Here we go again!

Hi
It's been over five months since I last posted. There are several reasons for this, the main one being there has been little to report! I have been feeding the badgers, or baiting the feeding area about five nights a week. Only once in that time, until very recently, have I seen a badger near the hide. During my feeding visits, I quite often have a walk around the farm, mostly in the dark or heavy dusk, but sometimes earlier. On odd occasions I have seen badgers, especially up near the sett, so I guess the badgers are staying close to home.

This has not been very reassuring with regard to getting people down to see the badgers. Over the last week, or so, things have been improving, but my, are they out late! I've been staying 'til 10.30ish and not seeing anything at the hide, but I have been seeing more and more on the way back up. That is, an odd badger, or if I'm lucky two. On Sunday, Chris, who is from Australia and returning there on Saturday, paid a visit to the Barn Owl Centre and saw our Badger Watching signs. Although it was explained to him that chances were slim, he really wanted to try and see one whilst he was here. As I'm down there anyway, I thought why not? It's a part of this badger watching I really enjoy, being able to show someone a badger who may never have seen one before.

On Monday evening I decided to have a trial run of what we would do, albeit on my own. I went down to the gateway near the sett and waited for fifteen or twenty minutes and although I did hear some movement and chattering, I didn't see anything. I then moved to another "hotspot", but nothing there. Down to the hide and put peanuts out, near the hide and sit and wait. At 22.30, a single badger appeared from my left madly sniffing the air. He sussed me out in no time and trotted off. 22.50 and a badger appears from the main path in front of the hide, walks straight down to the hide and begins feeding about six or eight feet out. It was a lovely warm evening and sat there watching the badger feed brought back all those experiences I had last year. It was great! During the time the badger was feeding, another badger appeared, but stayed away from the hide. At one point, the feeding badger seemed to get intimidated by the newcomers presence and ran off. He was back a minute or so later. What wasn't so great was the amount of time he spent noisily sniffing around the feeding area. He must have covered every square inch! It was 23.40 when he disappeared and I could come out of the hide and go home. During the session, I firstly put a torch on the animal at quite a low level without problem. I also took two photos when it was very close to the hide, again without reaction. I'm sure due to this, and other mannerisms, that it was the small badger from last year that used to feed regularly.

I'll take my guest down to the hide tonight with a little more confidence now. Watch this space and I'll tell you how it goes.

Wednesday 14/10/09 - Coughing and badgers don't mix

I was unable to watch the badgers last night, but did manage to get over and feed them. I didn't see anything whilst there last night, so nothing to report for Tuesday.

Tonight, when I'd normally miss watching the badgers, I decide to go over with my dad seeing as I'd not watched last night and he is happy to pop over every now and then. We get down to the Barn Owl Centre and say our hellos to Vince and Juliette. Pick up some nuts and off down to the hide. I always enjoy the anticipation of approaching the hide, wondering what I may see tonight. Will it be something spectacular like six or seven badgers, or the more usual two? I really don't mind. If the badgers turn up and I can sit and watch for half an hour, I'm happy!

A Great View!                             

I position my dad sat a couple or three feet back into the hide, square on to the door. I sit to the right of the door as usual. Food out, single torch on illuminating an area a metre out from the hide and the wait begins. This is when I discover that my dad has a bit of a cough! He clears his throat a couple of times, but the urge grows and he has to have a full blown cough. That will keep the badgers at bay! This happens every five or ten minutes and the time ticks by. Eventually he seems to get it under control and, much later than normal, at 7.50, a badger turns up from the left path. I've put new batteries in the torch tonight and it is very bright. The animals doesn't get into the feeding area before it trots off towards the hedge on the left and behind the hide. I decide to take down the torch fearing the badgers find it too bright. As it's a bit overcast this evening, the light reflecting off the street lights and the city in general and consequently the ambient light levels are quite high. You would certainly notice a badger out in the grass area in front of us. Another badger appears from the main path and is heading for the door of the hide. Good. I'm now waiting for my dad to cough again, but he seems to have it under control now. We only get one badger this evening, but he does come up and feed off the doorstep in the end. We get some nice views, but as he's the only one, I don't feed any additional food. It takes about ten minutes, but eventually the badger wanders off. We pack up and after a brief chat, it's home to a nice cup of tea!

Badger Facts!

There are eight different species of badgers. We have the Eurasian Badger (Meles Meles) in the UK which is where this species is most common in all of Europe.

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Sunday 11/10/09 - A cold, clear night

After some drizzle this morning, the day has brightened up with a nice, sunny afternoon. As I went to the BOC yesterday, I don't go over this afternoon, but do get over after dinner for the badgers. I get there a little earlier than of late and I am soon in the hide, dog food and nuts in place, including the doorstep, one small torch on and we're into the wait. That clear afternoon has turned into a clear evening, with a definite Autumnal chill in the air tonight. The mouse is out down in the front left hand corner of the hide and I occasionally put the torch on him. The tiny little creature is fantastic, so quick to move. I chuck a nut, or two, down for him and it's great to see him go over to it, pick it up and turn and leave the hide to go and stash it somewhere. A single badger has appeared from the main path and is coming towards the hide. I happen to be looking at the tree opposite the hide when a sudden, white streak goes right across the sky; a shooting star and a good one at that! For a second I thought it may reach the ground, but it didn't.

A nice wet nose                        

Back to the badgers. They are now feeding closeby and I'm getting some great views. With nuts on the doorstep, I'm eagerly awaiting the moment when they sniff out the food and climb onto the step and start feeding right in front of me. I've already started throwing some additional food down and the usual tussle takes place, a bit of pushing and shoving trying to get a bigger share of the food. Fun to watch.

The badgers are now looking bigger than they were only a couple of weeks ago. I guess they are eating as much as possible to fatten up a little for winter, which from the temperature in the hide, is only just around the corner. Badgers don't hibernate like the Hedgehog or Dormouse does; it may be less active through the winter and stay underground for several days at a time, but doesn't actually slow its body down and sleep through the cold months. I am interested to see how the badgers here react over the winter, bearing in mind I only started watching  them back in July. I haven't watched them through a winter as yet, but intend to be out as much as I can keeping an eye on things and hopefully seeing them from time to time.

                         The last nut!
The smaller badger is now eating off the doorstep. I'm sat on a chair, but am leaning forwards and my head is no more than eighteen inches from the badgers head. Every now and then he pauses, looks at me and sniffs the air, but keeps eating. Once the nuts are gone I throw a few more out and whilst it is sniffing and eating, I place some more on the step. He's back straightaway and with the torch on him he looks immaculate. A beautiful animal in lovely condition.

I stop feeding now. The second badger has been sniffing around the feeding area, but has wandered off already. The smaller one is hovering around in front of the hide, hoping for some more food, but I don't offer any more. He has a sniff around in ever widening circles and ambles off looking for food of a more natural variety. I check nothing is outside and step out, remove the torch hanging off the front of the hide, check I've left nothing behind and shut the door. I always leave a few nuts when I leave in case other badgers appear. I walk back up to the farm with a torch on tonight. As it is clear, with no moon and no light reflecting off the clouds its difficult to make out the path clearly and I always fear I might step on a badger by accident! I hear movement in the hedge on the way back up, but see nothing. Once back at the farm, a cup of coffee and a chat with Vince and Juliette and a wild Tawny turns up calling from the tree nearest the aviaries. Always nice to hear, better to see, but not tonight. He's there, quite close, but stays within the tree. Maybe tomorrow night?

Badger Fact!

Badgers have a gestation period of 7–8 weeks and give birth to 1-5 offspring

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Tuesday 06/10/09 - Rain, badgers and mice

It's been raining most of the day today and it looks like it's going to continue into the evening. Vince mentioned last night that a roof was going onto the hide today, so that will be a relief. I'm meeting a friend, Karen, at the Barn Owl Centre tonight. She has been over to see the badgers a couple of months back and is keen to see them again. I arrive at the centre and Karen is already there. As there is a new roof on the hide, I don't take waterproofs with me and I've forgotten my wellies. We go on into the Centre and have a chat with Vince. "Hows the roof looking?". "Didn't happen" says Vince "it's been raining!". We could go back to the car for waterproofs, but they are noisy and it is quite dark. We decide to set off so we load up with some nuts and into the rain-filled dusk we go.

The chairs are all wet, as you'd expect, and after putting the food out, plus setting up one light, we sit down and the slightly uncomfortable wait begins. I've left the net up again. If I can get the badgers feeding confidently with other people here and the net up, the experience is that much better. We can hear a single Tawny Owl in the distance, but that is about all. Sometimes when it has been wet, the badgers do arrive later than usual and tonight is no exception. Twenty five minutes after we arrive, at 7.40, the first badger appears. Before the first badger is in the main feeding area just in front of the hide, a second appears from the main path and both are heading our way. As we have low cloud and therefore a reasonable amount of reflected light off the clouds, as the first badger moves closer he may have spotted us and trots off. Within a few minutes it is back, but I switch on my torch and leave it on the step as it helps to darken the area behind the torch. Before long the animals are feeding only a couple of feet away and I think the rain is stopping! I have already put some food onto the step. It would be good if Karen could see them feeding off the step as the view is great. You can see their claws to begin with as these are normally hidden in the grass. I whistle and throw some nuts out and the animals respond to the sound of the food hitting the floor. We witness a bit of argy bargy, but nothing too strenuous. With the animals now right outside the hide, one of them smells the nuts on the step and climbs up to eat them. That is pleasing as there are two of us sat in the doorway, only a couple of feet away, if that, and the badger is contentedly eating food right there in front of us. Once I have them feeding off the step, I try and put addtional nuts on the step to see if they will come back. With the badgers very close to the step I throw a few nuts out to distract them and whilst their heads are down I put some more nuts on the step. This works quite well and at times my hand is only a foot from the badgers. As an experiment whilst an animal is actually feeding off the step, I move my hand towards it. I can get quite close to it and as I've now picked up the torch and am holding it, my hand is illuminated in the torchbeam. The badger can see my hand, but continues eating and I do get my hand less than a foot from the badger. They don't seem to mind this intrusion, which is great.

Once I feel we have fed the two animals enough, I stop feeding them. They have had nuts and dog food, but I'm keen to expand on the available menu items, so if anyone has a good, cheap idea of food that badgers like, please leave a comment. It takes a while for the badgers to check around the feeding area and doorstep, which they revisit several times, and be happy they've left nothing edible behind. Once this is complete, they wander off in different directions, as normal. Now we can talk and Karen is pleased with how close the badgers came, which is a lot closer than the first time she visited. Things have moved on remarkably quickly really. I never thought back in July, when all this started, I would have wild badgers coming so close and being so tolerant of humans. We walk back up to the farm, seeing a badger on the path on the way back, but not getting too close. Once back at the farm we update Vince on what we've seen and it's then I realise I've left the camera in the hide. Due to the rain, not only had I not used it, but I'd put it under a chair to keep it dry. Back down to the hide via the wild flower meadow as Karen hadn't seen it in flower. Whilst walking along the back of the meadow, in the rain (again), we pick up some eye shine on the path ahead. We weren't close enough to identify the owner, but with green eye shine it could have been either fox or badger.
We get to the hide and I open the door and there, right in front of us is a mouse. I've seen him a couple of times and called it a wood mouse, but still not sure. He wanders around in the torch light seemingly unconcerned. He does disappear out of the front of the hide and round the corner as I go in to pick up the camera. Another nice thing to see down here at the hide.

For the second time, we arrive back at the farm and this time we stop for a coffee.It's not raining anymore and a Tawny Owl is calling nearby. We keep an eye out and he flies to the tree just behind the aviaries and continues calling. We also see him leave that tree and can see where he lands in another tree. This tree is also close to the aviaries and we wander over towards it. He lets us get reasonably close before flying off to one the bigger Oaks nearby. Again, a nice way to top off the evening.

Tuesday 29/9/09 - Two badgers and some owls

I was off work today so I've already been over to the centre for a wander round with the camera. It was another lovely day and, although I didn't see much, it was nice being out there. A photographer was in photographing Leighton, the Buzzard and although I wasn't too close to where this was taking place, I heard a wild Buzzard calling, so looking around, there were in fact two wild birds. They flew over Leighton and the photographer and began rising. I took another ten or fifteen paces and looked back for the birds, but they had apparently disappeared. I looked a little harder and they were small specs in the sky. They must have risen at a fantastic rate to be that high so soon. As I watched them circling, there was still no movement of their wings, they just soar higher and higher.

I'm back over at the centre at about 7.30pm ready to feed and watch. With animals showing up as early as 7.45pm, I need to be down there and ready by then. I can hear at least two Tawny Owls as I walk down in the gathering dusk, but don't see them. Food out and into the hide, net stays up again tonight as I have been enjoying the uninterupted view of the badgers recently. I've only been in the hide for about five minutes when a badger appears from the right of the hide. He also comes almost along the front of the hide, very close. This is unusual as they often start further out and work their way towards the hide. As normal, I have one LED light illuminating a patch about a metre in front of the hide. He is soon here eating the free offerings I have left out. From the main path, a second badger appears and he is soon feeding close in to the hide, too. I have place myself a little further out into the doorway than normal and I think the badgers notice me. They keep sniffing the air whilst looking in my direction. I also think that the very slight breeze we have is blowing from behind the hide blowing my scent towards the animals. I think because they are a bit more alert than normal, every slight sound I make, but moving my arm, for example, they latch onto and have a bit of a look. Maybe they can see the movement. It doesn't stop them getting pretty close, though. When I decide to feed some additional nuts both badgers watch as I get some from my coat pocket and look slightly nervous. As I whistle, they start sniffing and when I throw them out, the movement doesn't affect the badgers at all as they rush to where the nuts have fallen. They polish of the nuts quickly and I swear they are looking at me and waiting for more! I whistle and let them have some more. I think these two badgers are getting used to this routine as they actually sit there waiting until I throw some more out. When I decide to stop feeding, they sit there for a good thirty seconds before starting to sniff around. It's now they will be bold enough to come up to the step, where I have positioned some nuts. The smaller of the two is always first in line for these nuts and with both front paws on the step I get wonderful views of the animal. During this feeding I have noticed a couple of rabbits to the left of the hide. They don't act nervously at all and with badgers being only fifteen yards away, I'm surprised. Perhaps they know they can outrun a badger if needed.

I stop feeding more nuts and one badger has a good sniff around for three or four minutes before he's leaving the feeding area via the main path. The other animal doesn't want to give in so easily. He sniffs around for a good ten minutes before disappearing to the right of the hide. I start putting my camera, torches and chair away when I hear sniffing. He's reappeared from the left of the hide and is right outside again! Another five or six minutes goes by before the gives up and exits via the path to the left. I sit there a little longer before exiting the hide, leaving a few more nuts for any latecomers and head back. A fairly uneventful walk back up, apart from a rustle in the hedge here and there. Back at the farm I go and watch as Vince introduces Clyde, a Lanner/Gyr falcon, to the hood that falcons wear to keep them calm. He has successfully put it on once and although Clyde is rather vocal, it doesn't look like this will be a problem for him in the future. Whilst watching this, the local, wild Tawnys are very active and we see one fly across the aviaries into a nearby tree where it continues calling. Lovely! A quick cup of coffee and off home. I'm amazed that the thermometer in the car is registering 15 degrees. Very warm for evenings at this time of year. I can't see that lasting too much longer...

Monday 28/9/09 - A quieter night (for my heart!)

After the excitement of last night with a badger in the hide, I'm eager to get down and see the badgers again this evening. When I arrive at the Barn Owl Centre, I can already hear wild Tawny Owls calling to each other. They are not year near the compound, but that may happen later if they come over "for a chat" with some of the rescue birds.

As I approach the hide I notice a dark blob on the grass in front of it. A badger is already there. It is 7.40pm and still only dusk, but one animal is already there. As I approach, he makes good his escape and disappears into the hedge. If past experience is anything to go by, he'll be back soon. I quickly put the nuts and dog food out, put up a small LED torch to illuminate an area about a metre from the hide and get on my little chair. The badger I spooked on my way down is back out already. He reappears from the right of the hide and is soon feeding in the pool of light. About ten minutes goes by and a second badger appears from the main path and soon joins his colleague. Again tonight, I've not put the net down so have uninterupted views of the two animals feeding. They work their way closer to the hide and I begin feeding nuts to them by throwing them out after a whistle to alert them something is happening. When I whistle, the badgers look at me with their ears up and seem to be waiting for the nuts to fall. As soon as they do they are on to them and a bit of push and shove normally takes place. As mentioned before, these two animals seem of equal stature in the clan as both can win these pushing fights.

When I decide to stop feeding any more nuts, the badgers begin looking around and generally find the nuts on the doorstep. The image above shows a badger just finishing off the nuts on the doorstep and he certainly looks like he's enjoying them! After about ten minutes, the badgers realise there will be no more food tonight and disappear on their natural feeding routine. I don't want to overfeed them on peanuts and dogfood, or make them reliant on a non natural food supply.

I make my way back up to the farm and the wild Tawny Owls are about. They are calling to some of the owls which are residents here at the centre. I just love the Tawny's call and could stand and listen all night. However, with blogs to update and sleep to be had, I head off for home.

Badger Fact

A badger belongs to a family of animals called the Mustelidae (which means they have a musk gland) which contains animals such as the weasel, otter and mink.

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!

Sunday 20/9/09 - Part 2, the night shift

The nights are certainly drawing in now. I keep getting caught out by the early arrival of dusk each evening. Soon I'll be struggling to get to the badgers before it's dark as I'll be at work. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

Tonight, though, I'm over there before dark, just. I get down to the hide and put the food out whilst listening to several wild Tawny Owls which are close by. One is in the tree just behind the hide to the left and is quite loud. I decide to leave the net up tonight so just the open doorway between me and the badgers. When I do this I use a camo "buff" to cover my face as it takes away that white facial disk which is a classic signature for us humans.Just gone eight and the first badger shows up. He makes his way towards the hide and is soon a metre, or so, away busily eating nuts and dog food. The badgers are coming into the most important time of year for feeding as they need to put some weight on to cover the winter months when food is not so abundant. The two that are turning up regularly shouldn't have any problems!

     Badgers don't always see eye to eye!

The second badger does turn up tonight,  about ten minutes after the first. The second to arrive is generally at the hide very quickly as the first one eats the trail of nuts I leave leading into the feeding area. They are both busily sniffing and eating. I'm still amazed at how wonderful these animals look, they are in really good condition and those faces are just striking, If they hear something, they pause and can look straight at you and their eyes twinkle away. I don't think they are the most intelligent wild animals around, but they have something about them that is very appealing.

Badgers embarking in some "argy bargy"  

They've eaten most of the food now and are beginning to wander round, noses to the ground trying to find every last nut. I decide to feed some extra nuts now and whistle and throw a few extras out. That isn't as straight forward as it sounds as I've got the Buff covering my face and  I can't whistle. I have to pull it down below my chin in order to do that, but they don't seem to mind. They both converge on the nuts and begin trying to push each other out of the way. As I've said before, I find this highly amusing and would like to get it on video. This is proving difficult as I need three hands really. One for the camcorder, one for the lamp for additional lighting and the third to throw the nuts! Photographing it is a little easier as I can throw with one hand and hold the camera in the second, managing to push the shutter release with my thumb and flash being part of the camera gives me the light I need. I have put some nuts on the doorstep of the hide and when I stop throwing additional nuts out, the badgers, or one of them in particular, comes investigating. His nose leads him to where they are and he puts his feet onto the door step and starts feeding. He is about 18 inches from me, if that. The picture below isn't very good as it is difficult to move and frame and focus a shot with a badger so close, and remember, no net tonight. I think he looks like he's playing the piano, but look at those claws! A great design for a digging animal, wouldn't you say?

Saturday 19/9/09 - A good night and not only badgers

I fed the badgers last night, uneventfully. I've been lucky at seeing things during the daylight when I'm not watching badgers, foxes and the like. Nothing last night, though.

Tonight, as with any night when I've not watched the badgers the night before, I'm quite keen to get over there and see what's about. Usual routine, arrive, quick chat, top up with nuts and off into the gathering dark. I actually get to the hide about 20:00 and after putting the food out I sit and relax, waiting for whatever turns up. About 20:10, my first visitor arrives. Out of the dusk, I can see the distinctive head of a badger sniffing his way towards me. As I approach the hide, I leave a bit of a trail of peanuts over the last part of the path and increase them slightly as I enter the feeding area. It is this line of peanuts the badgers sniff down towards the hide once into the feeding area. Although I've now been doing this since July, it still gives me a thrill when I see a badger coming towards the hide.

Tonight the badger is, for now, alone. I kneel down by the door, which does have the net down tonight, and watch the badger feeding a few feet from me. Another badger appears around the corner on the main path and as there are no nuts for him because the first one ate them all, he is soon alongside the first. These are my two regulars, I'm pretty certain, and they confidently feed close to me and the hide. As the nuts I put out are nearly gone, I begin to feed the badgers extra nuts. As per usual, I do this be whistling and then throwing a few nuts out to them. As I whistle, both badgers stop and lift their heads and I then throw the nuts out to them. As soon as they hit the floor, the badgers are sniffing them out and tucking in. If I throw the nuts between them, this normally triggers a bit of push and shove, or "argy bargy" as I like to call it. It always makes me smile when they lean into each other and try and push the competition away from the nuts with little grunting noises into the bargain. I can repeat the additional nut feeding several times and the animals just keep on eating. They are now right outside the hide and I decide to put some nuts onto the door step. So they don't see my hand appear out of the darkness right in front of them, I whistle and throw some nuts slightly behind them, causing them to turn around. I can then put some nuts on the doorstep, hopefully without getting seen. I whistle and throw some nuts very close to the hide and they turn and move right up to the step. As the grass is long here, they snuffle around and use those fierce looking claws to try and get the peanuts out. Once these few nuts are gone, they are sniffing around again and one latches onto the nuts on the doorstep. He puts a claw onto the step and lifts himself up. A quick glance directly at me, then he's eating the half a dozen nuts I put onto the step. I have the camera with me and take a shot. The badger doesn't flinch and after finishing the nuts, he drops back down to continue the hunt for more food. I repeat the doorstep feeding several times, taking a shot each time. Eventually I feel they have had enough food and stop feeding any more. It takes a good ten minutes of sniffing around before both badgers have wandered off and now I can shut the hide up, leave a few nuts for the second shift and head back to the Barn Owl Centre.

When I get back to the centre, I discuss the evening with Vince and Juliette and as we are chatting it becomes apparant that we have some wild Tawny Owls having a chat with Ollie, one of the Tawny Owls here at the Centre. One is in the tree over by the flying area, and although he is quite close, we can't see him. As I'm stood in the office doorway wth Juliette, he flies from that tree, right over the aviaries and is illuminated by the lighting around the aviaries. He looks great, calling as he flies over to the tree just behind the barn here. He sits there calling for a while, but suddenly calls even closer. Juliette peers out of the office door, and there on the kitchen roof, maybe four or five yards away, is a wild Tawny. He doesn't stay long once he's seen us, but it was fantastic to see and a great way to end the evening.

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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.

Tuesday 15/9/09 - Our first paying guests, officially!

Well, all the hours spent feeding the badgers and getting them to feed consistently close to the hide will be tested tonight. I have a family of four coming out to hopefully see the badgers. I was leaving for the centre at just gone seven when I realise my son has used my rechargeable torch, which I use to badger watch, for a photographic project he is doing. The torch is almost dead. What am I going to do? Tonight is a big night and suddenly, my main torch is flat and it takes hours to recharge! I decide to dash of to B&Q to see what I can get there, but by time I arrive at the BOC, it's way later than I would have liked, although my visitors haven't arrive as yet. I wait a few minutes and they turn up. I introduce myself and have a quick chat with them. As it is already almost dark, I suggest we make our way down to the hide. We have put some chairs in the hide for them to sit on. I get them inside and put the food out, along with a couple of torches which illuminate the feeding area. It's 20:06 and the wait begins. Badgers have been showing from about 20:15 recently and this time comes and goes. 20:30 comes and goes. Not a badger anywhere. I stick it out and as 21:00 approaches a badger appears on the path to the left of the hide. He's only been there a short time when he turns and trots off. I have a chat with the family and decide to go and have a look along the main path to see if any are on their way. I can see some eye shine off in the distance, but that's all. I make my way back to the hide feeling rather embarrassed if I'm honest. I explain that the badgers are normally out by this time. I give them the option to call it a night, but they decide to stick it out. However, at 21:30 I decide to call it a day. We walk back around the wild flower meadow and all I can do is recount some of my experiences.

As we walk back into the Barn Owl Centre, Vince asks how we got on. "Five very disappointed people" I reply, then add "no show". The guests are very understanding and have a look around the birds and have a chat with Vince. I find out the two girls have never seen a badger and my mood darkens further. This is just the opportunity I was hoping for; to show people a badger in all its glory, right in front of them. But, it didn't happen and that has to be expected with wildlife. There is no guarantee. I still feel disappointed, however, and I find I have two more visitors tomorrow night. I hope that turns out better than this evening.

I speak to Vince about this and we agree that if a no show occurs, we will offer guests the opportunity of a free entry to the centre or another visit to hopefully see the badgers.

A couple of possible reasons why the badgers didn't show tonight come to mind. Firstly, we had a north-easterly wind blowing, which comes from behind the hide towards the badgers. This could blow our scent out towards the animals, which isn't good. Secondly, Vince mowed the paths into the wild flower meadow last night. Were they exploring the new paths through this natural larder? Also, on the Severn Trent reserve next door, the grass was mown very short today having been left to grow long for several months. Could this too have been a distraction? Who knows. All I know is paying guests are very understanding considering they didn't see very much. Better luck next time!

Monday14/09/09 - Vince pays us a visit!

When I arrive at the centre tonight, Juliette is giving the birds their supper and winding things down for the day. Vince, I can hear, is out mowing. A quick chat with Juliette and load up with peanuts and I'm ready for the off. Just then, Vince pulls up on the mower and tells me he's put some paths through the wild flower meadow. We wander down for a look and there are several paths right through the meadow giving close access to all the flowers and bugs. We end up wandering down towards the hide and I ask if he's coming down to see the badgers. Bearing in mind, he's the Director of the Barn Owl Centre and in the two or three months I've been feeding the badgers, he's not been down once! Anyway, he says he's coming down for a look so I hope the badgers show up! Don't get me wrong, he has seen lots of photos and video, so he knows what goes on down here.

We get to the hide and a badger is already in the feeding area. This poses a problem as we have to walk past him to get into the hide. We slowly move closer to him and he notices us approaching and disappears into the hedge. I begin putting the food down and Vince opens up the hide. When I've finished putting the food down, I notice Vince is sat on the step of the hide, feet outside. He suggests giving this a try, so I sit next to him and we wait. It's not long before the badger that disappeared into the hedge a few minutes earlier is back. However, he gets to the feeding area, has a good sniff and a look at us and turns tail and disappears. We wait maybe ten minutes before a second badger appears down the main path. He too sniffs the air, looks at us and follows his mate into the hedge to the right of the hide. Vince whispers "maybe we should get inside?". I agree and we move into the hide. We leave the net up, however and it's not long before the next badger arrives. Now we are inside the hide, the badger approaches without any concerns and is soon about three feet out. He's joined by a second badger and they are right outside the hide now, less than two feet from both myself and Vince. I whistle and throw some nuts out and both animals respond to the noise of the nuts hitting the floor by coming over, noses constantly sniffing as usual. I repeat this additional feeding several times and the badgers put on a great display for Vince and myself. Eventually, something spooks them and they trot off into the night. We take the chance to vacate the hide without spooking any animals and make our way back up to the farm.

We decide to take a walk back around the wild flower meadow to see if anything is about down this end of the farm. As we approach the gate into the Severn Trent reserve, which adjoins the BOC, I hear a noise that sounds like two or three men digging, or chopping trees. I stop and listen and we both turn off our torches. I'm wonder if someone is trying to dig the sett up as the sound is very close to the sett. We get into the little grassy area in front of the gate, but all is quiet now. We stand there for a minute in silence, when suddenly, the noise begins again. This time it sounds like a mixture of digging and bark being ripped off a tree. It's quite loud and a little disconcerting, to say the least. Vince moves in towards the hedge from which the sound is coming from and whatever is making the noise starts moving, thankfully away from us. I actually see the hedge move as the animal moves away from the torches. I run on past Vince to see if I can head whatever it is off, hoping to get a glimpse of it. However, it turns around and heads back towards Vince. I wonder if it might be a deer rubbing it's antlers against the trees to remove the velvet that must now be coming off their new antlers. Anyway, the "thing" moves past Vince and then away from him. I walk back towards him and ask him if he saw it? He only saw a bit of it, but says it was quite large, grey and had a tail. He didn't see the head, only the body and back end through a little hole in the hedge. We walk back up towards the farm considering what it might have been. We can't decide, which is a bit of a concern as I spend most nights down at the hide on my own! I could picture all sorts of things you wouldn't want to bump into on a dark night. As we get close to the farm, more movement in the long grass to one side of the path. We both look for what made the noise with torches, but don't see anything, even though it was almost at our feet. Vince thinks maybe a weasel.

Vince thinks the badgers were great and he genuinely seemed to enjoy that. I hope the same happens tomorrow night as our first paying guests are coming, but with the badgers showing this well, I needn't worry!

Sunday 13/9/09 - An afternoon and evening at the Barn Owl Centre

It was my daughters "unofficial" birthday today as she was away in Spain on her actual birthday. She wanted to go over to the Barn Owl Centre to see if the Eagle Owls were flying as she hadn't seen them flying free. So, over we went (as it doesn't take much to get me over there). A number of cars were in the car park, but the place was deserted when we arrived. They were inside watching an indoor flying display. We went down to the wild flower meadow to see what insects were around and had a wander down to the hide. On the way back up we met the visitors and Karl and Vince out with Kaln, one of the Eagle Owls. This bird is impressive; with a five foot wingspan and flying free over the natural terrain here, it looks wonderful. This pleased Beth as she'd now seen the Eagle Owl flying free. We stayed with the group whilst the owl flew around to different areas and up into the trees. We slowly made our way back to the centre and some people who were on a flying experience went out to fly a Barn Owl called Luna. It's nice watching these sessions because you can see the expressions on the participants faces who are obviously having a great time. After this session, Turner, the brother of Kaln the Eagle Owl had his go at flying. He comes out of his aviary on foot and walks to the flying area which is quite comical to watch. The people on the flying experience now had something a little bigger to fly to them! Juliette then asked Beth to come over and she had a go at receiving this big owl onto the glove. She really enjoyed that! We then had to go back for tea, but I was planning on coming back later.



Kaln flying free

Around 20:00 and I'm back off over to see the badgers. On my own again, for now, but hopefully the company will be stimulating in a short while, although not much conversation. At about 20:15 the badgers turn up, one to begin with followed by another a short while later. Feeding and moving towards the hide, I take some video. The new lights I bought yesterday are in use and making a pleasant change to holding a torch all the time. When the badgers get really close, though, I have to use the handheld as the other lights are pointing out from the hide and close into the hide is in shadow. I've now seen another badger on the path to the left of the hide, but he's decided not to come in and join the fun. The other two, meanwhile, are feeding right under the doorstep into the hide. So close that I can't see their heads, only their backs. The musty smell is quite strong this close to the badgers. As the food is eaten, they start sniffing around looking for more. I whistle and throw a few extra nuts out and the badgers latch find them quickly and eat them. I feed several more times and I'm sure they can see my hand as I feed. It doesn't seem to bother them at all. After last night with the badger climbing onto the doorstep, I'm keen to see if this can be repeated. I actually put some nuts on the doorstep and wait. One of the badgers is sniffing along the front of the hide when he lifts his head up and sniffs the top of the doorstep. Next thing, his front feet with those large claws on the step and he's tucking into the nuts. I manage to get this on video and you can see this below. He is inches away, facing me and eating nuts I' ve just placed there. How amazing is this? He finishes and drops back down so I reach forward and put another eight or ten nuts there. He's back and seems completely unconcerned although he must know I'm there! I repeat this step feeding one more time before I stop feeding altogether and let the badger wander of. Wow, that was a thrill and it's on the video. Hope you enjoy it!

Tuesday 8/9/09 - Barn Owls and Badgers

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!

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!

Sunday 6/9/09 - A few hours over at the Barn Owl Centre

This afternoon I decided to go over to the Barn Owl Centre to see what was happening. I turned up and there was a number of visitors in, although the place looked deserted as they were all inside enjoying a flying display of Barn Owls in the indoor flying area. I decide to go straight down to the wild flower meadow to see what bugs and insects are around. It is looking fantastic down there at present. There are lots of bees about and a good collection of caterpillars too. Whilst down there I hear both Green and Greater Spotted woodpeckers. I spend some time looking around and find there are quite a lot of moths feeding on nectar. Not sure what they are but there are quite a few of them. See picture below right. I spend a bit of time down here looking for anything interesting but hear voice coming over the PA in the feeding area. I wander back up and Leighton, the Buzzard,  is just about to go on a walk. I tag along and Vince introduces me as "the badger man", which is nice. Karl and Vince take the visitors out and about to show the birds over natural terrain. The visitors enjoy it and so does the bird. Please find another picture below showing the Buzzard in the lovely, natural terrain at the Barn Owl Centre.

After going on the walk I return to the wild flower meadow to take some more pictures and video. I don't find anything new, but just enjoy being in amongst the flowers. After a while I look up to the flying area and Vince has Ron, the Golden Eagle out. He is showing visitors how the training begins and the amount of dedication it requires to get the birds to even do a small jump to the glove. I'm hoping to see the fox about, but he stays well hidden.

I fullly intended to return this evening to feed and watch the badgers, but due to a late dinner, it isn't possible. I do find time to get down there and put the food out, I just don't know what will eat it. Hopefully I'll be there on Monday night to see what is happening.

Leighton Buzzard

Saturday 5/9/09 - A good night with my lad

I've been to work all day today due to working in a school and the having the start of term on Monday. I'm now looking forward to going over to see the badgers. It's a great way to unwind from the stresses of IT! My seventeen year old son, Andrew, decides to come along with me tonight. He hasn't been before as he's normally too busy doing teenager things...

We get over to the Barn Owl Centre and introduce him to Vince and Juliette. We have a quick chat and a quick look around the birds. I show him Kaln, Turner and Mozart, the Eagle Owls, and some of the other birds here, including Connie, the young Long-Eared Owl. As it's almost dark we stock up with nuts and set off for the hide. On the way down, Andrew tells me he's never seen a badger properly. Hopefully that will change in the near future. As we get near to the hide I can see some dark shapes on the grass in front of it. I tell Andrew to stop and turn on the light. We are greeted by two sets of eye shine, which bobs around looking at us. Amazingly both badgers start trotting towards us. We are just stood there on the path with two wild badgers approacing rapidly. At about five metres away, they both stop, looking at us and sniffing the air. They are downwind of us so I'm not expecting anything else to happen, apart from them running off when they smell us. Then, one of the badgers starts coming closer. I throw a few nuts down in front of Andrew and the badger walks to within a foot of Andrews feet. It does, however, smell us and trots off, taking his friend with him. Andrew has seen a badger now!

Once we've put the food out and entered the hide we settle down for the wait. It's not long before the first animal arrives and is soon joined by a second. I think this is the usual twosome we get, but so difficult to say. They are soon feeding close to the hide and we get great views. I have brough my dad's Samsung camera along with me tonight and begin taking shots. No reaction from the animals. Whilst the animals are still about a metre away, I take the shot above which I like a lot. It shows the badger with its tail showing clearly, something you don't see too often. They come closer until they are literally against the hide. Andrew is sitting crosslegged with two badgers literally inches from him. The peanuts are now getting thin on the ground and the badgers are sniffing along the edge of the hide in the longer grass the mower cannot reach. I whistle and throw a few more nuts out. They find them within seconds and start chewing their way through the additional food. I do this several times and they keep coming back for more! I am getting bolder with the camera and holding outside of the hide no more than a foot away from the badgers. They don't seem to mind at all. The shot below is an example of that. I'm holding the camera below the step into the hide and the badger is about a foot away. Exciting times!

The badgers showed really well tonight with three animals turning up, although only two came close to the hide. I really enjoyed sharing this with Andrew and I think he enjoyed it too. We went back up to the centre and saw another badger en route, but didn't get too close to it. A chat and a coffee with Vince and Juliette. It was a very pleasant evening weatherwise too. For a while, we thought it was thundering in the distance, but decided it must be fireworks somewhere. It was fun speculating what the noise might be. Maybe War of the Worlds?All in all, a great way to spend an evening.

Pictures Copyright Mark Williams

Tuesday 1/9/09 - More pictures tonight

After the attempts to take photographs last night I have decided to try my daughters Nikon Coolpix as a quieter option to the SLR. This is a very compact little camera, but it takes some nice shots. Also, and most importantly, once you have turned off all the little noises these modern cameras make for focusing, shutter sound, etc, they are pretty quite. No loud clunk as the shutter fires.

Beth comes along with me tonight. I don't think she trusts me with her camera! With school about to start plus a trip to Spain starting on Friday, this will be the last night she can attend for a while. We arrive at the hide a little later than planned and almost dark again. We put the food out and begin the wait. It's not a long wait and a badger shows up. He works his way towards us and I get the camera ready. I take a shot and the flash goes off. No reaction! This is exciting, badgers turning up just after we arrive and now a second badger. We sit quietly watching the feeding animals. Here is one of the shots I managed to take early on. You can see the badgers look to be in great condition.

The badgers move in close to the hide and as I attempt to take some more images, a couple of times the animals spooked and ran a few metres away. They don't go far and I guess the flash is startling them somewhat, the same it does to us when we have a picture taken when we're not expecting it. They come back pretty quickly, though, so I risk a couple more shots.  The picture on the right is a cropped image of one of the regulars, I think. I still find it difficult to tell them apart, but having looked at some pictures I've now taken, it seems as though their nose colour, or the area just above the nose varies slightly. Perhaps this is just me, but is may be one way of telling one from the others. Has anyone else noted this? Let me know.

Anyway, the two badgers feed confidently and eventually they are right outside the hide. Due to the disturbance of the flash, I stop taking pictures and just sit and watch. The badgers finish off the nuts and dogfood and are now sniffing around looking for any that they've missed. As I've mentioned before, I began whistling at the badgers a while back now and they don't even look up when I do this. I've also started to throw a small number of peanuts out when they are running out and as long as the badgers don't see the movement of my are, they home in on them pretty quickly, possibly by the noise of them landing. What if I do these two things together? Would the badgers begin to associate my whistle with more food being available? This has got to be worth a try and is basic animal training at the end of the day, so why not?

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!

Friday 28th August - Change of plan

Tonight I wasn't planning on watching the badgers as I had other plans (no, I don't watch badgers every night!). However, plans change and I was able to. Another late night at work didn't help matters, but I was at the Barn Owl Centre for about 20:45. It's amazing how dark the nights are getting. Each night I think I'll leave a bit earlier, but I keep arriving at the centre and it's almost dark! Anyway, I'm off down to the hide on my own hoping for a good viewing. Food out and into the hide. I decide to put the net down tonight and do a bit more filming. At about 21:15 a lone badger appears. They are definitely foraging independently now and rarely turn up in a group. He's feeding confidently working his way towards the hide when another badger appears. When I refer to a badger as "he", I don't really know. Telling badgers sexes is not an easy task without, err, checking their bits.They are now getting quite close to the hide. My favourite bit! A third badger appears and joins in the fun. I'm filming the badgers and hopefully getting some good shots. It's not easy when filming as I'm holding the camera in one hand, holding the torch in the other and trying to poke both of these out through the side of the netting without any sudden movements or noise. However, when I manage that, I get shots like you see below. Turn up the sound and listen to the racket they make!



If you would like to share this experience, please visit www.barnowl.co.uk and look under "Events".