A Privilege

Still trying to photograph the badgers I watch on a regular basis with my bridge camera. It poses a variety of challenges in total darkness, but it's fun trying. I have spent many enjoyable hours watching badgers and really wanted to capture some of the moments on camera.

This particular cete of badgers have allowed me some fantastic views and the opportunity to study their behaviour at relatively close quarters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing that should ever be fired at a badger is the shutter of a camera. It is an atrocity that this government continues to pursue a cull of healthy badgers in a misguided attempt to bring bovine TB under control. 

 

The only thing that will reduce TB in cattle herds is improvements in farming techniques, increased biosecurity and testing of cattle herds and stringent controls over the movement of cattle in conjunction with increasing use of vaccination.

I do not imagine for a moment the government believe that this cull of our badgers will eradicate or even reduce TB in the nations cattle herds. They do however believe that the rural and farming vote can be maintained by peddling this propaganda and deceit.

A quote I came across recently illustrates this well

"I think the most interesting observation was made to me by a senior politician, who said, 'Fine, John, we accept your science, but we have to offer farmers a carrot.  And the only carrot we can possibly give them is culling badgers"

Professor John Bourne Former Chairman, Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB

Keep an eye out for Brian.

 

Well unfortunately it’s that time of year again, the time when rifles are at the ready and pointed at our badgers. The cull has not only returned, it has been extended to three new counties.

The cull targets for badgers to be killed in each county is frightening, and the fact this slaughter continues, a national disgrace.

Badger cull targets for 2016

Devon: Minimum 3,358, maximum 4,558

Cornwall: Minimum 2,173, maximum 2,950 

Gloucestershire: Minimum 1,691, maximum 2,628 

Dorset: Minimum 1,672, maximum 2,350

Herefordshire: Minimum 872, maximum 1,183

Somerset: Minimum 75, maximum 544

Source: Natural England

There is no published data what-so-ever from the government to even tentatively support the Government’s stance that badgers spread Bovine TB to cattle. Not a shred of real evidence at all!

I feel it speaks volumes that the authorities involved in the cull have not tested any of the badgers already slaughtered to ascertain if they are actually infected with TB. I believe this is because they are fully aware that they are killing completely healthy badgers. If there was substantial published data to show this, I believe public opinion on the matter would significantly increase in opposition to this inhumane slaughter. The government just doesn’t want a paper trail of factual scientific data proving that the vast majority of badgers killed are perfectly healthy animals.

I heard Meurig Raymond, president of the NFU speaking on BBC Farming Today recently. When asked why there is no factual published data of any sort to substantiate claims that Badger culling is indeed reducing the spread of TB to cattle herds, he replied that the Anecdotal evidence demonstrated that the cull was indeed effective.

Anecdotal evidence! Unbelievable!  

If you care to look into a real definition of Anecdotal evidence it will highlight that such evidence is, not necessarily true and certainly not reliable. It is completely based on personal opinion and has no real factual data or scientific research to substantiate it. By its very nature, anecdotal evidence tends to be cherry picked to support a personal belief, it isn’t factual and cannot be proved or disproved. In other words, it isn’t really evidence at all.

On Tuesday evening Aug 30th, the cull again started in Gloustershire. I felt I would like to do more than make donations and sign petitions, so late afternoon on the 31st August found me joining the M5 heading towards a predetermined meeting point of the Gloustershire Against Badger Shooting (GABS) group to offer some assistance in patrolling the cull areas. A 120 mile round trip from my home here in Staffordshire.  As I left the house, my wife gave me two instructions. 

1. "Remain law abiding.". - Not a problem, as GABS is a peaceful, law abiding campaign group. who ensure that their presence during cull periods is always via public footpaths.

2. “Look out for Brian May!”  I said I’d keep an eye out for him.

 

I was made very welcome on my arrival by a group of seasoned GABS volunteers. These people really deserve our thanks. Giving up their free time and patrolling large areas of countryside at their own expense in all weathers. Staying out in the fields late into the night and still going to work in the morning. They try to be a constant presence during the cull periods, patrolling fields and monitoring setts in the cull areas every evening of the cull period in an attempt to save our badgers.

They were very well organized, and we were split into groups to cover different areas of the cull zones known to contain active setts.

 

On the night in question, no shooting was seen or heard in the area we covered. Active setts were checked and we had a good walk around the fields and footpaths by torchlight. I particularly enjoyed walking in some outstanding countryside, seeing pipistrelle bats hunting around the fields and the great conversation. I also felt that I was helping in some small way.  We didn’t see any badgers and although I was very vigilant, I didn’t see Brian May either.

I would urge anyone who feels strongly against this cruel and inhuman culling policy to contact the Badger patrol and join them for an evening or two. It will be an experience you won’t forget, and you will meet some very friendly and like minded people. 

Like me, you may initially feel that turning up to assist the badger patrols for one night is an insignificant act in the grand scheme of things. However, the total sum of many small acts can bring about massive change, and that is exactly what our wildlife and specifically our badgers need. I encourage anyone with an interest in our countryside and the welfare of our badgers to take part in at least one evenings patrol in one of the  six target counties. You will I’m sure be made as welcome as I was. You will enjoy the company of like minded people while walking the countryside at night, you may even see a badger. So please give it a try and appreciate that you will be helping to save our badgers, and while you’re at it, don’t forget, keep an eye out for Brian!

 

 

Hares, Foxes and Badgers

It’s been over a month since I last posted anything on this blog. During that time, I have been putting any free moments into catching up with the local larger mammals on the patches I regularly walk. I have thought long and hard before posting these pictures as it inevitably leads to requests of “Where did you see these? I would like to see them myself.”

I decided I would share the pictures, I will not however share the whereabouts of any of the animals pictured. I hope you enjoy the photos and ask that you don’t put me in the position of refusing to share locations with you, as the way I refuse will almost certainly offend!

Hares are a real passion of mine. It always makes my day to encounter them when I’m out on my wanders and I am getting better at creeping up on them. I was worried at the beginning of the year that I had not seen many Hares on the land I walk. This is still true of areas that had a few last year but I have seen none this year. However, a couple of areas have produced the goods and I enjoy looking for the Hares in these areas. One spot has already seen the attention of two guys with running dogs, but they have now twice vacated the area quickly on my approach. They didn’t enjoy having the camera pointed at them and I have not seen them for a while. I would like to see these amazing creatures carry on and thrive in these areas.

 

The Foxes have been a little more difficult to track down. The first is a dog fox and one of a pair I have been watching. At first, he was hunting very frequently, obviously providing for the vixen while she was denning with cubs. Recently, I have found him occasionally laid out sunning himself, as it seems he in no longer the sole provider of food to his brood. What I believe to be his mate can now be relied upon to make an appearance if I am willing to be patient and wait for her. This regular vixen is in quite good condition and has obviously been suckling cubs. I have recently seen her hunting rabbits. Twice I have watched her successfully catch and carry off a rabbit I expect to her cubs. The cubs will be old enough now to be left for short periods and she will also now be hunting as she starts the process of weaning the cubs off her milk. Fresh caught prey will become rapidly more significant in the cubs diet now, so both parents hunting should provide for their needs in this rabbit rich environment. My view point for two of these foxes doesn’t allow for decent pictures. I’m facing the setting sun, there is too much undergrowth and bramble and they are a little distant. It’s not all about photographs though, that’s just I bonus if and when conditions allow.

The third fox looks quite young, probably one of last years cubs. This yearling on the face of it looked in very good condition initially, but I suspect it may have a problem. Foxes do go through a heavy summer moult and some can look pretty tatty at this time of year. This youngster is almost moulted out, but i’m a little concerned by the condition of its tail. It looks like it may be suffering from the early stages of mange. I will keep a look out for this individual and see how things progress.

• I have seen this yearling again and the tail is not looking any worse. It does have a covering of fur along its whole length, so i’m hoping this is just a moult. Mange symptoms do tend to start at the tail base, but there tends to be complete hair loss in the affected area. If it hangs around, I will keep an eye on its process.

 

 

Most of my free time though has been spent hoping to see some badger cubs above ground. They just cannot resist being above ground playing once they are about 12 - 14 weeks old. I have been watching a few Setts I am aware of, and eventually my patience paid off. I was pleased to get some decent daytime pictures of three cubs occasionally accompanied by mom playing in the late afternoon sun.

 

 To be in the close proximity of badgers as they go about their business is a real privilege and only makes my adoration of theses fascinating creatures stronger. I’m sure no-one  is under any illusion about the black cloud hanging over our nations badger population in the form of the governments badger cull. This ill thought out policy has failed on every level, including failing dismally to meet their own already low standards of what constitutes a humane death for the shooting of a free roaming badger. With absolutely no solid scientific evidence to prove badgers spread Bovine TB to cattle, and cases of Bovine TB actually rising in some cull areas, the government still seem hell bent own pursuing this abhorrent scheme.

The Badger Trust is fighting hard to change the mind of this government and bring this failing policy to an end. Any support that can be given to the Badger Trust is money being put to good use to save our badgers. 

I listened to Dominic Dyer, the CEO of the Badger Trust speak recently at a Badger Cull protest rally I attended in Leicester city centre. Of all the things he said, this one quote struck a chord with me, as it must have done with others as it appeared a lot on social media.

 

 

Check out the Badger Trust’s website for yourself and make your own mind up. If you agree with what they stand for, try and make a donation.

Click the banner to check out the Badger Trust Website.

 

 

Mixing it up

 It's been a week of messing about with different techniques to capture a few record shots of the local wildlife that I've been lucky enough to point a camera at.

It all started after work on Monday with a report of a Ring Ouzel! I rushed home from work for a change of clothes and to grab my binoculars and scope and was off. I located the Ring Ouzel, and the farmer upon whose land it was feeding gave me permission to cross his land to get a better view.

It remained distant and I didn't want to move it on by chasing it about so decided on using my scope and phone to capture a record shot.

Phonescoping again proving its value as a tool to keep in your armory for capturing pictures of a distant subject.

After enjoying the Phonescoping it encouraged me to set up my old Nikon P300 point and shoot camera and "Digidapter" made by Paul Sayegh. I decided to have a go capturing some images with my dedicated Digiscoping kit. I have been taking my scope out with me more often to scan the fields and hedgerows and thought it would make a change to use the little camera. If you are taking your scope, it’s nice to have an easy method of capturing what you are viewing if required.

 

 

 My Sunday morning wander about offered a few opportunities to put this set up through its paces. As with all my captures, I aim to get a record shot, but occasionally, if distances and conditions allow, I try for a "better" quality picture.

The Tree Sparrows and the Wheatear fall into the, just get a record shot category, the Corn Bunting is what I consider a better quality shot

Also, one evening after work I took my Canon G3X bridge camera for a spin. Pete had told me he had seen a Fox hunting an area we sometimes check out and I decided to head that way. I couldn’t believe my luck when I also witnessed a well conditioned fox also hunting the very same area. It eventually realized it had an audience and disappeared. It was in too much cover to try for a picture but I found out what it was so interested in. The area has quite a healthy rat population and it obviously fancied one for supper.

A Pair of Grebe on the river also made for an interesting evening.

I also managed to capture a local Hare on…….. film! That is still the word that springs to my mind, but what is the current accepted terminology? Captured on, photosensitive diodes, sensor, CCD, digitally? Film still sounds better to me. 

On top of that lot, I had a trail camera back in the area I picked the Otter up in last week, hoping it would again put in an appearance. No such luck though. However, Pete and I were again surprised at just how productive this clearing is when we checked the pictures to find another couple of surprises. 

We found the usual suspects we've been keeping an eye on.

The surprise visitors, a pair of Muntjac deer! 

Pete and I enjoyed going through all the pictures on the trail camera, all 1680 of them. We even found the ideal location to carry this task out. This could become a regular thing!

The Missing Season

It almost seems that we have jumped straight from Autumn into Spring. Apart from a couple of frosty starts and the lightest dusting of snow that soon vanished as temperatures quickly reached around 14ºC, it has predominantly been wet and mild.

Many plants and animals have been fooled into acting like it’s spring in these mild conditions, but there is still time for a proper cold snap to put this right and reset the calendar so to speak.

The fields are again full of ewes heavy in lamb, and we will soon be hearing their plaintive bleats, another event that signifies the onset of spring in my mind. This mild weather has done wonders for the grass, so the lactating ewes with have plenty of nutritional grazing. The other side of that coin is, I’m not sure my old lawnmower will manage the first cut of the year in the back garden. I wonder if I could borrow a sheep?

This weekend finds me full of cold and suffering like only a man can. I came home from work on Friday after valiantly struggling through the day and slumped on the settee feeling pretty sorry for myself. At around 8pm, I still hadn’t moved when I receive a phone call from my daughter to inform me of a road causality Badger she had spotted that looked like it was still moving. She was concerned but unable to stop on the busy road. That was enough to drag me off the settee and I followed her directions to the badger.

The road was unlit, fast, and the badger was on a blind bend. I drove past it and turned the car around. I managed to pull up close to it with my hazards on, but felt very exposed on the blind bend. I’m glad my daughter had more sense than to put herself in the position I was now in! I quickly checked the badger, it had not survived the collision, I then got myself out of the situation. I really didn’t fancy meeting a similar fate.

              Unfortunately, this is the only time most people get to see a Badger.

I had my trail camera and a few peanuts in the boot of the car, the cool evening rain and air had eased my headache and my breathing, so I decided to stay out a little longer. With badgers on my mind, I headed to my favorite little sett. I have mentioned this sett before, it is the one that was badly damaged last year. I didn’t see any badgers for a couple of months, but eventually, there were signs that at least one badger had returned.

It was raining heavily by the time i reached the sett, I placed the camera in a suitable spot, scattered a few peanuts about, then headed for home. I have only seen one badger since the sett was damaged. There were three in this small sett. I’m hoping the trail camera will reveal that there is more than just a solitary badger resident.

I had a terrible night, sleep just eluded me. Unable to breath, sneezing, coughing, I gave it up as a bad job and got up for a coffee about 4.00am. I read for a while and then at around 5.30am, headed off to check the camera out and see what activity there had been. I arrived at around 6.10am, I didn't encounter anything of mention on the walk down in the dark. I quickly flicked on my head torch and was disappointed to see the peanuts were still where I had spread them. I took the memory card out of the camera and again headed for home.

I was suprised to find on the memory card a badger picture!

If you look at the time recorded on the photo, it’s 6.02am. Just one badger and it probably encountered the peanuts on its return journey to the sett after a nights forging. I arrived here about 8 mins after this picture was captured. No doubt it heard me coughing and spluttering across the fields well before I got anywhere near and vacated the area. 

I do hope this badger isn’t the only inhabitant of this sett, I will keep an eye on things over the next few months.

 

Saturday morning and Pete and I visited Middleton RSPB for a wander about; we haven’t been for a while and it made a refreshing change. We had hoped that the Drake Smew reported on Friday was still about, but we didn’t locate it; we did however have our first Redpoll, Oystercatcher and Goldeneye of the year. As always, a great place to visit.

 

Here we go again

Another year starts and I am looking forward to seeing if I can photograph some Badgers from local Setts I have been watching. They have proved to be very elusive of late and although I have seen signs of their activity, I have not yet clapped eyes on a badger about its business in 2016. Mind you, we are only 10 days into the new year as I write this, but I have already been badger watching a couple of times with no success.

Yesterday’s birding threw up a few treats. Managing Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Grey Partridge and plenty of Skylarks, so I was pleased with that.

My thoughts though are with badgers at the moment, so later that day I went to check out another badger sett I keep an eye on. Activity here is really ramping up and although it isn’t as local to me as the sett I frequently visit, I feel it may house a bigger colony of Meles meles and allow for more successful observation. 

 

I intend spending more of my free time watching and attempting to photograph badgers this year, and my free time in January will be spent just watching and attempting to learn the best times to arrive to maximise my chances of a successful encounter. If I can try to ascertain the routines of the badgers in these setts I could save myself a lot of siting around and cut down on waiting time. I may try to use a trail camera to record the comings and goings of these setts where possible and see if there is noticeable pattern in the times these badgers emerge to begin an evenings foraging and the times they return.

It isn’t unfortunately as easy as just placing a trail camera on site and collecting it again a week or so later; these setts are not in remote areas and an unconcealed trail camera will soon disappear.

I only own one trail camera at the moment, but I think i may add another one or two to my collection of equipment this year. It will all depend on finding suitable sites to install and leave them to do their thing while being relatively confident that someone won’t find and pocket it a couple of days later.

I ended up digging out the trail camera and setting it up at this location. It was difficult to conceal and i spent a bit of time camouflaging it so it didn’t easily stand out. I have seen the odd badger at this location when our paths have unexpectedly crossed, but it is the first time I have set a trail camera here. It’s been a while since I used the trail camera and rookie mistake, i forget to check how I had it set to capture pictures. Unfortunately, I had it set to leave 10 mins between each activation; great for leaving somewhere for month, but not ideal for a few days when you would like to capture a lot of activity.

Forty eight hours later, most of it being accompanied by torrential rain, I decided to check on the camera. Rainy, misty nights aren’t great for any type of photography. It was after work, dark and still raining. It was difficult to get to the sett as I needed to walk up quite a steep hill. The mud was very slippy due to the ground being ripped up by fools on scrambling bikes prior to the rain. It really was a case of two steps forward and slide back one. On reaching the area, I noticed the rain had caused some subsidence and someone had cordoned the area off. If the area was going to be getting some attention, I decided I would remove the camera.

It was once at home when checking the SD card I realized I had not had the camera set on the best settings, nevertheless, I had captured a few shots of a couple of the sett’s residents.

So, my badger picture account for 2016 is open with pictures of some badgers I have never camera trapped before. I will resume my interest in this area as the weather improves.

I am more interested in my very local sett and its residents (or maybe resident) at the moment. Activity suggest there is more than a solitary badger in this sett, but my last sightings of 2015 after the sett was damaged was of the same solitary boar. Hopefully, this group will reassemble? I will keep my eye on it.

Badger Reclamation

A couple of months ago one of the Badger setts I keep an eye on experienced some serious disturbance. I don’t at this point believe it was an intentional act, more collateral damage from the carrying out of routine tasks on the land. The sett in question had been collapsed and practically filled in by being ploughed over while the field itself was being cultivated ready for its winter crop.

This is a small sett containing only three badgers, a large boar and two sows. For a couple of weeks after the damage to the sett, no badger sightings or activity was recorded. The well used latrines I am aware of remained unused, grass started to grow over once well used trails, and the sett main entrance remained blocked with soil. I feared the worst.

 

Then, one morning about three to four weeks after the damage, I noticed some fresh digging that had occurred at the damaged sett during my early morning walk. This gave me some hope that maybe this small colony of badgers had survived. The fresh workings had not reopened the old main entrance, but were tucked away under the hedgerow, it looked like the sett was being opened up again.

We walked the fields around the sett early mornings, evenings, and well into darkness hoping to see the badgers in the places I used to watch them. No badgers were seen!

Then a discovery, well away from the original sett in some sandy loose soil we found a blind sett. I felt this was probably temporary accommodation for a returning badger while the old sett was reworked and reopened.

A week later and I found another blind sett, dug in firmer soil, again, a fair way from the original sett.

A few more weeks slipped by and one morning I noticed that the new main entrance to the original sett had bedding material airing outside.

There were also footprints in some of the other tunnels.

So the good news is, there is still a fighting chance this sett will carry on housing badgers, but I still have concerns.

I have now had visual contact on several occasions over the last three weeks of the inhabitants of this sett, or to be more specific, inhabitant.

I have only seen the old boar and there have been no sightings of the two females. I am hoping that they are about. Maybe they are using one of the blind setts while the old sett is being repaired. I hope so! I will be keeping my eye on this sett, as I always do and hope to report that the family group have again taken up residence in the original sett.

Visual contact now gets more difficult as we are well into November. The temperatures have dropped and winter in beginning to make its presence felt. The badgers will spend more time below ground and their activities will become less predictable. They don’t hibernate, but in extreme conditions when food is scarce they will just conserve energy and stay curled up in the sett. If there are any female badgers still resident in this sett, they will give birth in Jan/Feb. I hope this is the case.

By March the boar will also become more active and will patrol his territory looking for females. This boar has show he is a resilient old fellow, and if the original females are no more, I hope he finds more on his spring travels and hopefully, they repopulate this little sett.

 

Posted with Blogsy

An interesting weekend

Friday after work, the weekend started in earnest. Pete and I set up near one of our local badger setts and hoped that one or two of the local badgers would put in an appearance. I’m trying to get a decent picture with my camera and flash, rather than just the black and white pictures from the IR trail camera. It wasn’t to be, but an interesting evening nevertheless.

Saturday morning and we had a wander about a local woodland, this is a great time of year for fungi, and I had a go at a few photographs.

Then, Saturday afternoon and a Great White Egret was reported on one of the local nature reserves. I rushed off to try and get what would be a site tick for me. I searched the reserve and even went to another nearby lake where I felt it may have sought refuge, but no luck. I did however take an interesting picture of a Little Egret by intentionally under exposing the picture.

I suspected the Great White Egret would put another appearance in, and it was reported again at last light. I was back at the nature reserve for first light on Sunday morning and there it was, making the effort worthwhile. It was still quite dull as it was just getting light so I put the camera on the tripod. Before I was set up, a large flock of Canadas decided to vacate the pool. They made such as racket as they left, it spooked the GWE, and it too left the pool. 

I met up with Jon and we had a good walk around the area, eventually relocating the GWE back at the original sighting area. Light had now improved, but the bird was in a poor position between us and the Sun. It was so spooky and we knew approaching closer would again cause it to take flight, so we just attempted pictures from where we were.

I couldn’t let this opportunity for a picture pass either. It shows clearly the difference in size between Little and Great White Egrets, and the Heron was just an added bonus.

These were about the best pictures I managed, the GWE remained very skittish and left the reserve many times spooked by Geese, dog walkers, traffic, photographers and light aircraft, returning back to the reserve many times. 

Spooked again!