On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me...

...4 hare prints, 

 

Mountain hares (Lepus timidus) have several special adaptations which mean they are able to live in the cold, inclement conditions found high up in hills and mountains. In winter, their fur becomes thicker and turns white - to help camouflage them against snow. They also have shorter ears than brown hares to help minimise loss of body heat, and large feet to help them bound across the surface of snow. In the Peak District we have the only population of mountain hares in England, and we're collecting sightings of them through our Community Science hare survey to help learn how they may be impacted by changes in climate.

3 lizards,

 

 

 

2 mating toads,

 

and a bilberry bumblebee!

 

BBC Countryfile hare-piece

Community Science's Hare Survey was featured as part of a wider piece about the mountain hare population in the Peak District and South Pennines on last night's BBC Countryfile.

Countryfile presented Ellie Harrison and Community Science Project Manager Sarah Proctor meeting on Bleaklow

The piece covered some background information about the hares and their adaptation to cold and inhospitable conditions (which were certainly in evidence on the day of filming), before talking about how you can get involved in our survey; and how sending in your sightings of hares can help us to understand the implications of climate change for this charming upland mammal.

Ellie and Sarah talk mountain hares, climate change and citizen science!

 The episode was broadcast on 13/12/15; and will be available on iPlayer for 30 days. To catch-up, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06sphxz

To take part in the survey, visit: http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/community-science/haresurvey

How your hare sightings can help

We've been asking you to send in your sightings of brown hares, mountain hares and rabbits. Why are we interested? Read on to find out.

Mountain Hare Leveret - Photo by Phil Straton of MFFP

Brown hares, mountain hare and rabbits are the only three 'lagomorphs' living wild in the UK. Of these, only mountain hare are considered native; brown hare and rabbits having been introduced (probably) by the Romans and Normans respectively.

We're interested in how these species are being affected by climate change. The mountain hare is a particularly interesting case. It is well adapted to the harsh conditions at found at higher altitudes  - thick coat, large feet for bounding over snow, shorter ears than the brown hare (for losing less body heat) and most obviously of all a bright white coat in winter for camouflage against snow.

However; as the climate changes will the future winters leave these bright white animals standing out a mile in a landscape with no snow? Will hares begin to adapt to warmer wetter winters? Will the mountain hare start to decline at the warmest southern edge of its range (which happens to be here in the Peak District)? Will the adaptable brown hare take advantage of less harsh conditions and start to move in? There are a huge number of possible scenarios.

Mountain hare turning white

The only way to start to understand the complex interactions between animals and their environment is by collecting information and observations. Data allows us to see trends and predict what might happen in the future.

This is where you come in. By providing sightings of any of these species - simply telling us what you saw, where and when - via our simple form you can add to a nationally important knowledge base.

On its own your sighting might simply help you remember of an enjoyable wildlife experience; but when it is added to other sightings it becomes something much more powerful - it is part of a dataset which collectively can be used monitor how a species is faring and even make important decisions in conservation or land management to help secure its future.


All sightings received through our project will be verified by an expert, and will feed in to the Mammal Society's new 'Mammal Atlas'. This is the first atlas for 20 years, and aims to map vital baseline data about mammals and their distribution - which can then be continually updated and provide a hugely important resource for mammal conservation. Read more about the National Mammal Atlas Project on their website.

Your sightings will feed into The Mammal Society's National Mammal Atlas Project

The cut-off for your records to be included in this edition of the Mammal Atlas is the end of the year, so now is a very good time to send in your sightings.

Mountain hares on BBC Look North

Yesterday morning didn't look promising -  a thick fog hung over the summit of Black Hill as the Community Science team set out with Danny Carpenter from BBC Look North and Dave O'Hara from RSPB to film mountain hares for a piece about our new hare survey.

A very stealthy Danny and Dave filming a hare

Luckily, the fog started to clear as we reached one of the areas where we had seen hares previously - and hoped we would see them again. 

Pretty quickly they started to appear, but filming them proved a little tricky - as one of the UK's fastest land mammals they could exit the frame at top speed! One particularly accommodating hare, still in its brown summer coat, posed very nicely; but another hare with a patchy white 'transition' coat was very camera shy and determined not to be filmed.

Sarah being interviewed by Danny

Sarah Proctor (Community Science Project Manager) spoke to Danny about the project, why we are interested in recording sightings of mountain hares and their coat colour, and the possible implications of climate change for hares. 

Once we know when the piece is going out, we will let you know. In the meantime, if you have seen any hares and want to let us know, or you'd like more information about getting involved in our surveys, please head to our website: http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/community-science/haresurvey

How to monitor a moor...

This short film made by one of our fantastic volunteers shows how we go about monitoring an area of moorland, and even includes a short cameo from a mountain hare:

You can see volunteers laying out quadrats (randomly placed squares used as a 'sample' of the moorland), installing equipment like peat anchors (for measuring peat depth), dipwells (for measuring water table) and a rain gauge (for measuring rainfall) amongst other things. Data from this kit will be downloaded monthly and used to see how the moorland is responding to climate change in the long term.

The film also shows the initial survey of the plants on the site - our volunteers answer questions like: Which species of plants are present? How tall are they? What condition are they in? Are there any signs of wildlife? This information will be collected every year to see if there is a trend or pattern of changes. 

Many thanks to Sergio for filming, to Eastern Moors Partnership and Sheffield City Council and all the volunteers who helped to set the site up. The film was mostly shot on Burbage Moor, with the hare footage captured near Bleaklow.

If you'd be interested in getting involved in moorland monitoring like this, please get in touch with us at moorcitizens@peakdistrict.gov.uk