Checking on an old badger sett, I came across a bird feeder which, judging by the number of birds using it continuously, was well-maintained. Watching from a distance, I could see, among the crowd of bluetits and great tits, a pair of bullfinches. The next time a day of sunshine interrupted the winter gloom, I staked out the feeder in my hide, and bagged a nice collection of natural pictures as birds waited their turn in the bushes beside the feeder.
Acorns, squirrels and badgers
At the moment, I am using my camera trap to try to find out how many badgers are in each of my local setts, what holes they are using, and where they socialise (mutual grooming and suchlike). For the last couple of days, I have put it on a tree, watching the exit path from a sett that is not easy to watch without being detected.
When I looked at the results from the first session (just 24 hours), I was surprised to see that I had over 60 video clips – I was expecting to just be able to count the badgers going off hunting, and then returning. However, a lot of the clips were daytime, and here’s a typical one :
Apart from the farm cat and a group of pigeons, all of the daytime clips were of a squirrel, sometimes a pair, foraging in this area and burying acorns. That night, out come the badgers :
The badgers – 4 or 5 of them in the sett – spent a lot of time in this area, seeming mostly to be just snuffling amongst the leaves. They did not dig up any acorns – there were plenty lying around on the surface – but certainly seemed curious about the activities of the squirrels. On the other hand, they showed no response at all to the scent of the farm cat who passed along the badger path at a time when there were no badgers in sight.
Lovely piece of kit, this camera trap. Adds another dimension to badger-watching!
Look what I’ve got!
I’ve been scanning some ancient negatives today. This one always raises a laugh at my talks on badgers – taken in 1973, judging by photos of my daughters on the same film strip. I remember showing a print of this photo to my mother, who said “Aww – isn’t she sweet?”
An Autumn Night
Setting out for a walk in the woods at night, shining a torch on the fallen leaves on the pavement.
Actually, camera on tripod, background exposure two stops under-exposed, flash on camera fitted with a gridded snoot, aimed at the drift of fallen leaves. Background lit and colour determined by the streetlamps, but the fallen leaves show their actual colour because they are lit by the flash.
Whooper swans at Martin Mere
The whooper swans had just arrived after their migration flight from Iceland, and this group looked exhausted. Others still seemed full of energy, taking off and flying a wide circuit before returning to the mere.