2008 |
Jan - June |
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ADRIAN'S PHOTO'S |
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January:
3rd Watched a fox in the garden at around 2300.
5th Went to Abberton with Wayne
6th Went out with Wayne in the hope we would photograph Fieldfare at an apple tree we found whilst out and about yesterday but unfortunately our plan didn't pay off. The only birds we captured on disc were Blackbirds.
7th Went to watch at Earls Sett. Arrived at 1930 and at 1953 a single badger I believe to be Boar 1 from Margaret's description fed until 2010 when I think it was scared off by a fox. I had a wsw wind which was very cold, certainly felt colder than 3 degrees.
10th Went to watch at Earls again but was a little late arriving. However this delay was just enough for the rain to stop. I didn't notice any badgers disappearing on my arrival but within a minute or so of putting out some food a large badger came out but then disappeared away from my direction. I believed this to be Boar 1. Within seconds two more badgers came out and fed until 2025 where by they too went off into the darkness away from me. I think these were both of the sows Margaret had described. The whole evening was filled with the sound of Tawny Owls calling. While the two badgers were feeding I became aware of a coughing sound, this turned out to be a rather tall and slim Fox walking through the sett. The badgers didn't seem overly bothered but watched it and followed it, until it was away from the sett entrances. There was a SW wind but the badgers didn't sense me until they were really quite close and then only grunted and ran a few yards away before returning for more food.
21st Attended the working group meeting for the Suffolk Badger Group, which was productive.
22nd Managed to get some more pictures of a little owl perched in a tree.
27th Went out with Wayne to Levington Lagoons but apart from Cormorants flying over nothing much happened. Finished up heading to Languard and ended up photographing Med Gulls as the sun was setting.
28th Watched at Earls sett again - 2 badgers out 1925 until 1945 didn't stay for very long.
30th Attended the NEEBG committee meeting.
31st Had a report of a badger being taken to a vets in a cardboard box! Obviously it was not in a good condition and after lengthy chats with the vets it was decided to have it put to sleep later in the afternoon as the poor thing had been going into fits. It was seeming more than likely it had picked up some poison so I reported it to the incident number and DEFRA
February:
1st Set up the Stealth cam borrowed from the NEEBG and managed a few pics of the wildlife at Earls sett.
3rd Went away to Surrey for a couple of weeks.
27th Attended the NEEBG meeting
March:
2nd Noticed I have two clumps of frog spawn in my pond which seemed earlier than last year.
15th Whilst on the way home from a friends daughters party we managed to get some stunning close views of a barn owl in fading light. First it was sat on a post right next to the road, then it went off flying around a field. unfortunately the camera was at home.
17th Rivers had burst their banks again today which meant I saw 3 Egrets and 1 heron in some different fields.
26th Attended the NEEBG committee meeting
29th Went to Dunwich Heath, with fellow Badger group members to survey an area which has been leased to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, for any signs of Badger. No new setts were found but a few signs and a known active sett were all noted.
30th Updated Badger sett records.
April:
2nd Whilst doing a 6 monthly sett check for the North East Essex Badger Group I found that a previously recorded hole had been blocked along with several others. Other areas which normally showed signs of badger activity where also filled in and now only in use by rabbits (although this had been done not so recent). I contacted Natural England / Defra who would investigate as it is against the law interfere with a sett unless with a license.
3rd Heard Blackcaps in the garden
4th Found out today that the blocked sett had also been gassed but unfortunately due to the fact that there was little evidence of any recent badger activity that I could prove, it was unlikely that any proceedings would follow. It seems hairs, pathways and a sole sett record 5 months old are not enough. What would of been better was to have been able to show a dung pit or had a sett report only a few weeks old. This is very frustrating and short of digging into the sett and possibly removing any corpses there is little anyone can do apart from learn for the future. Saw 2 peacock butterflies flying around the brambles in the wood.
6th Had a pair of Siskins on the fine seed feeder today. Attended the NEEBG training day which was very well attended.
8th I am getting regular visits from the Siskins along with a Coal Tit. When I topped up the feeder I was greeted by 2 cheeky little House Mice who had been helping themselves to my feed bin.
14th Watched several Hares in a field today and then was so surprised and excited by two crossing right in front of me no more than 20-30 yards away that I couldn't focus the camera on them! Also saw a fox and then 3 House Martins fly overhead.
15th Whilst walking Taz in the wood this morning I heard my first Nightingale singing for the year. Went to Earls sett and found the the infra red led cables had been blown from the tree branches and chewed in several places, which will require a repair. whilst I was there a large dog fox casually wandered off away from the sett. A very fine looking animal. Saw my first Swallows of the year as well.
16th Found a house mouse dead on the lawn presumably killed by a cat.
17th The house mouse had been replaced by a shrew on the lawn! The Siskins were on the eating well today so I tried to capture a few shots before they landed on the feeders.
18th Went and visited the gassed sett again today which has 1 possibly 2 holes looking as if they are being reused by the badgers which is good news. Attended a ceremony to unveil a plague, at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust Badger Hide, which has now been renamed as "The Margaret Grimwade Badger Hide" It is very fitting that through "Margaret's" Hide she will continue to inspire and excite folk as they watch and learn about these normally secretive creatures.
19th Had four Siskin on the feeders today, along with Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Coal Tit. I'm sure they were all out just because I was unable to take any pictures today.
21st Siskins were feeding well on seed again today. Went to Earls today and was lucky enough to see a sow come out at about 1953 which meant it was still light.... just! with an ISO of 1600 and a shutter speed hand held at 1/20th I was lucky to get some pictures but was pleasantly surprised for my first views of a badger in daylight
22nd Went back to Earls and had another go at photographing the sow who again came out around 2000.
24th Met up with Richard a local warden of a nearby wood after a second report of a dead badger. This wood hadn't got any records of badger activity for several years so it was worth checking out. After scouring the woods we came up with 2 single entrances which was great news but unfortunately the dead badger reported was a cub. Hopefully the sow will still have 1 or 2 cubs to tend to.
25th I think the Siskins may have moved on as I haven't seen them for several days now.
May:
1st Whilst out and about today I came across a family of foxes which ran off into the undergrowth. However, with patience 3 of the fox cubs came back. One of which had a very large mouth full of food - A half of rabbit!!! The cub came down the bank and proceeded to bury the meal before licking its lips and returning to the other cubs.
3rd Went to Earls sett but got the wind all wrong. It was ESE and I was lucky in that I saw 1 badger but that was caught unaware until it came to within 8ft behind me!
5th Went back to Earls sett again but this time with a NE wind and was rewarded with the Sow coming out followed by 5 very fluffy badger cubs! Light was very low again but I tried for a few pictures. After a few minutes though I realized this was not a good idea as the cubs would just not stand still, instead they would jump on each other playing king of the castle, sniff and snort and then jump up or backwards in the air at the same time as twisting. They would hassle their mum until she finally had enough and with the side of her body knocked a couple of the cubs flying! I gave up with trying to get them on disc and instead just watched grinning as they play. After they had returned to their sett I made my departure and although very excited at seeing the cubs, wished Margaret had been with me to share the experience.
7th Saw my first Swifts of the year, screaming around, high in the skies. Saw another family of Fox cubs today, I had been following a trail of feathers and carcasses to a corner of a field when I suddenly became aware I was within a few feet of two cubs. I backed away to get my camera as one was sound asleep in the sun behind a fence but in my excitement I didn't consider the wind direction and as I approached at a slightly different angle the cubs were alerted and moved away into the undergrowth although I did get one picture.
8th Nothing seen at Earls tonight but I was late arriving.
9th Again no badgers were seen at Earls but I did watch the male Fox going about its business for a few minutes.
12th Attended the Suffolk Badger Working Group Meeting.
14th Had a return visit of an old friend tonight at 2000 - Friendly the fox. I haven't been feeding like I used to as we are in the process of moving house soon and I didn't want the wildlife to suddenly have their supplementary food source removed in one day. However Friendly was checking out all the usual food spots so must of been hungry. Its rear leg still looked swollen but there was no visible limp.
15th Had a trip out with wayne today and got some shots of Bullfinch, Great Crested Grebe and Hare. I put out a few peanuts in the evening and sure enough Friendly returned so I took a few low light pictures. It is just over 3 years ago now that I found this cub on my doorstep tucking into some cat food. I will miss this fox as during the winter months it would wait for me on the wall until I went out after feeding my cats and dog and come to within a few feet of me to eat the scraps I was throwing to it. I must admit I thought it had either moved on or been killed as I haven't seen friendly for several months now so its a welcome surprise.
16th Got a phone today from home saying that at 1120 there was a fox with a cub in the garden. Friendly appeared tonight at 2100 but was on its own.
17th Friendly was in the garden at 2100
18th Went too the NEEBG AGM which had a very interesting guest speaker Pauline Kidner. Pauline runs a very successful animal rescue center and has often appeared on television in association with her amazing work. A former NEEBG member, and now a Lincolnshire Badger group member, new of Pauline's visit and so brought down an orphaned badger cub so she could take it back with her to Somerset. There she and her team will care for it and introduce it to other cubs to make a new family unit. After triple testing for TB, they will then be carefully released into badger free areas and then freedom. This opportunity was too good to miss and have a close encounter with these intriguing creatures. Although human contact is essential at the moment soon the cub will be given less and less interaction ready for release. Many thanks to Neil Yeo who very kindly took the pictures of myself and the cub getting acquainted!
19th Went to a wood in Suffolk and carried out a Dormouse survey with local trust members and Simone Bullion. Although seeing my first ever Dormouse it wasn't an opportunity to photograph it under Simone's licence. Great to see though. Friendly appeared on the patio again tonight.
26th The Blue Tits in the next box in the garden fledged today although I had to place the fledglings back up in the trees on several occasions as they were constantly harassed by cats, magpie's, jays and squirrels. Poor things don't have too much chance of survival especially on the floor. Watched Friendly for 25mins at 2050.
June:
4th Whilst walking down through an uncut field I saw what I first thought was a Hare, as I carefully approached Its ears turned and it was clear it wasn't a hare as the ears where too far apart, I took a few pictures and then suddenly a Roe Deer shot up and ran off, paused and then continued to run into some undergrowth and disappeared. I managed a slightly blurred shot of it running, but I was intrigued as to why the roe deer had stopped. As I neared the area to where the deer had been I found 2 kids very well hidden in the long grass. I didn't disturb them anymore but retreated and tried to wait and see If the parent would return. Unfortunately it didn't but I did see a fox until it caught wind of me and ran off.
11th Whilst feeding the badgers at Earls I watched a Muntjac feeding.
14th Got up at 0430 to meet up with Wayne and headed to Minsmere where the early start paid off with our best views of a Bittern.
20th Had another phone call from my wife to say she had taken some pictures of the fox cub which had come up onto the patio during the morning. 2145 looked out and the cub and an adult fox were in the garden, this was my first views of the cub but I couldn't make out which adult it was with.
22nd Got a shout from my wife at 2140 that the fox cub was running around on the patio again, by the time I got to the window it had run back down on the lawn and then disappeared into the boarders of the garden. A few minutes later Friendly appeared at the gate and as usual the wind was making it nervous but then the cub stood in front of "her" (I guess I should call it her as she seemed very at home with the cub and seeing as I haven't seen friendly's "Mum" for well over a year I guess she is now the local dominant vixen). Shame she only has the 1 cub but it looks very healthy. 2205 both friendly and the cub are back on the patio eating some bread I had thrown out. I will miss these when we move.
25th 2030 Friendly and her cub were out in the garden
26th 2140 Friendly and her cub seem to be regular even though I am not feeding very often
27th 2100 Friendly and her cub showing well.