Badgers

Badger

Spare a thought for our British badgers today as the second year of the four year trial cull begins. If you haven't come to this blog from the BWC blog, then head over there to find out more about it. This is just to show off some pictures of badgers without the negativity.

Badger

We currently have two badgers at the Centre, above is our female Honey.

Badger

When first discovered they were thought to be a member of the bear family, but are in fact the largest member of the weasel family living in the UK.

Badger

The badger is one of the worlds fastest digging mammals.

Mushroom, mushroom

How did that get in here?..

Badger, Meles meles

Half of their diet is made up of earth worms, and they can eat over 200 in one night while looking while out foraging.

Badger cubs

Even from day one they have the classic black and white striped face they are so well known for.

Young Badger

It is that classic marking they have that makes them one odour most iconic animals! Even if you have never seen a badger before, most people know they have a black and white striped face... and it is the logo of the Wildlife Trusts.

Young Badger

Rarely seen out in the day, they are a very shy, secretive and nocturnal animal. Our badgers having been hand reared come out in the afternoon to forage and play, and are visible in their sett during the mornings and winter.

Badger in the Snow

Despite what many think, badgers do not actually hibernate. They cut down their activity a lot, and spend far more time underground keeping warm during the winter months, but do still venture out to look for food.

Winter Badger

Badgers have a delayed implantation. They can mate anytime of year, but will always give birth early the following year usually around the end of February early March.

Badger through a Fish-eye

I had to finish on a fish eye photograph didn't I. It seems the ones I take with this lens are love it / hate it photos.

Thanks for looking.

Fish-Eye Lens

Otter on Ice - Highly Commended, BWPA 2012

I have a few different lenses for my camera, of which my 70-200 is by far my favourite. If I could only keep one lens, that would be the one, and is on my camera by default. However I do have a soft spot for my fish-eye lens.

The fish-eye lens seems to have a mixed reaction. Some like it, some don't and some really don't. Personally I love it!

When I first heard about the fish-eye lens, I asked a few people what it was and had the same reaction... Quirky little lens, no good for wildlife... after that I wanted to prove them wrong, and did with the photo above..

The photo of this otter, Lilly, is still my highest awarded photo being Highly Commended in the Animal Portrait category in the BWPA back in 2012.

BWPA 2012 Gallery - Taken by Izzy Coomber

Of course I had to have the obligatory cheesy photo taken with it in the Mall Gallery in London... I know what you're thinking, good to see he smartened himself up for the award ceremony!..

It was great to see my photo displayed alongside so manny other truly amazing photographs of British wildlife, and alongside other great amateur and professional photographers.

Badger through Fish-Eye

The fish-eye lens is a bit hit and miss. By this I means it doesn't always work... due to it's uniqueness, it is quite a niche area of photography, and of all my lenses I use it is the one I have the lowest success rate with. But then when it does work, I think it really works well to create something a little unusual, quirky and different.

HEDWIG!!!

Perhaps the most fun can be had with quirky portraits. You can see above with the badger and snowy owl, it really distorts the proportions. The closer you get with the lens, the more distorted the photo is, and you can get within an inch with it still focusing.

British Fraggle Centre - 2014

The keeping team of 2014.

Harvest Mouse

The photo above is not the best, but it shows how the lens works. You can see with the sky how it really distorts and bends the picture at the extremities.

Fallow Deer

It is all about how you tilt the lens. Tilting it down slightly will give you the effect of a upwards curve on the horizon, as it the animals for example is on top of the world. You can see this slight effect above, and more extreme on the otter at the top of this post.

Bungalow Foundation Digging

Keeping the camera level gives you a level horizon... it will still bend the extremities, you may be able to see this in the trees on the right and the chalk line at the bottom of this photo, but it is less obvious in the sky where there is nothing to show the curve.

Incidentally, this photo is of the foundations being dug for my bungalow. I was standing only a couple of feet away from the chalk line, so you can see how wide the lens really is, almost taking in 180 degrees!

Deer Paddock in Autumn

Tilting the lens the other way, upwards, you get this downwards curve of the horizon...

Deer Paddock

... and of course the more you tilt, the greater the effect as above. All this means I get some funny looks while taking photos with this lens, as most often it looks like I am pointing the camera in completely the wrong direction!

Fallow Grazing

When ever I do a shoot, I always try to get the fish-eye lens out for a bit unless it is obvious that it really won't work. The one above and below are ones from the fallow deer shoot I did a month or so back now for David.

Fallow Deer

The first a true quirky portrait, and the one above a much more subtle use.

Harvest Mouse

And my most recent fish-eye portrait that I am fairly happy with. A harvest mouse on a sprig of corn. Looking at the harvest mouse photos, I have an idea for a great fish-eye portrait, but it will take a bit of setting up. If I get it, I will post it.

Thanks for looking.

Barn Owl

Barn Owl, Tyto alba

I have a lot of photos, old and new, that I would like to share with you all. A lot of visitors to the Centre have particularly asked for more photos from the "Dance of the Adders" (which I am particularly pleased with!) and also from the bluebell shoot I did. I will get to sharing these, promise.

First however, while this sister blog is building momentum, I thought I would share some photos of our owls in timing with our new aviaries having been built. (Also I promised one of our keepers some photos of our short eared owl).

I will start off with a few of each of the seven species we have, I am thinking of possibly doing just a few flying ones on there own at the end, and also a series to show an owl growing. Then once this blog is officially launched I will post some adders and bluebells.

Barn Owl on a fence post

The above was taken out the back of our nature reserve on a fence line boarding the local bridal path. I liked the composition of the twisting fence line and the tree limbs over the top, so placed the owl (Tutoke I believe) of the largest of the posts and waited until she looked in to the frame.

Worms eye view

It won't take you long to realise I love my fisheye lens!.. There is a time and a place for it, even for wildlife, and sometimes that can just be a quirky image. Makes me think I will have to do a post just on fisheye animal portraits at some point. This is Big Pete investigating the lens.

Morning Barn owl

A recurring theme through this blog may will be me saying I love colour and I love light! Above is Big Pete again, taken in the early morning light on a fence post. Backlit and in the frost to emphasise these beautiful colours.

Barn owl plumage

A close up of a barn owls feathers. This is the back of Kevin.

Big Pete and Tom

Most photography I can do on  my own, but sometimes I need the help of a keeper. If I have a particular shot in mind, or something such as flying an owl. Above is Tom in the very low evening light with Big Pete.

Thanks for looking.