Badgers: End of the first chapter...

It looks like this chapter is drawing to a close. This is the last shot of the cubs so far. I switched to another location nearby. A large fallen beech tree provided the stage and some smeared honey and peanut butter tempted the badger into frame. The light had really gone by this point as it was after 9:00pm. I only had 1/15th sec at F/4 with my 600mm. I was using the big glass as I needed to stand a little further away than usual, so I could get a better shooting angle with the right eye line and background. I shot seven frames, waiting for him to pause for each frame. Thankfully, two were sharp.

I haven't seen much of the cubs for the past week as they are appearing less and less during the day. I am unsure whether this is because of the inclement weather, or whether they are just falling in line with the adult badger's foraging patterns. I have had an amazing time watching and photographing these little characters bumble about in search of food. It has been difficult not to laugh out loud at times.

The image on the left is one of my favs, even though the sky is completely blown. The low and wide angle point-of-view really gives a worm's eye view of the foraging badger. It was shot using my remote camera set-up with a 16-35mm lens. I had a lot of success at this particular location and captured the badger digging, clawing, and preening.

For the next two weeks, I will be away on the Isle of Mull, photographing wild otters. I really should choose some easier projects really! This is about the most difficult subject I have ever attempted to photograph. They are extremely wary with keen senses. The terrain is slippery and treacherous and I have badly hurt myself on several occasions. However, the final result is always worth the effort and I haven't yet failed to bring back some great new material.

When I return, I will be pressing ahead with the 2nd chapter with the badgers - Adult Behaviour. My aim is to photograph badger behaviour with new angles and intimate views during their main foraging time. Of course, these means using flash, urgh! Apart from the unnatural effect, I am also concerned about the impact on the badgers night time vision when blasted with flash guns.

In the next instalment I will post a few of the badger shots that didn't quite make the 'selects' pile. I think it is always good to see the rejects to further understand what makes a good wildlife image. Some of them will just be silly shots that are obvious misses - more for a laugh than anything else. Hopefully I will have a few new otter shots too!