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Steady as you go, B.Y. 2020


Dave Williams

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Dave Williams

Is it a week without an addition! I have been far too busy to try for anything new, the time just flies past as I continue working harder than ever with my garden projects which are

1) General gardening and for the first time in years attempting to grow some vegetables. I have decided to clean up the area around an old water trough to see what can be enticed there too, maybe set up some photo opportunities in the future?

 

2) Having a rest and enjoying the company of my pal the Robin(s) Not sure which is which or how many there are but one certainly is keen to see me the minute I step outside. I have managed a few decent slow motion video clips like the following one which you might like to watch.

49825514026_2075b57dd3_b.jpgRobin in flight by Dave Williams, on Flickr

3) Setting up my trail camera to monitor the Badger movement and times and finding some bonus shots too.

 

So, using the DSLR has been limited to late at night hanging out of the bedroom window as I don't take it on my daily walk.

49813456022_321c42658b_b.jpgBadger by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

So in the need to move my score on to 159) I'll add a fairly poor capture of a Sparrowhawk over the garden a few weeks ago

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Wow. If you speak Robin, turn the sound up. I definitely heard the expletive at 00.26 when it dropped the mealie.

Are you going to try it with the Owl next?

Great capture of Broch.

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Wonderful video of the Robin and ditto capture of the Badger! For a 'late at night' shot at iso 4000 that is one good photo! 

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Peter Connan

Wow, great video and far-above-average Badger!

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Love the badger shot, seems like a very exotic creature to have in your backyard from this side of the pond. 

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Dave Williams
1 hour ago, shazdwn said:

Love the badger shot, seems like a very exotic creature to have in your backyard from this side of the pond. 

 

You can't believe how thrilled I have been to discover this nocturnal visitor. I have lived in this house for 33 years and only seen one twice before, in fact I had only seen 3 live ones up to this one. It's rather sad to some people but I have been standing at the bedroom window for at least 30 minutes every night hoping he'll turn up and last night was rewarded with a mega 30 minute stay and the badger down to less than 10m distance away. One of the advantages of having our house built in to a hillside is that the upstairs room are at ground level too.

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You cannot beat a Trail Camera for telling you who comes calling!  Every house should have one.

I know you don't go in for Bird tables but put a camera on that. You may get a pleasant surprise on morning.

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Fantastic to have a badger visit your garden.

We have a trail cam we have been using the last few nights, but nothing interesting so far.

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Dave Williams
3 hours ago, Galana said:

You cannot beat a Trail Camera for telling you who comes calling!  Every house should have one.

I know you don't go in for Bird tables but put a camera on that. You may get a pleasant surprise on morning.

 

We have the Owl Trust just down the road from us, I wonder if they might let me buy some food ( chickens) to tempt the garden Tawnies.I bought a hugely expensive frozen white mouse from the local "Pets at Home" store ( a live one would have been cheaper I bet) last year but the young Owls were not interested in it. 

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Frozen won't cut it. They are real gourmands.

BUT 'fresh' road kill will do if not mangled. Or chicks from the Trust.

 

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Dave Williams

160) Carrion Crow

Well, I gave the Owl Trust a ring and they were very helpful indeed. I think I paid £2.50 , maybe even more for a single frozen white mouse from "Pets at home" last year, the Trust offered to let me try some of their food for free but I insisted on giving them a donation in return for the trial amount of 7 chicks and 6 mice ( one of which was a white one). Claire has allowed me to store the frozen food( that's what they use @Galana but of course their Owls have little choice being captive) in the freezer compartment of our drinks fridge out in the shed but as the chicks come in packs of 200 I'll be buying smaller quantities at a time if it works. I have decided on how and where to try and attract the Owls, on the edge of the wooded area not far from the nest box. It was suggested I bait the top of the box which might in turn lure them to use it but that's not practical as it would involve a ladder and struggling up a bank unless I left it up there permanently. What I have done is rig up a log platform which is high enough to hopefully deter the latest nocturnal visitor we have had in the garden from stealing the bait! Mr Fox can have his own food and I have started by using dry dog food in the hope he'll be a regular visitor. There is a catch however, it turns out the Badger loves dog food almost as much as he does peanuts. After the first night of trying it was total failure on both Fox and Owl but I did capture a new addition for my BY as the Crow took both the chicks and the mouse eventually and returned again this morning too. That's another problem to solve.

 

 

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Edited by Dave Williams
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This is getting to be a real night-time safari! I hope you'll manage to lure the owls to the log. Fascinating stuff, keep on posting.

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Good to see your Camera is keeping you busy in the garden.

Great photos of Brock. Hoping you get some good results with Owls too.

Avoid anything fishy or you will get every darn neighbourhood moggie calling round.

You are a bit far from Pine Marten area but fingers crossed at the rate they are expanding.

https://www.vwt.org.uk/projects-all/pine-marten-recovery-project/

Edited by Galana
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Kitsafari

the badger is looking a little pudgy.....

 

still awesome night viewings.

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Peter Connan

Wow! Badgers, foxes, crows, owls! At this rate, you'd better start spraying Eu de Cologne to keep the tigers away!

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  • 1 month later...
Dave Williams

Here in Wales we are still held in a fairly severe lockdown, I have totally lost track of time but about three weeks ago we were told we could leave the house more than once a day for exercise and a week or so after told we could travel up to 5 miles from home. This has little impact on my own habits, 5 miles is not that much leeway and in my opinion nonsensical but who am I to judge. It seemed the devolved government of Wales which has little power during "normal times" has decided to demonstrate it's independence during the crisis as it can set it's own draconian rules and even ban visitors from England who now have the freedom to go anywhere in their country. 

The whole world, or most of it has suffered but it appears that the UK as a whole has possibly been the biggest botch job yet. We close our borders when the rest of Europe opens theirs. Possibly another statement from the UK government in Westminster who were elected on the promise of getting us out of Europe.

Anyway, besides having to cancel my planned trips to my favourite destination in the whole world, the delightful seabird colonies on the Isle of May, I have also cancelled plans for a now past trip for some bird hide photography in Spain and a forthcoming trip to South Africa in September.  My " steady as you go" BY ground to a halt but fortunately I have found a new outlet for my wildlife photography passion which has probably been there right under my nose but unseen for years!

The Badger project!

This project has slowly developed from having Claire leaning out of the bedroom window shining a torch on the subject, through me buying a couple of rechargeable LED lamps, to what is now something resembling a film set.IMG_2443.JPG.ebd8cb74d5b99b445541ce8c7524b5fe.JPG

 

 

All of this is right outside our bedroom window, or should I say our usual bedroom window!

As we don't have any thick curtains the light has been keeping Claire awake while I sit in my hide tucked behind the house and out of view here.Some of my vigils have gone on until as late as 1.30am hence the decision to move bedrooms especially as my friend and partner in the project can also be sat in there on the nights I'm not!

I wouldn't say it's become an obsession though, it's much more than that!!

We probably have one of the best night time set ups in the UK for photographing Badgers at close quarters. The tree in the photograph with a lamp attached is 6.3m from my camera and the badgers are inside that space. Having captured images of them on the ground and started looking for something different we have just moved on to the using the old tree stump as a prop. They refused to climb over a "fallen" log and simply walked around the obstacle but load the stump with food and it's a different proposition. We are at that stage of the project but we have future plans to develop too which if they come off will be pretty good..I hope.

Anyway, with all this distraction I have had little time for anything else other than a daily exercise, the occasional shopping trip and tending my other new distraction... growing vegetables. The latter will hopefully be ultimately rewarding but my current line of thinking is it was purely a lockdown distraction, and not one to repeat.

 

So, my apologies if I have little time to keep up with everyone's BY posts, especially now we have more contributors than ever.

I haven't completely forgotten about birds, just lost a certain motivation. I have noticed a fair number of youngsters about the garden in the last week or two and I finally picked up my camera and pointed it in their direction so here at last is my latest addition 

161) Long Tailed Tit

49993600628_7b0876e8e6_b.jpgLong Tailed Tit.  Aegithalos caudatus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

 

I have an overload of Badger shots on my Flickr site now if anyone is interested but as I'm sure you are probably not Badger obsessives here's a couple to save you the bother!

49971642442_4a81e45658_b.jpgBH2I6853 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

Tempting the Badger.

49987712557_71776858fa_b.jpgOn the stump! by Dave Williams, on Flickr

On the stump!

49992798101_c68f123e77_b.jpgBadger by Dave Williams, on Flickr

 

Anyway, pleased to see that for most of us, at least life continues.

Stay safe everybody.

Edited by Dave Williams
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Nice Long-tailed Tit Dave. Neat badger shots as well. Glad he's (I assume it is a he) keeping you fruitfully occupied. Once lockdown ends will you be doing your bit to get Welsh tourism going again and start selling spaces in your hide?

Edited by Soukous
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Dave Williams

We have at least 4 different badgers that have been coming, usually no more than two at a time and that was a recent achievement too however, the Trail Camera picked up a remarkable six in one shot a week or so ago. Our main characters are two boars, two sows all which we can now identify individually. 

As for selling space in the hide, no not a consideration to be honest. Looking online people are charging big money for wildlife photography hides...as I know from experience on my travels abroad. Here in the UK it seems that £85 per person per session is the going rate for Badgers and most commercial set ups have 2-3 people in the hide at once. It could be lucrative but it's not the way I see my own private space.

There are many pros and cons to commercial hides. I would only consider one for Pine Marten in the UK but as yet haven't got around to trying. In Europe the advantage is that you are almost, but not always as I have found to my cost,  guaranteed certain species and if you only have a limited time it's a way of achieving your goal. Last year in Spain I got shots of Bonelli's eagle for example.

46411707344_3271e43500_b.jpgBonelli's Eagle by Dave Williams, on Flickr

I would never have got this close to one without the time and effort someone else has put in and the thrill of being there when it turned up to eat was very special. Later though you also realise that as with most of these commercial hides, the shots you have are no different to everyone else's and it does detract from the end result. That's where building your own project is so much more rewarding. Not everyone has a Badger in their back garden....not everyone knows if they have either! There are however so many more projects you can build besides. My little Robin project came to an abrupt end a few days ago. He/she was literally coming when I called and would happily sit on my cupped hands and enjoy a mealworm or five, even singing a little tune of thanks on a couple of occasions , now many people have an opportunity of doing that if they put in the time.

Back to commercial hides though and I discovered that there is a place in South Africa that has built up a commercial hide business. It's called Zimanga and it's in KZN. I enquired about availability and pricing and the fees that they ask for make £85 pale into pocket money. OK you get more than just the hide experience, you get all inclusive accommodation, and one hide session and one safari per day, minimum package 4 nights 1960 euro per person per night. It's way beyond what I want to pay, particularly when I see the likely end shots which with a bit of luck will be just like mine..and everybody else's. They can virtually guarantee you get your Lion and Cheetah shots too as they have micro chipped their local ones but for a similar amount of money I can spend 4 weeks in KNP and have the satisfaction of finding my own...hopefully!!

So no, my Badger shots will stay unique to me and my partner in the project because even with the money it might produce I still wouldn't spend it on what I consider an over indulgence. 

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A very good Long-tailed Tit photo, @Dave Williams and, of course, stunning shots again of your local Badgers!  A very interesting read about the development of the project and the current set-up. I fully understand your feelings about keeping this private and the pros and cons of commercial hides. The rate of the SA Zimanga hide is truly staggering and I do agree that for that money I would rather stay in KPN and take what I can find. Having said that, your eagle shot from Spain is still amazing and it must have been a special moment, indeed!

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Gosh you ARE having fun. Envious to the extreme. I take your point on 'commercial' hides. They serve a purpose in almost guaranteed sightings but that's OK once if say Brown Bear in Europe is your goal. (Not forgetting birds of course.) But I ask 'where is the satisfaction?' I suggest there is much more satisfaction in finding your own 'quarry', even with a local guide in foreign territory, than in say a hide set up just to get you to see something rare. Yes it may be an EBC/EMC but it is "my EBC"!

Before you spend big bucks on a very nice place like this https://www.aigas.co.uk/the-aigas-experience/wildlife-hides/

for your Pine Martens give me a call.

1653114009_1-Scotland20171844.JPG.d726059041f7869a8648c8cd78f9c004.JPG

Is there scope on ST for a Topic on such matters?

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Dave Williams

I started a thread ages ago Fred, it's here:-

 

There are always pros and cons to everything and extreme views too. Some people think that using bait to attract animals is method most foul and in some cases it possibly is. I'm not talking about attracting dangerous beasts and I don't want them to become reliant on my food source either and as we see different Badgers on different nights I can only assume they are dining out elsewhere as well and I doubt anyone else could possibly be feeding them. My birds are. case in point too, currently the feeders are emptying at an alarming rate as so many young birds are about but on occasion I go missing for weeks on end so they have to go elsewhere. I don't find dead birds scattered around, all which died of malnutrition!

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Hmm Dave's hide for Badgers sounds very inviting. 

so does Fred's hide for Pine Martens......

 

really enjoyed allyour photos on the badgers. 

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1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

As for selling space in the hide, no not a consideration to be honest.

 

My comment was tongue in cheek Dave. But I do understand your reasoning.

I am not a huge fan of hides at all. In some areas which have active birdlife or wildlife they can make a good viewing point but the idea of paying extra to sit in a hide does not appeal to me. I have stopped using certain lodges because they charge extra for hide visits, even if you are missing out on a game drive to sit in the hide.

Zimanga is actually a very well thought out concept, aimed squarely at photographers. But it is expensive and I will not be spending my my money there when I can make it stretch much further elsewhere.

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Fantastic badger pictures Dave, I would be staying up half the night too if I had badgers in my garden.

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Dave Williams

@Soukous As I previously said Martin there are pros and cons. Even hiring a guide and vehicle is taking a short cut but from experience I have always found they increase the likelihood of finding things, just as they would if you or I were to take each other around our local patches. 

I must admit though, I do enjoy sitting in a hide and the anticipation of setting up the shot. My hide got very little use until this project for lack of places to put it that was out of public view and where it could be left safely. Wildlife experiences need research and development before you achieve the end product. My birding/photographer pal set this one up for me.

43443056471_28270bcbe9_b.jpgCommon Cuckoo    Cuculus canorus by Dave Williams, on Flickr

There was no way I could just turn up there, set up a hide and get the shot.

Yes, commercial hides take a lot of work and research and if they tick the boxes and your are happy to spend your hard earned I don't knock them, in fact I feel very sorry for those who may well have suffered as a result of lockdown. It's not just a financial loss but the possibility that your subject has moved on to an alternative feeding site if you have been unable to visit and put down the food. All that work and it might not come back, just as my Robin appears to have abandoned me!

Edited by Dave Williams
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