Wildlife Trailcams

Monitoring wildlife across Heal Somerset

In April 2024, we set up a series of wildlife trailcams across the 460-acre site to find out which species we have on the land and to see what was going on when it is left undisturbed.

Most were placed along the river that passes through Heal Somerset to see which species use this watery corridor. We were surprised a delighted by the results!

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We began to see otters, foxes, badgers, fallow deer, kingfishers, sparrowhawks, buzzards, wrens, jays, chiff chaffs, herons and egrets. If that wasn't cool enough, the most exciting sightings were of a beaver!

We knew that there was a population of wild-living beavers nearby but we didn't know whether any were on our land. The area has one of just five known wild beaver populations in England so they are currently a rarity in our national landscape.

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The beaver was first seen on these cameras in April 2024. We presumed it was a youngster moving away from its family to find a new territory. The question was: would this a one-off sighting or was it planning to stay? With more sightings over the coming months that question became: were there in fact two beavers? The timings on the cameras suggested there could be two...but we didn't have enough proof. Finally, in August 2024, we got it! A trailcam captured the pair together for the first time!

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Watch the beaver couple together below:

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