October 2022 was a month of changing feeder locations for the Red Squirrel Project. We had mixed results from Barmore Wood and the area around Woodend House, close to Loch Fad. We obtained video evidence of red squirrels, but they (up to two squirrels) were inconsistent visitors to the feeders.

We generally allow six weeks at each feeder location, so it was time to move on. Being methodical folk, we moved our feeders from the west side of Loch Fad to the east side, covering Quien Plantation, Bardarrach Wood and the area of woodland near Little Grenach.

Bardarrach Wood has so far proved to be the most productive area, with regular visits to a feeder by one red squirrel within days of putting the feeders out. The feeders will be in these woodlands for most of November so we are keeping our fingers crossed for evidence from other locations.

Bardarrach Wood provided another first for our Red Squirrel Project, albeit an unwelcome one; one of our squirrel feeders disappeared. If you hear of anyone who recently acquired our feeder, we would love to have it back.

It sometimes feels like slow progress across the island of Bute, with our six-weekly steps from one woodland to the next. If only we could study all areas at once or respond instantly to every sighting. This was especially true in October, with multiple good sightings of a Red Squirrel close to Mount Stuart. It will be interesting when we do get our feeders there – we might find an established population or maybe we’ll discover that we just missed a single squirrel that was passing through.

In conclusion, at the end of October we can put another green tick on our map of Red Squirrel locations. That is great progress, given that less than a year ago we had no definitive evidence of a Red Squirrel population in Bute.

PS Don’t forget, Tuesday 10 January is our Red Squirrel evening at the Museum. See the Bute Museum website for more details.