Wildlife Monitoring With NatureSpy

Fifteen cameras, a variety of habitats and a whole load of wildlife! Bunloit has teamed up with NatureSpy, a non-profit organisation that aims to research and protect wildlife whilst engaging local communities.

Sika hind - Bunloit pastures

Bunloit estate hosts a mosaic of habitats, each with their own unique ecosystems. By utilising camera traps, we gain a non-invasive insight into the larger mammals that call this place home.

As part of our summer baseline surveying, we have collaborated with NatureSpy to place 15 camera traps, covering the various land types and distance across the estate. By doing this, we not only get an insight into the curious lives of these mammals, but we also collect a large amount of insightful data.

By documenting the wildlife in this way, we can get an idea of the abundance and diversity of species across the estate, where they are and where they’re going. We can see what time of day they emerge, what temperatures they like and how they interact with one another. By running this species inventory survey, we will then be able to develop a specific survey method that can be repeated year on year to track change in species presence or absence, and their behaviours over time. Most importantly, this will enable us to quantify the effects of our land management changes to the wildlife, ultimately informing on how we can improve techniques in the future.

For the past few months, a badger sett in our oak woods has been of particular interest. Not only are the badgers thriving there, but we have red squirrels, wild boar, sika deer, foxes and a variety of birds also utilising the site. Other hotspots found are our Scots Pine wood and pastures. The prehistoric looking pines are a haven for red squirrels and our birds; such as the great spotted woodpecker and crested tits; and our rolling pastures host a number of deer and wild boar, along with fox cubs, swallows and barn owls feeding across the land.

If you’re interested in our Highland wildlife, we’d love for you to get involved! Alongside NatureSpy, we are also working with MammalWeb, a citizen science platform for identifying and recording species. You can read more about our partnership with MammalWeb here, or visit their website to start spotting.

Here are a few of our favourite clips so far…

Tierney Lloyd