In addition to our Exmoor4all Facebook page we also have a FB group which we use to run photo competitions. Fortunately many of the photographers who share their stunning photos with us continue to post in this group even after the competition has long finished. Here are the images which were posted in the past ten days:
Here are all the entries into our 2017 Exmoor4all Photo Competition.
We are asking the public to vote for their favourite image(s) to be featured on our 2018 Exmoor4all calendar via our Facebook page. If you are not on FB, then feel free to email us the numbers of your favourite photos to exmoor4all@gmail. You will be able to see the numbers when hovering over the image.
Voting ends on 13 August 2017.
Here are some more photos shared by our fans and followers on Twitter and Facebook during January. Enjoy!
No better sight on Exmoor than to see and hear a Red Deer stag bolving on an autumn morning.
Rupert Smith
www.rupertsmithwildlife.co.uk
While it is snowing on Exmoor, enjoy these beautiful photos of Exmoor’s autumnal colours which were shared with us by our followers last week.
Here are all the winning images of the #WeLoveExmoor photo competition which will feature on the 2017 Exmoor4all calendar (now available to pre-order).
Over the next few days we will be posting the individual photos with a comment by the photographer – about the location and their thoughts about their photo.
Overall winner: Photo by Rob Hatton
Don’t forget to order your 2017 Exmoor4all calendar soon – we are only printing a limited number. The A4 sized calendar comes with an envelope and costs £9.50 plus p&p. Click on the image below to order:
These are the photos posted by our followers on our timeline on FB or shared with us on Twitter. A big thank you to all the photographers for sharing these images with us. They really show the beauty of Exmoor in October.
Dormouse numbers on Exmoor and in many other parts of the country are in decline, so to help reverse this CareMoor for Exmoor* is launching a Winter Appeal to raise funds for 150 dormouse boxes at three woodland sites in Exmoor National Park.
Philip Kiberd, CareMoor funding officer says: “We already have some dormouse boxes on Exmoor and know that they are being used, but over the years they become damp and we need to replace them and put up many more.
“To supply, install and monitor a dormouse box costs more than £20 and every penny helps, but all donations over £20 will receive an attractive ‘thank you’ card which could be sent to someone else if you’d like to make it a gift.”
Dormice are one of the world’s most ancient mammals and although their numbers have halved in the UK over the past 100 years, they are still be found on Exmoor, a nationally important habitat for the species.
Maintaining good dormouse population is particularly important as they are an indicator of the health of the environment in which they live. They are omnivorous – eating insects, flowers, nectar, berries and nuts, but they need a good source of food from April to October. This means if they are doing well the woodland is in a good condition for many other creatures, but when numbers decrease it suggests a lack of food that will also affect other animals.
The boxes provide shelter and safe nest sites for summer breeding. Most mice have regular broods, but dormice (not actually a mouse, despite the name) live much longer, around 5 years, have smaller broods and usually only one a year. A pair of dormice will usually have a brood of 4 – 6 of which maybe only one or two will survive their first year to breed themselves, making the population very vulnerable.
Patrick Watts-Mabbott, volunteer and outreach officer at Exmoor National Park says: “The boxes also make monitoring the health and population of the dormice much easier, so if you would like to help us please donate what you can and give a dormouse a home this winter.”
Donations will be welcome online via http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/enjoying/CareMoor-for-Exmoor/dormouse-appeal or by cheque to CareMoor for Exmoor, Exmoor National Park, Exmoor House, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9HL or at any National Park Centre.
Photo: Hazel dormice – John Webley
Ash’s progress : The Exmoor stag I named “Ash” for my recent antler blog has now cleaned his antlers (and got rid also of the annoying rope he had tangled in them for most of the summer) revealing a smashing new set with ‘All his rights’ and 6 a-top one side and 3 a-top the other.
Jochen Langbein
“Red Deer Group on the beautiful Exmoor moors late Friday afternoon. Love winter on Exmoor :)”
Words & picture by Liz Mitchell (Twitter @exmoorwinegirl)
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