Are roe deer using plant secondary metabolites to condition their fur and skin against biotic and abiotic stress?

Roe deer are usually very stealthy and it can be difficult to spot them at all. They can move around very quietly and they can stand completely still blending in with their surrounding forested environment. However, during spring (March - May), I have observed several roe deer who have been almost forcefully breaking through thickets …

Roe deer females – exercising during pregnancy?

The roe deer females have been more difficult to spot over the last two months as they have resumed a stealthier, more concealed lifestyle in the riparian forest habitats sticking close to the shelter of deciduous trees and shrubs. However, I have been able to observe them at times and on, a few of such …

Tawny owl observations (ca. May 5 – 9, 2024) – using vocalizations to entice the young out of the nest?

Tawny owls had grown quieter for some time (perhaps they did not wish to compete with the most intense nightingale singing bout). However, over the last nights I have been hearing them more often, and tonight I heard what I believe was a conversation between a tawny owlet and its parent. It was difficult to …

Two beaver youth personality profiles

Of all the beavers in our area (whose homes I can observe), I have had a closer experiences with two young beavers who can be called yearlings now (in May, 2024). I would like to honour our acquaintance by offering their personality profiles. Little scholar One of these yearlings lives on a range where riparian …

Beaver tail-slapping behaviour during the reproductive stage after parturition

Our local beaver population has altered its general behaviour, and I believe that this is the result of the females having given birth to the kits. I observed some mating activity in January already. If we assume that the courtship activity was commenced in about mid-January (but the actual mating might have occurred in late …

Roe deer male territorial vocalizations – 3 phases (spring observation summary)

In this post, I would like to propose that roe deer male spring territoriality is characterized by three stages: Resuming territoriality (frequent patrolling vocalizations); Confirming territorial configuration (less frequent patrolling vocalizations characterized by neighbour-neighbour interactions); Established territories (rare and brief vocalizations). I could classify these stages according to month in which they occurred in 2024 …

Badger observation (May 5, 2024) – a larger group in our area?

On May 5, at around 5 am in the morning, we came across a badger strolling down a road in the private garden allotment area. I have seen/heard badgers there before and I have an approximate inkling where their sett is located although there might be more than one sett (e.g., a main sett and …

Nightingale observations (May 4, 2024) – song as a tool to regulate spatial distribution

As I have been continuing the nightingale observations (see earlier post - Nightingale observations (May 1 – 2, 2024) – singing perch preferences), I have come to conclude that some of the males who had been singing over the first nights (and who likely occupied the most favourable singing perches), are no longer singing because …

A glowing Lampyris noctiluca larva in spring or another bioluminescent invertebrate species entirely? (May 3, 2024)

There are only two glowing insect species that I know of in Latvia and those are both glow-worms, i.e., the European common glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) and the lesser (or short-winged) glow-worm (Phosphaenus hemipterus). The latter species is less prevalent and I believe that any observations of glow-worms in our area are those of the common …

Nightingale observations (May 1 – 2, 2024) – singing perch preferences

May 1 was the first day (night) when nightingale males began singing in the riparian habitats. I was quite startled at first to hear a songbird vocalizing intensely at what I thought was a 'very inappropriate hour' (at around 1 - 2 am, way after sunset and long before dawn) but then I recognized the …