and mice.

Our species count was 14, and it was enough for the 1st place in this rally. 5 of our species were species the other participant did not manage to see. He was Tom Ahlström and he participated solo. Tom's count was 10 species, and he managed to find one species we missed; Nathusius' pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii).

So, there were only two teams in rally this year. Last year there were eight teams. What went wrong this year? I assume it was a wrong weekend, as the last weekend of August is always the Venetian Festival weekend.

Based on these two rallies, spring could be the best time, when the animals can't hide so easily, and in mid May the night / dusk would be suitably long. And in this case, e.g. predators are actively still on the move, looking for food for their puppies. Also all the bats are already in the flight.

And then it will be, the Mammal Rally Finland 2023. Come along, the ranking is not the most important thing in the rally, at least in the opinion of the winning team of 2022, but it was really nice to be on the move with my group and see many nice species.

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Writer

Olli Haukkovaara
Valkeakoski
Finland

Trip report England 26.7. - 3.8.2022

Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) at Lizard Point, Landewednack, Cornwall

Preface

In the summer of 2022, my holiday trip was to England, the first trip abroad after the Corona pandemic. Well, the pandemic continues, it's not over yet, as we all know... Currently subvariants of omicron are circulating, including BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1. So, we used actively masks and hand sanitizer during our trip and that seems to work well, we all stayed health.

The trip to England was not a pure mammal watching trip, it was a combined mammal watching, bird watching and family holiday trip. We stayed most of the time, i.e. five and half days in Falmouth, Cornwall. I had asked hints from the Cornwall Mammal Group members, on where to find certain species, that I had not seen ever before. Still, it was not easy to find them, as you will see from this report.

Day 1 / 26.7.2022

We arrived to Gatwick Airport in the morning, rented a car and headed to southwest. While driving from Gatwick towards Falmouth, I tried to spot both Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) and Reeve’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi). But no luck, both would have been lifers for me. Roadkills I saw / identified, were two Reeve’s Muntjac, two Roe Deers (Capreolus capreolus), one Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and four European Brown Hares (Lepus europaeus). Plus about 10-20 unidentified roadkills, in so bad condition that identification was impossible without stopping, which again was mostly impossible due to restrictions in the roads.

In the evening, at Falmouth, I saw my first Cornish mammals. I made an evening / night walk from town centre to Swanpool lake and edge of Swanvale Nature Reserve. I found a total of 73 Common Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and 1 Daubenton's Bat (Myotis daubentonii). In the north end of Swanpool, there was a concentration spot of Common Pipistrelles, 45 bats were hunting insects over the water. I tried to find also small rodents and shrews, especially the Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), which I have never seen,  but did not find any. I did not hear any rustling from grass, nor under bushes. Even my thermal scope did not reveal anything from the woodland floor.

My walking route and the spectrogram of the Common Pipistrelle sound

Day 2 / 27.7.2022

After breakfast we headed even more to southwest. Our first target was Lizard Point, an amazing cape pointing to south. I had my telescope with me, and started scanning the sea. Please note that telescope is really mandatory in the coast, if you wish to identify sea mammals from far distance. 

View from Lizard Point to west

Quite soon I found five Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), my first lifer during the trip and number 97 in my global mammal life list! Cool! A long-waited species I've always wanted to see! Other mammals we saw there, were Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus), five of them and one small, young Short-tailed Field Vole (Microtus agrestis).

Short-tailed Field Vole (Microtus agrestis) at Lizard Point

From Lizard Point we moved to cape of Porthgwarra. Another wonderful place in Cornwall, lot's of birds like in Lizard Point but not so many mammals. With my telescope I found three more Harbour Porpoises.

After Porthgwarra we drove to Land's End, the most westerly point of mainland England. There I found two more Harbour Porpoises. That was nice, of course, but not what I expected, no dolphins or whales in any of these three wonderful places. Well, the warmest period of the year explains a lot, should visit there during winter. Maybe some day...

Obviously there are Red Deers (Cervus elaphus) in Cornwall as there are these warning signs (see below) along the road sides in several places. But where are they hiding? I really tried to see them, during mornings, evenings and nights, but failed.

While driving from Land's End back to Falmouth I spotted two roadkills on A30 between Canon's Town and St Erth Roundabout; European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) and European Polecat (Mustela putorius).

Day 3 / 28.7.2022

This was the day I had waited eagerly. We participated in four hour whale & dolphin trip, arranged by AK Wildlife Cruises. First we cruised quite near to coast. Soon we saw the first marine mammals, three Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from short distance!

Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) 

Soon after the Porpoises swam away and disappeared, we saw couple of fins in the surface of the sea and the Captain Keith shouted "Dolphins!" They were Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and soon we counted eight of them. New lifer for me! Woohoo! Number 98 in my global mammal life list! We followed them quite a long time and they swam right in front of the boat! Later we saw more Common Dolphins, total number was about 15, if i recall right.

Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

We headed still outer to the Atlantic Ocean, but there was no more dolphins or whales, just pelagic birds, like Manx Shearwaters and Gannets. When we turned back and approached to the coast, the captain suddenly shouted "Minke Whale!". And soon we saw it! The first whale in my life, Common Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)! Yessss!! Number 99 in my global mammal life list! We saw that whale twice, probably the same specimen.

Minke Whale, the first ever whale I've seen

Big thanks to AK Wildlife Cruises and their excellent staff Keith and Georgia ! I can really recommend them!

In the evening, in Falmouth, I walked around the Pendennis, a castle in the cape surrounded by forest belt. I tried to find Wood Mouse, but there was no small rodents, nor shrews either. In the fields, between castle and town, I saw six European Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

European Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) near Pendennis with Carrion Crow

Day 4 / 29.7.2022

This evening / night I made a trip to Godolphin House. An ancient and atmospheric estate with a medieval garden and historic house, surrounded by old park and forests, a very beautiful place. At first I focused again on finding the Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), lifted fallen branches and trunk pieces - but found nothing. Later in the evening I scanned woodland floor with my thermal scope, with no success, again no small rodents nor shrews.

During sunset the first Noctules (Nyctalus nyctalus), at least five of them, started hunting insects above tree tops and soon there were also Common Pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), every here and there, approximately total of 15 of them. Also one Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus) flew by.

A nice surprise was the Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) which flew by me. But... no Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) that I had hoped to find and which would have been a lifer for me.

Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)

In addition to bats, in Godolphin Estate I saw one Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) and one European Badger (Meles meles), both with my thermal scope.

Day 5 / 30.7.2022

During our last full day in Cornwall, we went to see the Wheal Prosper Tin Mine, built in 1860, in the coast of Helston. Really interesting and beautiful place, but not a single mammal observation during that trip, nor in Falmouth. Just birds.

Day 6 / 31.7.2022

We left Falmouth quite early in the morning and during day drove back to Gatwick to return the rental car. Again I saw many roadkills, at least two Grey Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and one European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) but all the rest were left unidentified. Luckily, in the east side of Bridport, near Walditch, in the field on the north side of road A35 I suddenly noticed a very small deer and immediately identified it as the Reeve’s Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)! Yiiiihaaaa!! Finally, the number 100 in my global mammal life list! Now I just wonder how long time it will take to reach 200 species? 

When we arrived to Gatwick North Terminal, parked the car, my son noticed something moving in the edge of parking lot. It was a Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus). Quite a surprise in full daylight, in the late afternoon. 

We took the train to London. Somewhere in the half way between Gatwick and London I noticed again one Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), standing close to railroad.

Day 7 / 1.8.2022

In London, I had two target locations. The first was the Richmond Park and second the The Parkland Walk. Richmond Park was my last and tiny chance to find the Sika Deer (Cervus nippon). So tiny chance, that it did not happen... The Parkland Walk offered the possibility to photograph Reeve's Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), according to website "The Best Parks In London To See Deer". Well, I did not see any Reeve's Muntjac there...

But, still I enjoyed walking in those parks and saw many wild mammals there. During morning, in Richmond park I saw one single and two herds of Red Deers (Cervus elaphus), 1 + 11 + 15 i.e total of 27, plus two Grey Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). 

Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) herd in Richmond park

Red Deer dining on oak leaves

Red Deer staring at me

Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) at Richmond Park

In the evening, in The Parkland Walks I saw also  two Grey Squirrels. Oh, and three Cats, which should not be there at all. In both parks I tried to find again Wood Mouse, without any success. I used even my endoscope to peek in to holes in trees and ground, but found nothing. Is year 2022 poor year for voles and mice in England?

Day 8 / 2.8.2022

No living wild mammals this day but an interesting visit to Natural History Museum, in London. Really interesting museum and worth a visit, but remember to reserve enough time for it, there are really a huge amount of things to see there.

Giant Ground Sloth (Megatherium americanum) 
in Natural History Museum

Day 9 / 3.8.2022

The last mammal observation of this trip was European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus),
at 04:20 in street, front of our hotel, in Whitechapel, East London.

Summary:

During nine days in England I saw 20 living mammal species plus 2 other mammal species killed by traffic. The amount of living specimens was about 180. Still many lifers to wait there, like Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), Lesser White Toothed Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), Lesser Horsehoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros), Bechstein's Bat (Myotis bechsteinii), Grey Long-eared Bat (Plecotus austriacus), Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus), Water Deer (Hydrobates inermis), Sika Deer (Cervus nippon), Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus acutus), White-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus) and Killer Whale (Orcinus orca). A good excuse to visit UK once again, some day.

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Writer

Olli Haukkovaara
Valkeakoski
Finland