I thought I would sit down tonight and try and do an update as to all the projects that are going on in the WildlifeKate patch at the moment and some news about some of the other projects planned in the coming months. Time is whizzing past at such a speed, I cannot believe it when it is Friday again… another week has passed and my list of projects to complete, write about and get on my website seems to grow! (Probably because I add things onto the end of the list faster than I cross them off!)
November has flown passed and numbers visiting my website have grwon. My live stream moved from Wildlife Whisperer on to my own website and is now sponsored by Nature’s Feast. A big thanks to all at Wildlife Whisperer who hosted my site for its initial year. Continue to check out www.wildlifewhisperer.tv for other great live cams and information. I plan on working more closely with Nature’s Feast next year as I look more closely into the feeding patterns of the birds in our gardens and how we can maximise the visitors through use of different feeds and different feeders. This is an area that Nature’s Feast have been researching.
I am also getting an increasing number of companies asking me to carry out reviews on their kit or write articles or blogs, which I love doing! More details about the kind of services I offer to companies is now on my website HERE. Many have not realised all the different opportunities there are for me to work with you… from consultancy, to website building, to trials and reviews. Take a look at the page to find out more. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to work with me in any capacity… I’m always happy to chat through ideas or projects.
I currently have a range of products I am trialling and reviewing, from Bird feeders to Tasco trailcams to Bushnell binoculars… all will be taken out in my patch and used in real situations. Keep checking my site for the new ‘Use& Review’ part of my website that will be appearing very soon..
My mammal visitors in the garden… and the cams associated with them are going from strength to strength! I have had a lot of interest in my ‘Clay Cavern’, especially after its appearance on Autumnwatch. I am building some more similar set ups so I can hopefully capture some breeding footage in the spring. The voles, shrews and wood mice have multiple litters from early spring through to late summer, so I feel confident I can convince a pair to move into one of my purpose built abodes!
The squirrels are back… and making attacks all my bird feeders. My log feeder was an obvious target and they succeeded n a number of occasions in tearing the wire mesh from the peanut section. These guys need to eat as well, so I decided to try to make my own squirrel feeder and it has been well used over the last week or so, with some of the squirrel visitors getting the hang of it within just a few days. There is still one who seems completely bemused and looks all around the jar, trying to figure out how he can get inside. A few interested great and blue tits have been eyeing it up as well. Ark Wildlife have sent me another Squirrel feeder to try to I am going to mount a cam inside that, so hopefully that one will be on the website very soon too. There has been loads of action on all of my live cameras and the slideshow shows a few screen captures from the last month or so…
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My Bushnell Trophy cams are out and about too… I am currently experimenting with different ways to obtain close-up footage. I have been talking to a guy called Darin in the States… he is the ‘boss’ of trophy cams and works on their development. I will be putting some more footage on my site when I have collated all the footage and show you how I have achieved these shots and video footage.
Lots of work is also going on in the background with a range of education products that I am writing. Hopefully these will start appearing on my site in 2012… I am aiming to create some quality kits for young people to include camera kits and exciting activities and projects that young people can undertake. I am hoping then to create an area on my site where these can be shared. First up is a little ‘WildlifeKate Mouse House Kit’. I have sourced a small plastic house that a cam can be mounted in and I am currently trialling one on my hedgecam set-up and one in my greenhouse with the Bushnell set up on it. It may take a few nights for the mice to get used to it and come in to feed, but I am hoping it will provide some good images and be an affordable kit for kids (and adults) to start out with.
There is lots of work going on in my greenhouse ‘workshop’ preparing new nest boxes and nesting opportunities for the spring too. I can see the hole in my office wall enlarging somewhat with the coming season as I have loads of ideas for new cameras. This is the area I love developing most and I have had so many lovely comments and support from so many who watch the cams live on my website.
Check out the ARKive website at www.arkive.org . This is a fantastic resource, packed full of amazing images and videos of endangered species. I have just written a guest blog for them and it will appear on Monday I think.
Right, best get back to my reviews… got a lot to write and get on my website over the weekend. Thank you to all those who regularly visit my website and my blog… well over 1000 hits this week…and don’t forget to take a look at my new competition! See if you can ID the mystery animals all seen in my garden this year, and you could win a fantastic Nature’s Feast sunflower heart feeder and food.