00:01Hello, welcome to Geuzebos. Today I'd like to give you a little tour of one of my favorite
00:07parts of this forest. You don't need a large area to film wildlife with trail cameras,
00:13as long as there's enough activity. And I want to help you recognize such a spot and
00:19show you how to make the most use out of it. I'll give some tips and tricks for camera
00:25placement too. But even if you don't use trail cameras yourself, I believe this video can
00:32still give you a fun insight on Geuzebos and the wildlife that lives here. Let's go!
00:42Here we are at the very edge of the woods. Behind these bushes there is a meadow on this side
00:48and on this side as well. Behind us is the forest. A lot of animals use this corner to enter
00:54and
00:55to exit the woods. This means a bunch of different trails are crossing here, resulting in quite
01:01some traffic. And this little pile of wood is a great nesting spot for mice. And more mice
01:12means more predators. However, I think the best part of this shot might be the little tree
01:23stump in the middle. Take a look at this beach martyr for example. These guys like to mark
01:30on elevated objects. Like this. Alright, that's enough about this angle. Let's see what we
01:39get when we put the camera on the tree with the squirrel. When you're searching for a suitable
01:47camera spot, look for animal tracks and other signs of activity. Here on the right we see
01:53a tree with clear marking rubs. This is a sign there is an active buck in this area. Behind
02:00us is the meadow. And the forest is in front of us now. We can see this beautiful couple approaching
02:08the camera. Let's talk a bit more about camera angles. I like to have the horizon somewhere
02:15in the middle of the shot, because I think it looks better that way. A little above or
02:20under is also fine. We don't have very large animals in this area, so I don't put my camera
02:27up too high. I usually place it somewhere around knee height. The largest mammals here are roe deer,
02:35which aren't much bigger than a large dog. So when my camera is at knee height, it's a little
02:41under their eye level. When a curious deer comes a little too close, we get shots like this.
02:51This buck, however, is exactly where I want him to be. Its entire body is visible and centred
02:58in the shot.
03:04The tree stump still remains a popular spot, and it turns out some animals really like to
03:10sit on it. Especially this feral cat, looking like a queen on her throne.
03:20This rabbit likes to sit on it as well. And even this woodcock. We caught it looking
03:27for insects in the dead wood here. I've only captured them a few times, but they are really
03:33cute and always have some nice dance moves to show off.
03:43Let's follow this fox that way. If I put a camera on one of these trees facing that way, we
03:51get
03:51to see this little corridor.
03:57Here we see a buck destroying some small trees. I mean, marking his territory. They often use
04:04small trees like these. It's how they make those rub markings we saw a little earlier.
04:09And we already know where this cat is going.
04:21I put the camera here in spring because of the white blossom in the back. But it's the fog
04:27that really brings this shot to the next level.
04:39But even without the fog or the white blossom, I think it's still a beautiful spot.
04:48This crow is showing you. There's an ant tail over there. And as it turns out, it's a great
04:57spot to film birds. Like this green woodpecker here. Corridors like this are great camera spots.
05:09Because most animals, especially larger animals, choose the easy way to move around the forest.
05:17They rather use the open space than having to maneuver through the little trees on the side.
05:24I want the animals to walk towards the camera. So I put the camera on one end of the corridor,
05:30filming along with the trail. If I put the camera on the side, filming across the trail,
05:36the camera would be too close to the passing animals. And the animals would likely be out
05:42of the frame by the time the camera starts recording. In that case, you probably only kept
05:48your animal behind. I used this spot in autumn as well. The white blossom is gone, but I really
05:55like the branch with the autumn leaves hanging over the trail. Okay, let's move the camera to this tree, facing
06:06the grass.
06:10So obviously this is captured since summer. The forest and the grass is super lush and green. I call this
06:19little field the animal crossing, because two different trails meet here. When visiting the spot
06:25in real life, you can clearly see the trails in the grass. And sometimes animals actually do cross each other
06:36here. Like the time this cat took a nap in the tall grass and then scared this poor deer away.
06:45This crossing is also used a lot at night. Here are a few examples of animals reacting to the infrared
06:55lights of the trail camera.
06:58Most animals see it but don't really care and will just continue their way. But foxes can be really shy
07:06and often turn around when they see it.
07:09This is why my next purchase will be a camera without this visible glow.
07:19In these shots you see a large mushroom has emerged from the grass. I like to make use of these
07:25kind of temporary changes in the forest. Because the animals will notice them too. And most likely will react to
07:32it.
07:34It's fun to see how the animals interact with the changing scenery, even if it's just with a little sniff.
07:46The busier the camera spot, the more likely it is to get a nice shot.
08:05We can learn a lot from trail cameras. Did you know martens like to play in tall grass? Here we
08:13see a family of beach martens. They did this a couple of times the week I captured this.
08:19So I was hopeful they would do it again. I really wanted to capture this more close up. So on
08:26my next visit, I put my camera on this little tree here, facing this part of the field.
08:33And here they are. I put the camera a little lower this time and it's turned a bit more downwards.
08:44Now we see more grass in the shot and less trees.
09:08The set-up turned out to be perfect for the older little critters as well. Like rabbits.
09:17Bull cats. Bull cats. Hedgehogs. And also this cat again.
09:40When you find a busy crossing like this, use it. Get every angle of it on camera. You will learn
09:48exactly how the animals move around and how they interact with the area.
09:54If I place my camera here, we get a whole new look at it. Now you can see the little
10:01tree we had the camera previously attached to with the grass below.
10:05From this angle, we can now exactly spot where the bugs like to enter this crossing.
10:13And how they mark their territory.
10:21Let's put our camera back on the little tree from before. But face it the other way now.
10:29There's thick bushes on both sides. A pile of wood on the right. And there's a little open space here.
10:38We can predict what way the animals are coming from and use this to set up the camera so that
10:44the animals walk towards it.
10:52You can see the camera bouncing up and down a little bit. This is because we use a tiny tree
10:58to trap our camera to. So when there's a little wind it will move the camera too.
11:04This will potentially result in a bunch of empty shots. But sometimes you gotta take that risk and hope for
11:11some good weather.
11:13However, I like rainy shots like this too. I think the sound is very comforting.
11:25Maybe I follow that fox with you another time and show you what's behind that bush.
11:30But for now, we will put the camera on the right side of this trail to get a different angle.
11:38I like to try out different angles every time I find a new spot. You will learn by doing what
11:44works and what doesn't work.
11:46I try to find views with a nice looking background that show the colors of the forest.
11:53But I also keep in mind where exactly I expect the animals to pass by so that they will trigger
11:59the camera on time and stay in the shot for a while.
12:06Now we also have a nice view of the pile of wood here. These are a perfect place for mice.
12:13So if you have a camera that's suitable for close-ups or you have a homemade close-up lens like
12:18I do, you can capture something like this as well.
12:22It helps, of course, if you hide a small amount of birdseeds here. You might even get a surprise visitor.
12:30Hello there, little hedgehog.
12:34Okay, let's get back to the trail.
12:41On the other side, we see a little hill covered with moss.
12:46The colorful moss stays green all year long, which is the reason I like to use it as a feeding
12:51table for birds in winter.
12:55These shots are made with a clip-on attachment using the lens of a pair of reading glasses.
13:04When you point your trail camera at a feeding table for birds, I would recommend changing the settings of your
13:10camera so it will only film during daytime.
13:14Otherwise, your memory card will be loaded with hundreds of clips of mice after the first night already.
13:23I do have a weakness for the smallest critters of the forest, but I think you definitely can have too
13:29much footage of mice.
13:40Let's put the camera somewhere over here and look back at where we came from.
13:50From here we can see the animal crossing in the back where we saw the marten's play in the grass.
13:56This is the little tree we used a couple of times in different directions.
14:01But we've also used this big tree to capture the bugs.
14:05And way in the back is the corridor that leads to the tree stump at the edge of the forest.
14:14Behind the pile of wood and on the right I found many rabbit holes.
14:18So I always capture a lot of rabbits here, which is nice. I like rabbits.
14:27When you find a similar area with lots of wildlife, even if it's just a corner in the woods,
14:33you should explore every angle of it like I showed you in this video.
14:38I use those angles every season, because every season can make the same forest look and feel entirely different.
14:52That's me, in a hurry, making sure my cameras are not covered with snow.
14:58We don't often have snow here in Belgium, so I was really focused on getting footage of any animal brave
15:05enough to brace the cold.
15:08And I got lucky.
15:16Thank you for watching this video, I really hope you liked it.
15:19Let me know in the comments if you want me to make more videos like this, or if you have
15:23questions about this video.
15:24I would love to answer them.
15:27There's much more I can show you.
15:29Please subscribe if you like to see more.
15:31It would make my day.
15:33Toodles!
15:33Let's get started.
15:34Thanks.uuu
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