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!

New Light

It has been fairly quiet at the sett since I found the dead cub. I can't quite work out whether that is my own skewed perception or the badgers reacting to a loss. I don't want to get into an argument whether they are sentient beings or can feel emotions (probably not) but I think it is also very arrogant to believe that we alone, over millions of years of evolution, have developed the capability to feel 'loss'.

Anyhoo, pressing on the badger project, I have discovered a new light in the woodland. The weather has been sooooo bloody awful for most of the passed month that I had not been able to accurately assess where the last rays of light fall. By happy coincidence, they fall directly around the sett and a couple of the mossy logs that I have been using as a stage. All I need now is for the badgers to play ball and come out in time for the magic light. The shot above shows a cub coming out, just after the light has passed... will definitely keep trying for this!
For this shot, I decided to pull back and show more of the setting so I used a 300mm f2.8 IS. It was bolted to my Gitzo and Black Widow gimbal head. I am not sure which I prefer for the 300, the gimbal or the Really Right Stuff ball head. The jury is out for time being. But, as I was working with my 600, I really didn't want to be messing around and swapping heads. Besides, the gimbal produces the best panning motion and I can angle the camera with my little finger. Anything that minimises movement on my part is a real bonus here. As usual, I used a remote lead to reduce camera shake. The biggest thing to watch out for with big lenses and low light is camera shake. I can't even fire off several shots as the shutter vibration builds up to the slightest wobble - enough to soften the images with less than 1/100th sec shutter speed.

As ever, I am always amazed at how oblivious the wildlife is to my presence. This female pheasant is now a regular visitor, gobbling up the spills from the badger feed. Yesterday evening, a Tawny Owl flew straight in front of me and perched within 5 metres to my left. It sat there for over 30mins, scanning the ground for mice and voles. What a beautiful bird!? I have never really had the chance to study one before. I didn't dare reach for my camera, but was happy to just sit and watch. Finally, it launched of its perch and swooped through the woodland. The Tawny Owl has redefined my impression of owls as slow flyers. This whips through the trees like a sparrowhawk!

Tragedy...

It is fair to say that I was not prepared for this. I have watched these animals for over two months and I have been photographing the cubs for over a month. I visited the sett yesterday. It was a horrible day. The weather presenters had got the forecast completely and utterly wrong (again) and I sat in a torrential downpour for several hours.

There was no sign of the badgers. I had not really expected to see them in these conditions. I packed up, but before I left, I went for a little walk to check out nearby setts - badgers maintain several setts in the area which they use as bases for foraging different parts of the woodland.

In the last sett I looked at, I spotted one of the cubs. I froze, in case I spooked it. But it didn't move. I edged closer and it still did not move. I looked closely and it was not moving at all... not even breathing. There, in the entrance to the burrow, was a dead cub. I was and still am devastated.

It was the runt, the smallest of the cubs. I am sure it was one of the first that I had seen - making the most of the warmer weather (in early May) foraging in the daylight. I have no idea how it died. There were no cuts or bite marks. I can only assume it was shaken or trampled by an adult (possibly broke its neck), or more likely it has succumbed to pneumonia because of this terrible weather. As I drove away from the sett, I encountered an adult badger... splattered on the road. Can I feel any lower right now!?

We bitch and moan about the rain. Yep, it is a real hassle using an umbrella or wearing a jacket. But when you see what happens to young animals that are exposed to this, you realise how important the seasons are and that animals depend on the fine weather to raise their young. Is it global warming or is it just the crappy British weather? Whichever you think, I have never despised our weather so much!

A little bit about badgers - sourced from Wildlife Online

"Young badgers emerge from the nursery chamber at about eight weeks old (late April or early May) and the cubs have their first teeth at four weeks old. Weaning begins when the cubs are about 12 weeks old and during this process the sow will regurgitate food for the cubs; cubs are weaned and feeding themselves by five to six months old (around end of June, early July). Cubs may be seen foraging with the sow by summer and by June all the juveniles will be familiar with the clan's territory.

By the time the cubs are fully weaned, if conditions are good the juvenile badger may weigh 6 kg (13 lbs). If the cub survives to the end of its first year, it will usually weigh between eight and ten kilograms (19 – 22 lbs) and measure 70 to 80cm (2 ½ ft). One study from Ireland published in 1993 observed that more than 60% of cubs died during their first year, 35% to 40% of which died before they were weaned."

Badgers, badgers, badgers....

Well, it has been a few days since the last post. I have been up to my eyes in badgers and the patience and planning are paying dividends. I am spending many hours at the sett, just sitting and waiting. Each day I seem to have a magic moment when everything comes together, like with the shot above. He sat with his back to me for most of the session, but just turned around in time for the light to pick up and give me a cracking portrait.

There is so much to watch and to hear. It is amazing how quickly the other animals forget you are there. On arrival, the squirrels make their odd 'chuffing' and 'wheezy' noise; the numerous muntjac and roe deer bark; the tits, chats and thrushes, twitter and sound off their high-pitched alarms. But after just a few minutes they all subside.

After half and hour, the passerines land nearby, the roe deer just trot past (warily it has to be said), and even the local tawny owl takes up a perch only metres away. It is so tempting to refocus on these other subjects, but I mostly wait for the badgers. With this roe deer doe, she repeatedly approached me as she could not work out what I was. I kept perfectly still and just fired off a single frame. She left confused, but not alarmed, the way it should be.

The badgers have been extremely unpredictable (as I had always imagined they would be). Twice they have not shown until after dark and, on several occasions, they have already been out when I have arrived, possibly 50m or more away from the sett. The little ones are always on the move snuffling about in the undergrowth. There is certainly a degree of acceptance now. I wouldn't say it was absolute, but I am tolerated.

The cubs and even a couple of the adults have caught my scent and raised their heads to check it further, but have gone back to feeding without alarm. The most charming experiences have always been with the young cubs. One caught my scent and decided to follow it to the source. It headed straight for me and came within 1m! It looked up at me for a few moments, then put its head down and just carried on past me to another feeding point.

I have adapted my feeding regime to suit the changing situations. I feed a good mix of peanuts, dried fruit, meal worms, and honey. I also visit the local fishing shop and collect a batch of casters or earthworms. Where possible I force the feed into the nooks and crannies of rotting tree stumps or fallen trees. It really fires up their natural drives to claw and rake away bark for beetle grubs. Again, where possible, I bury the feed under a layer of soil to get them digging. They relish the regular feed as they are often muscled out the way when the adults arrive. In this image, you can see the peanuts as the badger rakes out soil and moss to get to the food underneath. I'm always amazed by how dexterous and energetic these animals are. They have no fear in climbing and seemingly enjoy a good challenge!

As I mentioned before, the sett is a goldmine of photo opportunities with many moss-covered stumps and fallen trees to work with. My plan is to focus on one at a time, spending about 2-3 weeks with each. Towards the end (or until I have used up all the possibilities) I will overlap feeding on the next site which is nearby and within reach of my lens. This way I can hopefully control where the badgers are likely to be and make the most of the different sites.