tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36512003192113487482024-03-13T22:07:36.916+00:00Matt's PhotosMatt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-50204295062008915812020-10-20T14:13:00.000+01:002020-10-20T14:13:51.048+01:00Update 2020<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6iT6TweOxo/X4m6PEJSDdI/AAAAAAAALEo/JyLZTa1gjQclmQFrsexzxT6SV6V0gwzIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB8924.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="428" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P6iT6TweOxo/X4m6PEJSDdI/AAAAAAAALEo/JyLZTa1gjQclmQFrsexzxT6SV6V0gwzIwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h428/_MPB8924.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p>It's been a funny old year so far, we have had to adapt a lot the way we work but so far things seem to be OK. Here are a few photos from during lockdown earlier this year and the later part of summer when we were able to open to the public. Excuse the order... Google blogger has been updated, and to be honest I find the whole process far more laborious now to work. It used to be so simple, what attracted me to it in the first place, but now I find it almost a chore to use. <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UNZsolb3KLs/X4m6OywijLI/AAAAAAAALEk/_3S_5Il-XZU0JEjsx0qI5kSGt8Kwp_1YACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB8838%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UNZsolb3KLs/X4m6OywijLI/AAAAAAAALEk/_3S_5Il-XZU0JEjsx0qI5kSGt8Kwp_1YACLcBGAsYHQ/w428-h640/_MPB8838%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><p><br /></p>I try to update our British Wildlife Centre blog more frequently than here. At least once a month with a roundup if possible, and share some of my photos there. If you would like to see this it is linked to the right, or you can follow this link:<p></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="www.britishwildlifecentre.blogspot.co.uk" target="_blank">British Wildlife Centre Blog</a></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQcupD4lV5k/X4m6Or6v8ZI/AAAAAAAALEc/lz5mp6PnIdstpuI8UqWH0rgoNu1Y_rKFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB8820.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQcupD4lV5k/X4m6Or6v8ZI/AAAAAAAALEc/lz5mp6PnIdstpuI8UqWH0rgoNu1Y_rKFgCLcBGAsYHQ/w428-h640/_MPB8820.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RYc5zz8vSA4/X4m6O1wUtxI/AAAAAAAALEg/moyElggyHmw9QQE-ULvnuCP6dj0avdiTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB8188.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F4uR3iSzGeY/X4m6MzvlN9I/AAAAAAAALD0/-rBxiGwtX1gt9lQW70gRZzaWnRBCSSXqwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/_MPB0537%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRYDrjKU5U0/X4m6MU0AqzI/AAAAAAAALDw/ujolNJohpZwsJYua4MjRWcJsQAcLMofDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB0400%2B-%2BVersion%2B3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sRYDrjKU5U0/X4m6MU0AqzI/AAAAAAAALDw/ujolNJohpZwsJYua4MjRWcJsQAcLMofDQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/_MPB0400%2B-%2BVersion%2B3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2PcB-15-Mvc/X4m6MWShgLI/AAAAAAAALDo/QrJ9b8tPeJcesesfBsMAw4qy9dnXecAOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB0310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="820" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2PcB-15-Mvc/X4m6MWShgLI/AAAAAAAALDo/QrJ9b8tPeJcesesfBsMAw4qy9dnXecAOgCLcBGAsYHQ/w512-h640/_MPB0310.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m9vsymRNpIo/X4m6MTSoGtI/AAAAAAAALDs/-2z5SXNg9eYjsITqcfliCZOmA-9ClWf_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/_MPB0083%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m9vsymRNpIo/X4m6MTSoGtI/AAAAAAAALDs/-2z5SXNg9eYjsITqcfliCZOmA-9ClWf_QCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/_MPB0083%2B-%2BVersion%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div>Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-86013527516961498812020-08-22T10:55:00.001+01:002020-08-22T10:55:53.530+01:00Pine Marten in the Rain<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXvLVUhzJv0/X0DpZXLLj0I/AAAAAAAAK_4/CvZENgBK_wg_Bg5lsjbOaZtVemrzjpsZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s677/image8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="595" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cXvLVUhzJv0/X0DpZXLLj0I/AAAAAAAAK_4/CvZENgBK_wg_Bg5lsjbOaZtVemrzjpsZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/image8.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Something I have always wanted to photograph was pine martens in the rain. I have tried a couple of times in the past, but never been too successful. Last week for one day we had a downpour, we couldn't get too much done job wise at work, but were still here due to the visitors. Having just done the pine marten talk and seeing Dani soaking wet I thought I would give it another go!..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She was not very cooperative :-) So I headed over to my mate Drogo, and spent half hour with him in the pouring rain. He was up anyway and already drenched, he could go back to his nest boxes at anytime he wanted, but just enjoyed playing in the rain with me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thirty minutes later, soaked to the bone, but it was worth it. I got some photos I was very pleased with. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7HX7MvOaEjc/X0Dph066ubI/AAAAAAAAK_8/Hq-jBHR8Jy8WIC_9SLIge9GwFoEzGF64gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/image1%2B%25283%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="682" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7HX7MvOaEjc/X0Dph066ubI/AAAAAAAAK_8/Hq-jBHR8Jy8WIC_9SLIge9GwFoEzGF64gCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/image1%2B%25283%2529.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E42PXzUj45g/X0DpiHdFxdI/AAAAAAAALAE/LOZTuuhV97YHuORoRpiPfc4MQrL0N42yQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/image2%2B%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eDBjLVEAmSE/X0DpjHoNnBI/AAAAAAAALAM/dZOc0co_kEQkHud_bpZWwwEY-ztLr5N6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/image7%2B%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eDBjLVEAmSE/X0DpjHoNnBI/AAAAAAAALAM/dZOc0co_kEQkHud_bpZWwwEY-ztLr5N6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/image7%2B%25281%2529.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0m9burlP9tk/X0DpjJn98OI/AAAAAAAALAU/IgQ7453-_v8kW1EZfNBSQgPbxPVEjO23wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/image9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="820" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0m9burlP9tk/X0DpjJn98OI/AAAAAAAALAU/IgQ7453-_v8kW1EZfNBSQgPbxPVEjO23wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/image9.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-78895024791071000282019-11-12T22:41:00.002+00:002019-11-12T22:41:37.943+00:00Autumn Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a while, and not due to lack of photos. Actually this year I've managed to get out around the Centre a little more than usual to take some pictures, but with work being as busy as ever there has been a lack of time to post or share some of them.<br />
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Here are a few of the many over the last few months, a bit of a mix, and most straight forward portraits. I will hopefully share a few more of the others around these, if that makes sense, in time. I don't think I will be out with the camera much for the rest of the year, unless we get some snow of course.<br />
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Above is Quil-i-am one of our hedgehogs that was reared earlier this year. Last week we did a photo shoot with him and his brother, Snoophog, in an autumn leave set up.<br />
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This is our new roe buck, Rowan, who we have only had for a few weeks. He is a very handsome chap, and settling in extremely well.<br />
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It seems out younger buck, Vinny, managed to hold on and take over control of our fallow herd from our pale buck Norman. Vinny put on a real good show this year, barking away and strutting his stuff in front of them all.<br />
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One of our red squirrel kittens from this year. You may notice he only has half a tail!.. We are not sure why or how this happened, but have named him Nutkin of course after Beatrix Potter's squirrel who lost half his tail.<br />
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Braveheart our main male wildcat now. He will be paired up for breeding early next year.<br />
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Elwood in the rain. Not that you can really see the rain in this picture, but it was quite a fun half hour with our two otters trying to photograph them with the rain falling quite heavily.<br />
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One of our male adders, Lucius, curled up in the top of the gorse bush. Now in brumation for the winter.<br />
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Here is Snoophog from his autumn leave photography experience.<br />
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Thanks for looking.Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-68646751337033006602019-09-07T08:15:00.000+01:002019-09-07T08:15:23.376+01:00Water Voles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the earlier part of this year our maintenance team were doing some essential work on our water vole island display, trying to rectify the many leaks it had developed over the years. While this work was being carried our we moved a small group of water voles into our grass snake enclosure for people still to see (having taken the rarely seen grass snakes out first).<br />
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They were a nice little display in there, but long term it was never suitable, our main island display is nearly four times the size, and so as soon as it was ready we moved them back to their home! For those who have never visited, or can't remember, our water vole display is a large raised enclosure so that photographers can get eye level with them when on the land and almost eye level when in the water. It has a large island, surrounded by water, with two smaller feeding platform islands for them to get to to feed... Having said that, most of the food they take will be naturally on the island and we just supplement with rabbit food, fruit and veg.<br />
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This display has worked well for us in the past, and the voles seem to enjoy it. Over the last few weeks they have been back they have been very active, chasing each other over the island, jumping in and out of the water, and swimming around the moat.<br />
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Here are a few photos from the last couple of weeks.<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-33534065145255446852019-07-01T07:08:00.001+01:002019-07-01T07:08:12.860+01:00Yellow Neck Mice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I spent a little time in our hedgerow the other morning, before we were open to the public, and was hoping to get some photographs of our field voles... the problem was the time of day and bad reflections on the glass. It made it very difficult, so I decided to move on to our yellow neck mice and wood mice in the more shaded part of the hedgerow, and where the reflections were more manageable.<br />
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These two mice are vey difficult to tell apart just by looking at them, the yellow necked mice do tend to be a little bigger, but from a visual point of view the big difference is their yellow band across the neck... hence their name. I was hoping to get a photograph of both types showing their neck, but only kind of managed with the yellow necked. In fact only one of the photos below is of a wood mouse.<br />
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This is the wood mouse. You may be able to see a couple of slight differences, but really it is the size and neck... neither of which you can see from this photo... which shows you it is a wood mouse rather than a yellow neck mouse.<br />
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And a couple of field voles that stopped for a second to see what was going on. I will have to try again at a different time of day with these.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-91594888515056076062019-05-21T13:40:00.001+01:002019-05-21T13:40:33.730+01:00Pine Martens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our pine martens have been getting a little more active over the beginning of the year as Spring arrives, and Summer nears. Our old pair Bonnie and Clyde are a little less active, but younger pair Drogo (above) and Daenerys (below) have been brilliant.<br />
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Drogo is much more acitve in the afternoons, and great fun around feeding time. Daeny is usually out and about all day, and often spends the morning sleeping on the top of here main tree... very easy still for people to see her.<br />
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It was only the other day I was looking through some of my photos of pine martens, and realised I didn't have too many of Daeny and Drogo, so spent a bit of time with the pair of them one evening. Hopefully get a few more over the summer when the foliage is back out in colour in their enclosures.<br />
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Below are a few more of the two of them...<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-18780499258767022412019-05-14T22:34:00.001+01:002019-05-14T22:34:33.311+01:00Bluebells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It all comes around together so quickly... playing otters, dancing adders, and of course the bluebells in the woodlands on our nature reserve. Some very lucky people on our owl days have managed to take full advantage of this, and taken some amazing photos, and over a few evenings a couple of weeks ago I went down to the woods with some of the keepers and a couple of animals to have a go myself.<br />
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Ash and Oakley, the two tawnies we hand reared last year from a couple of days old. This was the first time they have been tried out on the reserve, and they were true stars! So much so we are thinking of adding them to our owl days so photographers can photograph two tawnies together. </div>
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So much fun watching these two... One settled quickly and loved every minute, one made it clear he wasn't as happy to be there... can you guess which is which :-)</div>
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Athelstan in the bluebells. He is still a newbie to the idea of photoshoots, but was a real pro!.. except wanting to spend all his tie with his Dad Tom, and keep jumping on to his lap :-)<br />
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All the hedgehog photos are of Hugo.<br />
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One of the tawny brothers on his own above, and Florence below.<br />
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Fagin the little owl.<br />
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Of course, a couple of Ethel our European eagle owl too.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-59785119470222244712019-05-08T20:31:00.000+01:002019-05-08T20:31:35.996+01:00Dance of the Adders 2019<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For those who know me, or who have followed either of my blogs for a few years now, you will know I have a soft spot for our adders. One of the things I look forward to the most each year is the "Dance of the Adders" where our males compete in a beautiful display of strength and stamina over the nearby females.<br />
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I have a lot of photos over the years of this entrancing behaviour. When I was first told by one of the keepers that they were watching the adders dance for the first time this year, I rushed up to have a look and take some record shots for work. I must admit, under my breath I was cursing not cutting back the grass a little the day before as I was anticipating them dancing any day. But when I jumped into take a few photos I was soon very pleased I hadn't. I managed to take some photos unlike ones I have before, and am particularly pleased with the first one I have shared above.<br />
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Here are a few more for you to see...<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-49930532853078767782019-04-30T23:11:00.001+01:002019-04-30T23:11:54.832+01:00Herman the Heron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Herman the Heron!<br />
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Herman is a youngster from last year, who was born out on our reserve, and through no encouragement from us is a very friendly heron who visits our otter ponds nearly every day.<br />
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Now, of the many herons roosting on our reserve, a lot visit at the end of the day to pick off the scraps of fish our otters leave behind. But Herman is different. He visits even when no food is around, and is very VERY bold. I have had him within feet while I have been doing a keeper talk before.<br />
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He is playing a risky game, as our otters have taken herons before, but they don't seem to mind Herman at the moment, and he seems a bit more clued in too.<br />
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Either way, they seem to tolerate each other at the moment, and he is a welcome sight in our otter pond.<br />
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As well as Herman, we have our wild wild herons on our reserve. Chicks in the nest constantly calling for food means a lot of action down there too. Best place to spot them is from either our wetland boardwalk, or maybe even better our second car park on the edge of the reserve.<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-62280909641571674662019-04-26T13:23:00.001+01:002019-04-26T13:23:53.290+01:00Otters Playing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our two otter cubs, Ottermus Prime and Beatrix Otter, have been real stars over the last couple of months. They seem to have got in to a habit of having a play session shortly after they have been out for the morning keeper talk. This means a lot of people have been hanging around to see them in actions, and it has been great fun.<br />
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They end up chasing each other over the banks, in and out of the water, tossing and turning in the water and play fighting too. I managed to take a lot of photos, here are a few below.<br />
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Otto pretty pleased with himself having found a root to play with. </div>
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Play fighting on one of the islands.<br />
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Being chased in to the water.<br />
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In amongst the reeds.<br />
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They are both really playful, but Otto seems to have a bit more mischief about him. He can find fun in anything to play with. Even jumping out the water to grab and play with the leaves on the trees.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-79295033181899618012019-03-05T20:59:00.001+00:002019-03-05T20:59:45.315+00:00Nina the Weasel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had channel 5 at the Centre last week to do some filming for their news programme. In the end it was only a very short feature about a report on the comeback of many of Britain's carnivores. They focused on our otters, but also filmed our pine martens, polecats, badgers and stoats. They didn't spend anytime with our weasels though!.. so I spent a bit of time with Nina, one of our weasels, at the end of the day so that she didn't feel left out.<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-220532584571167262019-02-16T17:50:00.001+00:002019-02-16T17:50:09.890+00:00Otter Cubs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our otter cubs, Ottermus Prime and Beatrix Otter, have been great fun over the last few weeks. They seem to be getting bolder day by day, and are beginning to venture out a lot more while people are here. They often come up on to the bank with mum and dad at feed times, and spend a lot of time playing in the water with each other. Here are a few of many photos I have taken of them recently.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-25910305994097105452019-01-01T12:56:00.000+00:002019-01-01T12:56:01.214+00:00Top Ten from 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Centre was extremely busy over the last year, except for a few weeks around Christmas we were pretty much fully booked, even the evening groups over the late Spring/Summer period seemed to be more than usual. All great for the Centre of course, but it does leave less time for photography. Looking through some pictures from last year, and it seems I took far less than I have in the past. But still, here are ten of my favourites from 2018 starting above.</div>
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1. Susie the stoat in ermine. </div>
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I love stoats, and I love Susie! It may sound strange to hear, but all our stoats we have ever had all have their own little personalities, and Susie is a real star. Shyer than our others, but worth hanging around for as she is a real beauty. Last year she turned ermine again, almost completely except a few hairs around the eyes, and we were lucky enough to get a little dusting of snow for a couple of days. It took a long time waiting for her to come out, a long time waiting for her to go where I had my camera set up, and a lot of luck to get the photo quick enough before she moved, but I think it was worth it. Yay for Susie, the sexy stoat!</div>
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2. Adder yawn.<br />
A photo I have been after for many years, but it takes a lot of luck to be there at the right time. I wasn't even trying to photograph this, I was watching them 'dance', and talking to one of the keepers at the time. Out the corner of my eye I saw this adder start to move it's jaw and thought it may yawn, so grabbed my camera by my side, laid down and just fired off a lot of shots no time to worry about settings. I got lucky, very lucky!<br />
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3. Harry the otter cub.<br />
Harry was a special little otter cub, and it was touch and go at one point whether I was going to take him to hand rear him. He was seen out of the holt very early on several occasions, once just sat in the cold running water of the sleuce, once right by the fence and my feet during a keeper talk, at one point he even went back in to the holt and mum dragged him out again. If it was Emmy's first litter I think I would of stepped in, but being a seasoned mum we left her too it but kept a very close eye. The real moment of indecision came when he fell into the sleuce during a keeper talk and Emmy just left him. I was confident that she would get him after she had finished eating, but the running water was ice cold, he seemed distressed and so did the public watching. I picked him up, towelled him off and put him back in the holt. It was almost like he remembered the helping hand, as in the photo above he and his sister were running by me as I was laid on the ground. She was very hesitant and then sprinted past, where as Harry nonchalantly walked by and even came up close to me here.<br />
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3b. Otter cub on ice.<br />
Ok, cheating a little, but another otter cub one. This time running on the ice during the Beast from the East at the beginning of last year.<br />
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4. Jake.<br />
Our main pond is used for most of the talks and tours we do, and Buster in the middle pond is a good back up. Not many people get to meet Jake in the third pond, they may see him sleeping in the observation holt, but not stay on long enough to see him come out to feed at the end of the day. He really is a handsome chap, just like his brother Elwood. This portrait was taken on a dark evening before leaving work.<br />
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5. Yellow neck mouse.</div>
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Our mice and voles in the hedgerow have been perhaps the best ever over the last year. They tend to be more active earlier and later in the day, but do have spells throughout the rest of the day too. Our yellow neck mice in particular have been real stars, and a lot of people stop at their enclosure for some photos. This is one of my favourites of them from last year. </div>
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6. Tawny owl chicks.<br />
Last year was the first year we have bred tawny owl chicks. The first year we had no success, the year before last the female laid eggs but nothing happened, and last year she hatched out three chicks. Keeping an eye on them and we weren't sure that the mother was looking after them correctly. She was certainly keeping them warm, but we were not confident she was feeding them. Having a closer look one day we saw a pile off food in the corner. It was being collected, but not being fed to the chicks. We decided to remove them to hand rear early, and lucky we did. Unfortunately one had died already and the two above where not looking great. It was touch and go for a few days, but they pulled through and are now looking great!<br />
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7. Floki the barn owl.<br />
Another chick another story, and how we got Floki is quite a story, but one for another time perhaps. In short Floki is a barn owl that we collected when he was only a week old from local owl breeder. Above I was photographing him one evening in the lovely light on a perch in my back paddock. He is so friendly though, that by the time I put him on the branch and walked away to pick up the camera he had jumped off and followed me to sit on my lap. I did manage to get a few when I was quick enough though, and this one I particularly like. You can still see some baby fluff through the adult feathers.<br />
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7b. Adult Floki.</div>
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Cheating again, but you can really see the difference in Floki now he is mature, and what a beautiful barn owl he has become.</div>
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8. Stevie McQueen the Black rat.<br />
Black rats are beautiful, they really are. If you have only seen brown rats and/or have a slight fear of them, come and see our black rats. They are sleek, agile, athletic, very different looking to the brown rat. If a rat was cute, the black rat would be it. I took a lot of photos of our black rats at night last year, the first time I have done that, and although very difficult for many reasons, got a few that I liked. This one above possibly my favourite. I definitely think I will be trying this again this year at some point.<br />
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9. Red deer boys.<br />
Not the best photo, but one I like. I can't remember why I was out in the paddock to be honest, but I guess I had been asked to photograph something by the office as I obviously had my camera with me. While driving around the deer split in to two groups with the males heading off one way and the females and calves another. This little male calf decided to stay with the boys though, must have thought he was big enough to be a big deer! It was lovely to watch, and when they did go back to the rest of the group it was the little male that lead the way! A master stag in the making.<br />
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10. Stanley Brown the badger.<br />
I had to include one of our new badgers. This is Stanley Brown, and he really is a character, he is the one you may have seen me feeding custard creams to as a treat. He came to us a rescue with two young females. We continued to hand rear them for a little while, although most of the hard work had already been done by the rescue centre, and then let them settle down in to their new home. Recently, making use of the winter months when they are less active, we slowly introduced them to our other two badgers and they are now all living together in the main sett. They rarely venture out this time of year, but if you do come to the Centre you can see them all snuggled up in the observation sett.<br />
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Here's to 2019!<br />
Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-11520038168028876612018-09-21T22:24:00.000+01:002018-09-21T22:24:16.604+01:00Brown Rats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After the few photos of black rats I took a few weeks a go, I realised I don't really have any of our brown rats. Although seen in the feed station and overhead tubes often, they are quite shy in their main display area... so I went over late one night to see them all active. The problem with this is it was very dark, even with the light on in the enclosure, I was photographing at a VERY high iso.<br />
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These are the best I could manage, and are very noisy due to the iso, but I am pretty pleased with them. I will have to try again another night, and see if I can add some artificial light to help.<br />
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While there, I took a couple of our black rats again. They really are so much prettier than the brown rat. Due to the late night, not as good as the ones I got a few weeks a go, but nice record shots non the less. </div>
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I quite like this one, and was trying to get his shadow on the boarding behind him too. Bit more work required with this one but nearly what I had in mind.<br />
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And checking on our other little mice and voles, our shy wood mice were very active. It was even darker in the hedgerow, but I managed a couple of nice portraits, even if they are very grainy.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-65272761762634857412018-08-22T15:58:00.004+01:002018-08-22T15:58:29.712+01:00Black Rats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our black rats are very difficult to photograph. They can be quite shy, and scurry off quickly if you make any sudden moves or get too close to them, unless they are in their feeding area or over head run... but either of these areas are not that great for taking pictures.<br />
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I did go in to the enclosure with them one morning for a few minutes, and after they got used to me being in there I did get a chance to take a few photos, but it was VERY dark. I was quite pleased with these ones though.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-10342844483405173322018-08-06T16:24:00.001+01:002018-08-06T16:24:19.974+01:00Photo Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here are some photos from the last few months. Only record shots really, nothing special, but thought some of you may like to see them.<br />
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A couple of photos of a swan with her cygnets. First time she hatched any out on our reserve, and got lucky one morning that she happened to be bringing them by while I was on the boardwalk with my camera.<br />
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One of our wild harvest mice that we released out on to our reserve.<br />
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Photographing our deer calves, and they all stuck together or with the females except for this little one. He stayed with the boys!<br />
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Thought it was quite funny how they were together, bit like he wanted to be one of the big deer... and it was even him who ended up leading the older stags back to the group. A master stag in the making perhaps.<br />
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One of out water voles on our display island.<br />
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Two new ravens are now in our care at the Centre. This is their aviary. They perch up high, and have a nice outlook over the whole of the deer park, most of the Centre, and half of the nature reserve too.<br />
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It really is quite impressive, as you walk down to the owl aviaries you can see the ravens perched high above in their aviary.<br />
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Huginn (below) and Muninn (above) named after Norse god Odin's ravens.<br />
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Stanley Brown, one of our three badger cubs hand reared and given to us. Starting to come out while the public are around and still nice and friendly.<br />
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And his two clan mates in a tunnel they use to keep cool in. Oreo and Humbug being shy behind.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-66567897459692553372018-07-29T23:09:00.001+01:002018-07-29T23:09:09.692+01:00Owlet Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our barn owl chick, Floki, is unrecognisable to how he was only a few weeks ago. Can you believe this handsome chap above used to look like this odd little fluff ball below!..</div>
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He has grown well, and is now well on his way with his flying training with keeper Tom. It won't be long till he is part of our full flying team, and putting on a show with the others.<br />
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These are a couple of other pics off him growing up.<br />
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Our other owlets are all doing well too, and we have a second clutch of little owl chicks which are currently being reared by mum to become aviary owls.<br />
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Below are a couple of photos of our tawny owl chicks from a few weeks a go. They are now pretty much fully feathered with just their heads left to develop.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-22100601266436866252018-07-02T13:04:00.001+01:002018-07-02T13:04:41.441+01:00Grass Snake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple of weeks a go we were able to get a rare hold of our grass snake, so I took a couple of photos. A few here to share with you.<br />
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For those not too keen on snakes, don't worry, I have some lovely photos of our owlets growing up which I will share soon.<br />
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I love colour, and it's amazing to look at animal colour closely. I have seen it a lot in many species, but look at the "green" scales of the grass snake above... greens, blues, yellows, browns... a real mix of colour in there.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-791441750695798392018-06-01T10:56:00.000+01:002018-06-01T10:56:13.343+01:00Owlets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lot's of owlets this year for us at the Centre. Just a few pics for you here. Above are two tawny owls on the right, and a little owl on the left.<br />
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Our long eared owls have been very successful for a number of years. Three more chicks so far this year in their first clutch, including this one above who had a quick photo shoot before heading off to Nescot College.<br />
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Our tawny owls bred for the first time this year, but unfortunately it was soon apparent that the mother wasn't sure what she was doing. We had to take them a lot earlier than we normally would to hand rear them, but they are now looking really good.</div>
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Another successful year for our little owls too. We have bred them a few times before, but this is the first time in back to back years they have hatched out a clutch of chicks. 4 this time, two of which will stay at the Centre.<br />
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Our owlets are being reared by the keepers, who get to take them home at night to make sure they have company and stay friendly. </div>
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And one little chick that didn't hatch out here, but was donated to us to rear for our flying team. A Barn owl being hand reared by keeper Tom.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-38173799681325097522018-05-25T11:36:00.001+01:002018-05-25T11:36:55.967+01:00Adders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While photographing the adders dancing, I managed to take a few pictures of them on their own too. Above is my favourite, and one I have been after for a long time. You have to be very lucky, right place right time, and this year I was. </div>
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While dancing, one of the adders stopped and went under the tile shelter. He came out the other end, and was moving his mouth in a way that I though he would open it up wide. They often do this after eating, to realign their jaw, so maybe during the tussle with another male he knocked it slightly and wasn't comfortable. </div>
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I ha put my camera down at this point, and was talking to my brother watching on the outside, but saw the above out the corner of my eye. Luckily, I was in there with them and laying down. Lucky I had my macro lens on as I was quite close. Lucky he faced me at a nice angle while he "yawned" Very lucky that on this photo nothing was in the way... I have several others in the sequence, but each one has a blade of grass in front of his head!</div>
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A few others I quite liked, above and below of one of our males... actually I think that is one each of both our males. Then further down the darker female curled up in the logs. </div>
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Side on female.<br />
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Facing the camera.<br />
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And again, but wit a male writhing over her. Shows nicely the contrast difference between the males and females.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-52524405284557038912018-05-18T15:12:00.000+01:002018-05-18T15:12:26.174+01:00Dancing Adders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple of weeks a go now our adders 'danced'. This is such an amazing thing to see, and I have been lucky enough to see it here a the Centre for several years now. It is always one of the signs of Spring for me, something I always look forward to observing, and an experience I enjoy immersing myself in by just laying in the enclosure with them... watching, photographing and being absorbed by the beauty of it.<br />
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This 'dance of the adders' is a ritual battle between rival males, competing over a nearby female for a mate. If you want to know more about it, have a look at our BWC blog where I go in to a bit more detail and even have a short video showing some of it in action.<br />
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These are just a few photos from this years experience. Despite photographing this for many years now, you always see new things and end up with different photos. Above is my favourite from this season... two of our males dancing almost on top of one of our females, with her not looking too impressed at all.<br />
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As well as them dancing, I took the chance to get a few portraits of them while they were busy being distracted with other things! I will share a couple of these next week, including one I am particularly pleased with.<br />
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The dance is over for this year now, a lot of lucky visitors managed to see it over the bank holiday weekend, and a very lucky photography group who were here on perhaps the best day for them dancing.<br />
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They have since mated, and so possibly some young adders later in the year. Time will tell.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-27934055147579631012018-05-03T07:47:00.001+01:002018-05-03T07:47:25.633+01:00Yellow Neck Mice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Centre continues to be busy, and we have new keepers training up and new animals arriving and being born too. I have a few odds and ends photos to share later this month, and also a little post about our new arrivals when they go out on display. For now though, here are a few photos of our yellow neck mice that I took last week.<br />
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Our mice and voles are doing very well at the moment, breeding and displaying well, and our yellow necks in particular always seem to be out and active. The slightly greyer ones in these pictures are of the youngsters or adolescents... as they mature they will get the more 'ginger/golden' hue in their fur.<br />
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This one is my favourite in the beautifully shaped bit of wood, and a few others I was pleased with below. I still haven't got one with the tail nicely in the photo too... so keep trying I guess :-)<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-6769477410161799142018-03-05T10:48:00.001+00:002018-03-05T10:48:37.143+00:00Photos from February<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The end of February brought us some snow, and although we didn't get as much as surrounding areas, we still did get a little covering here at the Centre. Around getting jobs done so that keepers could get home early, and avoiding my fingers dropping off in the bitterly cold wind, I managed to get a few pictures of our animals in the dusting of snow. The one above of Susie in her ermine coat being my favourite.<br />
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A few more snow photos are at the end of the post, but I wanted to share a couple of others first. This one above is of one of our male otters, Jake. I took this during the early part of the month, having been taking photos of the cubs and buster... and remembering that I don't actually have too many pictures of him.</div>
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It was very late one evening, and little light... you can see hardly any colour in the image at all, but still he looks as handsome as ever. It is probably my favourite portrait of him I have at the moment. </div>
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At the beginning of the month I wanted to try and get a photo of Susie in her ermine coat. Something else I have wanted for a while is a photo of her whole body, including her tail... most of my pictures of her are just head and shoulders out of a hole.<br />
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I was happy with these two for record shots, but still not what I really had in mind.<br />
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When the snow came, it helped with the poor light by reflecting it around the enclosure making things a bit easier. I quite liked the one above, and so now just need to take one in her summer coat complete with tail.<br />
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In the past, when we have had snow, the snowy owl has always been my first port of call. But this year I had to make it Susie... an ermine stoat in the snow!<br />
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Tuesday afternoon, the keepers went home early to avoid the traffic and icy roads, and I went and spent half an hour with Susie before heading off myself.<br />
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We had a little bit of light for a few minutes, but even with out it wasn't too bad as the snow made everything brighter.<br />
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Feeling left out, Nina the weasel wanted her photograph taken too!<br />
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Now these pictures of the otters were actually taken on the 1st of March, but thought I would include them here since they are a bit snowy.<br />
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I have several photos of our two otter cubs running on the snowy ice, but these are a couple of my favourites.<br />
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It took them a while to get used to the ice, unlike Buster above, who has seen it all before. Here he is just standing in the middle of the pond on the ice, wondering what all the fuss is about.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-23977880153075035142018-02-11T20:22:00.000+00:002018-02-11T20:22:43.708+00:00Photos from January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Photography seems to be a rare thing for me these days, but I did manage to spend a few minutes on a couple of afternoons after work a couple of weeks a go down with our otter cubs. The bad news... it was dark... very dark!.. but the good news, my new camera that finally I have been able to try out properly coped really well considering the conditions. I don't think I would have done half as well with my old camera.<br />
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I took quite a few record shots for work, but thought I would share a few of my favourites here. Above is mum Emmy with one of her cubs.<br />
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She is a good mum, even if she does get a little fed up with them climbing all over her at times.<br />
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One of the cubs just chilling in the water with her leg floating up out the back<br />
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It is difficult to get both cubs together without one blocking the other, but I have a nice little sequence of them helping each other out of the water.<br />
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One of the evenings we were blessed with a little ray of light for about five minutes.<br />
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And two of my favourites. Above is dad Elwood looking out, with one cub using him for balance while copying him and the other looking up at dad adoringly. They were there for a couple of minutes, and both cubs were standing with Elwood at different stages but never all three at once unfortunately.<br />
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Below, a close up of one of the cubs checking out his reflection in the lens.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
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<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3651200319211348748.post-14244414423232514002018-01-08T11:50:00.001+00:002018-01-08T11:51:41.075+00:00Ten Favourites from 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year was a bit quiet for me in terms of photography, why?.. Well mainly the Centre being busier... and as much as I like taking photos, the Centre is and will always be my main priority. It was a shame in one way though, as I had a new new camera at the start of the year and didn't really get a chance to use it properly until the end of the year. </div>
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Hopefully more time will be free this year, and I will get to use it more. So far I like it very much. Anyway, to start the year off I thought I would share ten of my favourites from last year. Some on my new camera, some old, and even the iPhone thrown in for good measure. </div>
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The otter cubs with mum above, one of the first photos with my new camera taken at the beginning of the year when I was trying it out straight from the box. </div>
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This was on my phone, and I kind of wish I took it on my camera now as it has been very popular and done well for the Centre. A row of Albus's antlers from the last five years castings.<br />
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Our dormice were filmed waking from hibernation for the "tree" programme on the BBC that Judi Dench and the Centre was involved with. During filming I took the chance to take a few pictures, as very rarely do we have our dormice out like this.<br />
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A rather cutesy portrait of two of our long eared owl chicks in the buttercups. Bit cheesy I know, but ideal for a record shot for the Centre to use.<br />
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A photo I had been wanting to get for a long time. A weasel by a packet of Polo mints. Not as good as I hoped, but good enough until I get better. I was bale to give it a go last year with this rescued weasel called Ginny.<br />
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One of my favourite portraits from last year. One of our new water voles on our display island. We had a new family arrive early summer, and a couple of the kits where black.<br />
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We moved our weasels around a lot last year, and this little one settled in to her photographic pen really quickly. Still a star on display and posing nicely for photographers.<br />
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Macavity the wildcat. Always try to make the cats look "wild", but in a different way to just have them snaring.<br />
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Hugo is a great hedgehog, and so good for photography. I have photographed our hedgehogs in autumn leaves for the past few years, but tried something a bit different this year and was pleased by the results. This one above is one of my favourites, and was used by Springwatch last Autumn.<br />
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Our mice and voles often overlooked. Our yellow neck mice had a good season at the end of the year, so I spent half an hour one morning trying to photograph them. Trying being the word... very dark, and they never seem to stop, but I was pleased with this one.<br />
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Thanks for looking :-)<br />
<br />Matt Binsteadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07385381020753239358noreply@blogger.com4