As all the monitoring teams know, 2005-6 has been a generally unsatisfactory year at local sites. Only single animals were found in the nestboxes during monitoring checks in June 2006.
At the Chatsworth site, a dead dormouse was also found in one nestbox, presumably having emerged early from hibernation then been caught by the later cool and wet weather. The dormouse that was recorded there in June 2006 was found in a box at the NE end of the site. Like one recorded in 2005, it had moved 500-600m from the area where it was released. The reason for these movements is unclear: it could be related to a search for a mate, but it could also reflect habitat preference. The NE end of the wood is more open and sunnier, with a lower canopy and masses of hazelnuts. The centre and SW by contrast are denser and darker, and on the original nut hunt, carried out as preparation for the release, far fewer opened nuts were found here.
Results at the mid-Derwent site were similar, with only a single animal recorded in the 200 boxes checked. We had been hoping that the low numbers found on box checks here were a reflection of use of natural nest sites among the prolific bramble and bracken at the site, but this has not been confirmed so far by field evidence.
UK-wide, 2005 was also a bad year, with monitoring numbers much lower than usual. Nevertheless, our local results are worse than the national average, as measured by number of dormice per nest box.
It is clear that at both sites the released animals became established and bred successfully at the initial stage, but it remains to be seen whether dormice have really been re-established in the county in the long-term.
Dave Mallon