Stoat - a photo on Flickriver

Stoat

            I photographed this Stoat yesterday while visiting Old Moor reserve to see the Lesser Yellowlegs.  A new path had been created next to a narrow channel of water which surprisingly held a female Pochard with a brood of seven young ducklings.  I say surprising because the channel was new and bare, with hardly any vegetation, and Pochards usually nest in well-vegetated pools.  As I walked back I noticed that the Pochard was behaving nervously and her brood were sticking close.  Then I noticed a Stoat on the bare bank watching the ducklings, as if she was wondering whether to risk a swim for a meal.  As I approached she came back to the path and paused for a second before disappearing into the vegetation on the other side, which was when I managed to capture this photo.  I waited for ten minutes but she did not reappear, and I think I saw the mother Pochard breathe a sigh of relief.

I'm pretty sure this was an adult female Stoat as her size wasn't much bigger than a Weasel, though I did see the black tail tip.  Male Stoats are noticeably larger.  It cannot have been a young Stoat as although the peak month for giving birth is April, the kits don't even develop a black tail tip until 6-7 weeks, and they stay in tight family groups for about 12 weeks.  Females rear the young without male help so I'm guessing she had kits nearby.

Taken on: May 23, 2022

Tags:

Mustela

erminea

female

Old

Moor

South

Yorkshire

Tim Melling « less

Sets appears in: • British Mammals

Stats: 4,857 views / 37 comments

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