I actually get home from work at a reasonable time this evening. Gives me a bit of time to have a drink and chill a bit before coming back out to see the badgers. Actually, I need to catch up with the blog. Then I remember something I should have done at work. Bu**er. I can do this remotely but it takes me a an hour so there goes my time for updating the blog.
As usual, I arrive at the Barn Owl Centre a little later than I'd hoped, so it's a quick "Hello" and off down to the hide, on my own. I've just got into the second field when some movement catches my eye. Approaching from my right is a wild Barn Owl. As I see him, he sees me and veers off, but it is quite a good view. Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera out and it was probably too dark to film anyway. I thought it had flown into one of the Oak trees, but have a quick scan around with the torch and see nothing. On down to the hide, food out and settle down for the wait. As of late, I don't wait too long before the first badger appears. He works his way towards the hide and is soon joined by a second badger. This is the usual pair by the look of things. It's odd how these two turn up each night, but others aren't. I hope this isn't a sign that the others not feeding here because they know I'm there? If you read the blog you will see that we do get other badgers joining these two from time to time, so it isn't a definite that only two will show. I think the large groups we saw early on, with up to seven badgers, are a feature of having young cubs in the clan and sticking together. As the cubs become independant, the clan resorts to individual foraging again. Even the terrible twosome turn up independently when they both show. I feed the badgers additional food by whistling and throwing half a dozen peanuts out every so often, but eventually stop so they can continue on their natural foraging and they wander off.
Walking back up I hear a badger, or two, in the dry ditch that runs almost down to the hide. As I'm walking up the second field I see the Barn Owl again, flying low and quartering the long grass looking for voles. Within a few seconds, he too disappears into the darkness. All in all, a good night topped off by the Barn Owl, twice!
Showing posts with label voles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voles. Show all posts
Monday 7/9/09 - Another late finish....
First day back at school today for the pupils where I work. Usual chaos with lots of forgotten passwords and other problems. Eventually leave work at about seven. By time I'm home, I have less than an hour before going back out to see the badgers. It'll be a pleasant way to unwind after a hectic day.
I take my dad's camera over tonight with a view to getting some more close shots of the badgers. By time I get down towards the hide it's already quite dark. I check the time and it's 20:20. I walk on a bit further and a badger is approaching from my left down an adjoining path. I stop and watch, but he sees, or smells me and, although he doesn't run off, he turns around and heads away from me back in the direction he came from. Onward towards the hide and movement out in the feeding area. A single badger is there already! 20:25. I must get here earlier. This one, too, trots off as I approach and I set the food out as normal. Into the hide and at 20:40 a badger appears down the main path. He works his way towards the hide and is soon within photographing range. I put the camera behind my back and switch it on. It makes a bit of a whirring noise, so I reduce the noise as much as I can. I carefully put the camera out throught the gap in the net and take a shot. I take a quick look at the image and a message says "Memory Full". Odd, I think as I thought there was a lot of space left. Then it dawns on me. I've left the card in the card reader at home! Coming out in a rush is not a good idea!
I now have the two "usual" badgers, I think, feeding close to the hide. I just sit and watch and enjoy. I always find it particularly funny when they start pushing each other in competition for the food. Small grunting sounds usually accompany this pushing match. As the food is now running out, I whistle and throw some more nuts out. They latch onto them fairly quickly and polish them off. I throw some more and accidentally hit one of the badgers with at least one nut. No response. They're not too shy close to the hide, so it seems. Another top up of nuts and I hit the badger whilst he has his back to me. He turns around so quickly, it's amazing. They are not the fastest animals in the world, but turning around they are very quick. It doesn't bother him and he begins eating the nuts I hit him with. I top up the food a couple more times, but let the badgers wander off into the dark and make my way back up to the farm uneventfully, a little less stressed than I was earlier!
I take my dad's camera over tonight with a view to getting some more close shots of the badgers. By time I get down towards the hide it's already quite dark. I check the time and it's 20:20. I walk on a bit further and a badger is approaching from my left down an adjoining path. I stop and watch, but he sees, or smells me and, although he doesn't run off, he turns around and heads away from me back in the direction he came from. Onward towards the hide and movement out in the feeding area. A single badger is there already! 20:25. I must get here earlier. This one, too, trots off as I approach and I set the food out as normal. Into the hide and at 20:40 a badger appears down the main path. He works his way towards the hide and is soon within photographing range. I put the camera behind my back and switch it on. It makes a bit of a whirring noise, so I reduce the noise as much as I can. I carefully put the camera out throught the gap in the net and take a shot. I take a quick look at the image and a message says "Memory Full". Odd, I think as I thought there was a lot of space left. Then it dawns on me. I've left the card in the card reader at home! Coming out in a rush is not a good idea!
I now have the two "usual" badgers, I think, feeding close to the hide. I just sit and watch and enjoy. I always find it particularly funny when they start pushing each other in competition for the food. Small grunting sounds usually accompany this pushing match. As the food is now running out, I whistle and throw some more nuts out. They latch onto them fairly quickly and polish them off. I throw some more and accidentally hit one of the badgers with at least one nut. No response. They're not too shy close to the hide, so it seems. Another top up of nuts and I hit the badger whilst he has his back to me. He turns around so quickly, it's amazing. They are not the fastest animals in the world, but turning around they are very quick. It doesn't bother him and he begins eating the nuts I hit him with. I top up the food a couple more times, but let the badgers wander off into the dark and make my way back up to the farm uneventfully, a little less stressed than I was earlier!
Monday 31st August - Argy Bargy and photographs
We are now getting close to going public with the badger viewing. They are feeding regularly at the hide in varying numbers and will hopefully give people the chance to see these animals up close. To help promote this I need to take some photos of the badgers to use on the blog and on the Barn Owl Center website. Therefore I leave the camcorder at home tonight and take the digital SLR plus flash. If you read this blog regularly you will know I've tried using flash before on the camcorder. It couldn't focus in the dark, but the badgers didn't seem to mind the flash. The only untested bit is the noise of the camera as the shutter and mirror move. I'll give it a go and see what happens.
On my own, I'm a little late tonight and it's 20:55 as I'm walking down to the hide. On the path in front of me is a lone badger foraging. I walk quietly towards it, but he's downwind of me and soon smells me and he's off. I continue to the hide, put the food out and get the camera ready. I fire a test shot at a stick I've placed there for something to prefocus on. It looks OK. At 21:15, a lone badger appears from the main path picking off the few nuts I leave as a trail into the feeding area. The badger is soon close enough to try a photo and I get as low as I can and, with some trepidation push the shutter. As soon as the shot is taken, the badger runs off, almost out of the feeding area. Not so good. In the quiet, the shutter does sound more like a gun shot going off, so I can't blame the badger. The badger is already making its way back towards the hide and as he gets closer, a second badger appears and soon joins him. I try another shot and again, the first badger does a runner. The second one didn't seem to mind at all. Whilst the one badger is not so close to the hide, I try another shot of the more tolerant animal. This time, he retreats a little way. Each time they have returned they have been getting closer to the hide as they've eaten all the food furthest from the hide, so although the camera is scaring them, it can't be too bad as they keep returning. That said, I decide that using the SLR for photographs is not the best option; I don't want to scare the badgers. I'd rather they left of their own accord as and when they are ready. I put the camera down and just watch.
Here is a picture that I did manage to take, my first :-)
The two badgers are now very close to the hide, literally just outside the door, a foot or so from where I'm kneeling. They are down to the last few nuts and as I watch they are trying to push each other off the remaining food. They try and get their head over the food and then walk sideways to try and block the other animal from getting any more. This only goes on for a minute, but it is highly amusing watching this behaviour. They don't make any noise during this pushing, or show any signs of agression other than the pushing and generally seem to get on OK.
Footage of the fox pouncing yesterday evening. This animal looked fantastic in the late afternoon light and is in really good condition. If there was a class at Crufts he would be in with a chance!
On my own, I'm a little late tonight and it's 20:55 as I'm walking down to the hide. On the path in front of me is a lone badger foraging. I walk quietly towards it, but he's downwind of me and soon smells me and he's off. I continue to the hide, put the food out and get the camera ready. I fire a test shot at a stick I've placed there for something to prefocus on. It looks OK. At 21:15, a lone badger appears from the main path picking off the few nuts I leave as a trail into the feeding area. The badger is soon close enough to try a photo and I get as low as I can and, with some trepidation push the shutter. As soon as the shot is taken, the badger runs off, almost out of the feeding area. Not so good. In the quiet, the shutter does sound more like a gun shot going off, so I can't blame the badger. The badger is already making its way back towards the hide and as he gets closer, a second badger appears and soon joins him. I try another shot and again, the first badger does a runner. The second one didn't seem to mind at all. Whilst the one badger is not so close to the hide, I try another shot of the more tolerant animal. This time, he retreats a little way. Each time they have returned they have been getting closer to the hide as they've eaten all the food furthest from the hide, so although the camera is scaring them, it can't be too bad as they keep returning. That said, I decide that using the SLR for photographs is not the best option; I don't want to scare the badgers. I'd rather they left of their own accord as and when they are ready. I put the camera down and just watch.
Here is a picture that I did manage to take, my first :-)
Footage of the fox pouncing yesterday evening. This animal looked fantastic in the late afternoon light and is in really good condition. If there was a class at Crufts he would be in with a chance!
Saturday 29th August - Feeding only tonight
Due to my plans changing last night, I was able to go and watch the badgers after all. The downside to that is I am unable to tonight. On the bright side, I can get down there to feed them so it's about 19:15 when I get down to the centre. I stock up with nuts and set off for the hide. Now I've got the video camera, I thought I would take it with me as you never know what you might see. I'm glad I did. As I walk out of the first field into the second, I look up the path to my right and there is the dog fox. He's preoccupied listening to something in the long grass at the side of the path. I begin filming him as I've no daylight footage of the foxes (or badgers) yet. I've heard that if you make a squeaking noise, it can attract foxes to come nearer, so I try it. The fox looks around and sees me, but ignores me and concentrates on something in the long grass again. As I watch him, his ears go up, he does a little shuffle with his back legs and then launches himself up in the air and forward, disappearing into the long grass. It was a pretty spectacular jump, I was surprised at how high he went! A couple of seconds later he comes out of the long grass onto the path and trots away from me, ignoring my squeaking noises. That shoots that myth down in flames...
This behaviour is quite common with foxes as they hunt voles and other small rodents. I've only seen it on the TV before, most recently on the Yellowstone program, but that was in the snow. It was still a lovely sight to see and I do have it on video. I will post it shortly. I guess that's just being in the right place at the right time, but really glad I saw it.
I wander on down to the hide, put the food out and come back a different route. I don't see anything else, although the moon and clouds are looking good in the evening light. As usual, it's just nice being out there!
This behaviour is quite common with foxes as they hunt voles and other small rodents. I've only seen it on the TV before, most recently on the Yellowstone program, but that was in the snow. It was still a lovely sight to see and I do have it on video. I will post it shortly. I guess that's just being in the right place at the right time, but really glad I saw it.
I wander on down to the hide, put the food out and come back a different route. I don't see anything else, although the moon and clouds are looking good in the evening light. As usual, it's just nice being out there!
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