Wednesday 16/6/10 - A exciting forty five minutes

It was a glorious evening in Gloucester, clear skies, slight breeze and the setting sun shedding that gorgeous richness across the landscape. I initially set off towards the orchard near the sett to see if there was any activity there, collecting bedding or feeding, which I have witnessed here lately. It was still quite light and no activity here. I watched for five or ten minutes then headed off down to the hide. As I was walking along one of the mowed pathways which wind around the farm, a sudden movement caught my eye. On one of the grass piles, where the cuttings go when Vince mows the pathways, a vixen and her cub who were resting on one of the piles jumped up and the vixen disappeared. I just stood still and the cub who had its back to me just stood and watched where his mum had gone. He was no more than thirty feet from me and was tilting his head from one side to the other as though saying "come on, mum, stop playing around". He obviously hadn't seen me. After a good thirty or forty seconds, he started sniffing around and that was when he turned, saw me and vanished into the long grass. I was really pleased to see at least one cub around. I'd seen foxes from time to time, but no cubs so far this year.

I wandered over to the area the cub had disappeared, which was right next to one of the dry ditches that run around and through the farm. I could hear movement in the ditch so lowered myself behind the long grass a little and waited for the cub to appear. What actually appeared was a badger! Now this area in early spring looked like badgers were using it as an additional sett, but I hadn't seen, or heard any activity for a couple of months. Well the badger moved up the opposite bank of the ditch and started collecting bedding by clawing at the grass and gathering it into a ball and walking backwards, rolling it along, and disappeared back towards what must be an active sett! He repeated this three times, which is great news as this sett is only about forty metres from the hide.

I then wandered onto the hide and put nuts out as usual, waited for a few mminutes, but had to get back so didn't stay long. I thought I'd check out the orchard on my way back. En route I heard something in the wild flower meadow, so crept closer. The grass and flowers are quite tall here and although I got quite close to what was obviously a badger from the noises it was making, maybe four feet, I couldn't actually see it. It was sniffing loudly, then a pause as it noisily ate something, then more sniffing. I left it alone and carried onto the orchard, but still nothing there. Although it was getting dark now, a cuckoo was still calling and the light was fantastic. All in all, a great way to spend 45 minutes!

Tuesday 22/9/09 - A fox for good measure

It's been another very pleasant day and I'm looking forward to spending some time down in the hide; my daily fix of nature! I follow the normal routine tonight and I'm in the hide before eight. It is a lovely evening and with little wind about, it seems very relaxing and just right for badgers. The first thing to show tonight is a fox, however. He moves in a semi-circle in front of the hide, never coming closer than about four metres. He knows there is food there, but won't come any closer. A badger shows up and the fox stays out of the badgers way. I've found that once a badger has moved into the feeding area, foxes don't tend to stay for much longer. Possibly with the awareness that a human is sat in the hide plus the fact a badger may decide to have a chew on it, the fox trots off as the second badger arrives. In the picture, below, you can see the fox keeping a close eye on the badger. It's also interesting to note the badger is sitting down, like a dog really. They tend to eat like this quite a lot and on the odd occasion, they lie down too! Hopefully this is a sign that they are relaxed and not under any stress.

      A fox keeps a wary eye on a badger

Meaning to get home a little earlier tonight, I decide not to feed any additional nuts. It's slightly concerning that the badgers, the smaller one in particular, are now waiting for additional food to be thrown out to them. If they hear movement, they are moving slightly closer in anticipation of something being thrown out to them. Normally they would baulk at the sound of movement within the hide, but because they hear movement as I get some peanuts out of my pocket, they are now associating that with some extra food being thrown out, they put up with it and sit and wait. It puts me under pressure, being a bit soft for that stripey face, to feed them more, but I am being sensible and only feeding a certain amount; never throwing all the food I carry out to them.

A number of wild owls are about tonight, all Tawny's. I can hear them calling from several directions. One is right up by the centre and calling consistently. Hopefully I will see him when I walk back up.  One badger wanders off down the main path, the other is circulating around the feeding area and keeps coming back to the hide looking for more food.  He eventually gets the hint and wanders off into the dark. It's important to me that they leave of their own accord and don't see me vacate the hide.  I see a badger on the path on the way back up, but don't get close to it. The wild Tawny is still calling from a tree next to the flying area. I can see him quite clearly as I walk back up and move closer for a better look. I get within about twenty yards, but he then flies off to a tree a little further away.

Badger Fact

Badgers live, on average, between twelve and fifteen years!

Thursday 17/9/09 - Back to normal?

Beth, my daughter is coming over to see the badgers tonight. She's always pleased to come over to the centre and see Connie, the juvenile Long-eared Owl, her favourite. Connie isn't looking quite so juvenile nowadays, it's amazing how quick they grow up. You can say the same about your kids, too, I guess.

We get to the Barn Owl Centre before eight, but I need to do a bit of work on a computer before going down to the hide. I don't complete the work and leave a little later than I'd like, but with peanuts and dogmeat on board and a daughter in tow, we set off down to the hide. Once there, I put the food out and we settle in. We have a bit of a wait and the first thing to show up tonight is a fox. I enjoy watching the foxes and so does Beth. She hasnt' seen them as often as me (as I'm here a lot more). Foxes are definitely more cautious than the badgers; they don't want to come into the pool of light and if a badger is present, they don't normally get too close to those either. This one is circling around the front of the hide and is acting quite nervously. I'm sure he knows we're there. A badger appears and shows no interest in the fox and moves towards the hide. The picture, above, shows the fox about as close as it cares to get to a badger, although I have seen them closer.

I apologise for cutting the badger in half, but with the fox being very alert, I cannot get my line of vision onto the screen on the back of the camera and have to guess where the camera is pointing! The fox eventually tires of pussy-footing around the badger and disappears. A second badger has now joined the first and we have them fairly close to the hide already. I can now whistle and feed the badgers a few extra nuts at a time. I'm sure they can see my hand, but wait patiently after I've whistled until they hear the nuts fall. I really enjoy this part and must be careful not to over feed them!

The picture here shows a badger with a mouthful of dog food, which they seem to thoroughly enjoy. The one in the foreground is eating peanuts and isn't bothered about his colleague eating the meat. In fact, I would go as far as to say they enjoy peanuts more than dog food. Beth is enjoying the additional feeding with a small snigger escaping every so often, although it doesn't seem to bother the badgers. At one point there is a badger right outside the hide with his nose up against the torch and Beth puts her face up very close to the badger with just the net separating them. Suddenly, the badger is off. He must have seen her. He doesn't reappear after a few minutes and as his feeding partner has already ambled off, we decide to call it a night and head back to the farm.

I finish off the work I started earlier and head back for home. I'm out tomorrow night so won't be watching. I will be feeding, however, and if anything shows I'll certainly let you know about it. Otherwise I'm hoping to watch again on Saturday night.

Friday 11/9/09 - No watching but what a sunset!

After not being able to feed or watch last night, I can at least achieve the feeding tonight. So, about 19:15 and I'm off to the Barn Owl Centre to put the feed out for the badgers. A quick chat with the staff, still all present, and off down to the hide. I've brought both cameras, video and stills, with me as you never know what you might see. Already, a glorious sunset is turning the few clouds that are about a lovely pink colour with a deepening red to the horizon. As I pass through the gate into the bottom field, I notice on the path ahead of me a load of feathers and a carcass of a pigeon, without a head! I wonder if a Sparrowhawk has been hunting and I've scared it off? The carcass has been partially plucked, hence the mass of feathers around, but the head gone, I'm not sure a Sparrowhawk would eat the head first? I take a bit of video for future reference and continue down to the hide. I put the nuts and dogfood out, check around for signs of activity and just hang around for five minutes in case anything turns up. It doesn't.

I am just about to walk a different way back, but decide to go back via the pigeon carcass just in case the hunter has returned. I'm about thirty yards from the pigeon when I see a fox sniffing around that area. Has he just found the dead pigeon and is taking advantage of the free meal? I don't see how a fox has caught a pigeon unless it was very lucky, or sly. I take a bit of video, although the fox is quite small at maximum zoom. I try and move a little closer, but the fox sees me and darts back into the hedge. When I get back to where the kill was, the carcass is gone. The fox has had his supper already; he must have been close when I passed here on the way down to the hide. It's only been ten minutes since then so he didn't hang around.

I continue walking back towards the farm when a notice a fox ahead of me on the path alongside the wild flower meadow. It's going away from me so I decide to follow it, about forty yards behind it. Suddenly it stops and sniffs the air, then turns around and comes back straight towards me. I begin filming and stay as still as I can. Every so often the fox stops and looks into the hedge and long grass. I take one of these pauses as the opportunity to kneel down and make myself less conspicuous. The fox continues on its path directly for me, but at about twenty five yards, it sees me and runs off in the opposite direction. It would have been nice to see it closer, but as I've discovered, their eyesight is very good.

I take some more video of the sunset which has now turned the sky a gorgeous red and almost wish I wasn't going out this evening, it would be nice to stay. I get back to the flying area and Vince and Juliette are there. I mention the fox and pigeon to Vince and the mystery is solved. In one of the adjoining fields they have been shooting pigeon all day and several wounded birds have come down in the nature reserve. The fox wasn't sly, he was just lucky!

I take more video of the sunset and as I chat to Vince, one of the local Kestrels starts calling in the bottom field. You can see it looking at something on the ground, but it is an alarm call it's making. Must be the fox says Vince. We then go on a mini Little Owl hunt behind the farm buildings. We do see one of the Little Owls, but we don't get too close. Still nice to see, though.

That's it for today, but all these things I've seen and written about have taken place in the last forty five minutes and not a badger in sight. Just goes to show what you can see if you are at least out there!

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!

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!

Thursday 27th August - A good show for two

Tonight my wife, Juliet, has decided to come over with me. A quick chat with Vince and as it's almost dark, we make our way down to the hide. Dogfood and peanuts deployed, we get into the hide to wait and see what will happen. We've only been in the hide for about ten minutes when the first badger appears. He is not far into the feeding area when he turns and trots off. Juliet is sat in behind the netting over the door and it's one of those nights when we are getting a lot of reflection of light off the low cloud. Although quite orange, the ambient light levels are quite high and I wonder if the badger could see Juliet? He was too far away for the light to put onto him, so that wouldn't have obscurred his view at all. We wait maybe fifteen minutes before a reappearance of anything. This could be the same badger, but this time he is happier and works his way towards the hide. This one is joined by a second badger who comes over and is feeding with the first animal about three meters out.

This is where I tend to put the bulk of the food, although after the last couple of nights, I'm also putting some food much closer to the hide as they don't seem to mind being that close to the hide. Having said that, when it's a bit breezy, the netting covering the hide does tend to flap a little bit which can make the badgers (and foxes) uneasy, even making them retreat from time to time, although they return pretty quickly.

Anyway, the badgers are now getting quite close to the hide and I decide to try some more video. As I open the screen on the camcorder, it makes a small noise and the badgers spook and retreat several meters. I put the camera away and decide it is probably not a good idea to do this when I have visitors as the additional commotion could scare the badgers off. Within a minute, or so, the badgers are back and feeding right outside the door. From Juliet's feet, the badgers are no more than a foot away on the outside of the hide, obviously. With the light on them we get fantastic views of the animals sniffing out and eating the free offerings. With the breeze in our faces, we can smell the animals quite strongly. If you've ever driven by a dead badger, one of the many unfortunate ones to be hit by a car, and you get a smell come into the car a bit like gone off meat, but maybe not so bad, that is what living badgers smell like! It's not overly unpleasant, but before watching them at such close quarters, I assumed it was due to the dead animal beginning to rot. It turns out this is what they smell like.

As the food runs out they start sniffing around madly looking for any missed items. I manage to get a few more nuts near the hide unoticed and they are back eating these extra offerings with relish. Eventually these are all eaten and we watch them have a final search for food before wandering off, noses constantly sniffing.

Another nice show of the animals tonight plus we see another on the way back up to the centre. A cup of coffee, a bit of IT stuff to do, and a very pleasant way to end the day.

Wednesday 26/8/09 - Without a safety net

When I got home last night, I couldn't sleep. It sounds a bit sad, but having the badger almost in my lap last night really got the adrenaline going and I'm still excited about it tonight. Having said that, I don't know if I want to tempt the badgers into the hide again, I don't think I'd want to be in the hide with a badger as it's not that big and I don't want to scare the badgers, or be bitten by one!

Tonight I'm on my own and think I'll try something a little different. I haven't much time tonight either as I'd like to be home by ten. Food out, no meat tonight as I was late leaving and it was almost dark by time I arrived here. So peanuts spread around and into the hide. I decide to leave the net that normally goes over the door up tonight so nothing to hide behind. I position myself a couple of feet back in the hide sat on my little (uncomfortable) chair. I don't wait for long when some movement from the main path attracts my attention. It's a fox! He trots out into the middle of the feeding area and begins eating peanuts. A few seconds later, a second fox joins it. The first is one of this years cubs, by the look of it. The second is an adult fox, probably a vixen. I turn the light on and the adult fox runs, then stops, but eventually wanders off into the night. The reaction from the other animal couldn't be more different. It sits down on the grass about five meters away chewing nuts and looking quite relaxed. So here I am, sat in the hide, but with an open doorway in front of me watching a fox eating its supper. I can whistle to the fox and he doesn't mind that, a bit like the badgers. I do this every now and then to make a noise they may come to recognise as a "food call". You never know your luck!

In the background, a badger has appeared, but it doesn't get far into the feeding area when it turns around and trots off. Had is seen me? Badgers eyesight isn't very good so if the fox hasn't seen me (and foxes do have good eyesight), how did the badger? Who knows. Perhaps it was just put out that the fox was there eating the badgers peanuts. About ten minutes goes by and the fox eventually trots off. I decide to call it a day during the lull in proceedings and quickly shut the hide up and start making my way back. Still plenty of nuts around so I'm sure the badgers will be along soon. I've not gone very far when I see a badger making its way towards the feeding area, but resist the urge to go back and watch it. A little further along a lot of rustling in the hedge makes me turn the torch on. Two badgers are coming out of the hedge only about six feet away. One turns back, but the other makes its way onto the path and heads towards me, sniffing for food. As I've got the torch in one hand and the camcorder in the other, I'm unable to throw a few nuts down for it. It goes to walk past me on the other side of the path, about a meter away, when it suddenly stops sniffs long and hard. It then turns towards me and starts covering the short distance between me and it very quickly. I'm filming this and decide that it's probably best to move my foot about now, just in case its intentions are not to my benefit. It stops, looks at my feet and then runs off. I don't like scaring the badgers, but I'd like it even less if one thought my foot was tasty morsel! I make my way back up to the farm without further incident.

Sitting there without anything in front of you watching a fox, which ended up as close as three meters before it disappeared, is also quite exciting. The close encounter with the badger last night was slightly more so, but this was a lot more relaxed and the fox left of its own accord, not because I had to scare it. With the encounters I've had whilst being stood, or knelt, close to both foxes and badgers whilst out in the open, it just goes to show that if you take the wind direction into consideration, wear quiet clothing and don't top up the after shave before you go out, what is possible. It's highly rewarding and I recommend you get out there and give it a try.

Sunday 23/8/09 - A nice surprise

Back on my own tonight after the five people we had in the hide last night. I have brought the camcorder, though I don't know why as I've still not edited any of the other footage I've taken. I will get around to it, honest!

Only peanuts out tonight. I've started to reduce the number of peanuts I'm putting out for two reasons; one, the badgers will get fat and unhealthy and two, with smaller numbers of badgers turning up now the cubs have grown up a bit and they seem to forage independently, although not always, a large number of free offerings is not only unhealthy for the individual, but it can take them quite a while to have their fill.As access to the hide isn't possible without coming through the feeding area at present, if you need to go, you can't without disturbing the animals. A smaller number of offerings are eaten more quickly, especially with small numbers of badgers. They are still there for maybe twenty minutes, but that's enough time for a good viewing.

Anyway, back to the watching, or waiting as it is at the moment. I was in the hide at about 21:00 and it's now getting on for half past. I thought I saw some movement outside the hide, but it was very quick. Perhaps an owl flew by? I squint into the darkness and amazingly, there is a fox out there. Since I've started watching the badgers, I've not seen a fox anywhere near the hide, but it's a nice surprise. It's eating nuts and chomping away quite happily. I sit and watch for a couple of minutes, letting the animal settle. I then try and put the light onto the fox. I normally do this by pointing the light into the sky and switching on and slowly lowering onto the subject. I try this, but as soon as the light comes on, the fox is gone. Not quite so relaxed as the badgers, then. I sit there, pleased to have seen a fox as I really like these gorgeous animals and that's the closest I've been to one, I think. A few minutes go by and suddenly and silently another fox appears. I think it's a different animal as it came from behind the hide and the first one ran away from the front of the hide. As I'm watching this one, switching on the spotlight and trying to get some video, a third fox appears about eight feet from the hide and immediately tucks into the peanuts. The other fox is also eating peanuts, but it's hanging around a bit further from the hide. It's about now that I find out how good a fox's night vision is. With the badgers, once the light is on, they don't seem to notice movement in the hide, only sound. The light, although not powerful may dazzle them slightly, I guess, so it's difficult for them to see what is behind the light. As I'm videoing the nearest fox, camcorder on a tripod, I move my hand up to zoom in a bit and the fox is gone. The other one stays put and it's not long before the one I scared is back. Behind the foxes I can now see the eyeshine of a badger. He's not looking too confident in coming and and soon disappears.

Both foxes are suddenly off again. For the second time they have seen me move in the hide. They've not gone far, about twenty meters awayin the long grass, looking at me. Next thing I know I have a badger feeding close to the hide. It obviously took its chance with the foxes out of the way. The foxes reappear in the background, but they don't come too close to the badger. Then one of the foxes approaches the badger from behind. It is being very cautious, but goes right up to the badger and sniffs its rear! The badger turns round very quickly and the fox is off like a shot. When I check later, I've got this on video and it's quite funny. I will post it soon...

The first badger is joined by a second and they feed confidently about three meters out. This is where the bulk of the nuts are, but I've put a few closer to the hide and they slowly work their way towards me 'til they are about six feet away. They sniff and search out every last nut and I get some great views. The foxes which were hanging around in the background have now disappeared and with no food left, the badgers waddle off to continue their feeding elsewhere.

I close up the hide and begin the walk back up. I've not gone far when a rustling in the hedge to my left stops me in my tracks. Two badgers appear about six feet from me and start coming in my direction. I have the light on them, but one stops and retreats. The other comes out onto the path a couple of meters down the path. It starts its busy sniffing routine and turns towards me. I'm on the left of the path and it is working its way down the right where I normally drop a nut, or two, on the way down. As it gets level with me, about a meter away, it stops and sniffs and turns towards me. It moves towards me rather faster than I'd like and with it being no more than a foot away from my feet, I move my feet. It stops, looks, then turns and trots off. I don't think it was going to do anything, but it seemed to be moving with a purpose.

That was an excellent night, good views of badgers and foxes, close encounters and a lot of it on video. I think people would pay for that experience, I almost feel like paying myself!! I reckon we should go public. There is already a lot of interest from friends and people who have visited the centre. I'll mention it to Vince back up at the farm.