Snakes and Martens

Drogo, Pine Marten

Our busy summer continues at the Centre. All good for us of course, but means less time with my camera. However, that time I have had I have been very pleased with what I have managed to take. 

Above is one of my favourite portrait photos of Drogo, our newest male pine marten at the Centre. Isn't he a handsome chap?

Bonnie and Clyde have been busy eating the plums that have fallen in to their enclosure, so I thought I would try the others on them too. Seems they all like them, and Drogo in particular couldn't get enough of them :-)

It was difficult to get any good photos of him eating them, but fun none the less just watching him go about his business.

The other time I took my camera out was to witness something I have never seen before... a female adder give birth to her live young. We have had adder babies born here in the past, but never have I seen the actual birth. This year I did though, a first and quite possibly a last, and by chance I had my camera with me. The photos are not great as she was in an awkward place in the enclosure, but just seeing it was enough for me and I didn't want to get too close and disturb her.

This is seconds after birth with the membraneous egg sac still visible covering the little neonate.

You can see how small he is next to mum, and perhaps more so on the sand in the photo below.

They can have up to double figures in a single birth, and we know of at least six that were born last week. If you want to hear more about it or see more photos have a look on the BWC Blog, tabbed above under the banner, and check back in the archives about a week from the date of this post.

Feisty little things, but great fun to watch and photograph.

Thanks for looking :-)

June's Catch up.

Little Owl Chick

Just a quick post today to share a few pics from this last month. We have a new little owl chick, first time we have bred them here at the Centre, and we are currently rearing him to be part of our flying team. I have spent a couple of shoots with him to get some record shots of the little one growing, and will do a post sharing some photos of just him probably later next week, but thought I would show this one above. 

This is of him when he was only about 2 and a half, 3 weeks old. It is so far my most popular photo on my Facebook page, and I particularly like it because it shows off how small he really is. And boy, what a great gate he is perched on! :-)

Another reason I shared the little owl photo early, is because the others in this post are not great... but it shows you a work in progress.

Drogo, our new male pine marten, is becoming great at positioning for photography. I am now trying a few different things out and playing with the light a bit. Not really working at the moment, but you can get an idea of what I am trying for.

This was perhaps the closest to what I had in mind, the lens flare was deliberate, but unfortunately the light fell in an area where it was impossible for me to avoid the obvious pen background. I'll think of something though, may be a case of getting him used to some false background or allowing the grass to grow longer along the back. 

 Finally, a couple of photos of frogs. Can you spot the difference?

Above is a marsh frog, and below a pool frog. Some of you may remember we had some young pool frogs in where our water shrews are now. Reared from a young age, when bigger we released them in to our water vole pond. They had been rather shy, but this year have really become bold and are out quite a lot to be seen.

No I am in know way an expert in frogs, and I still get confused about the differences between marsh, edible, pool etc, but there are two thing here that show you its a pool frog. Most obviously the beautiful vivid green/yellow dorsal stripe down the back (although some marsh frogs can show similar too, I did say it was confusing! :-) ) and when you know what you are looking for, you may be able to see that the pool frog also has a more pointed and longer snout than the marsh frog? Can you? Course you can, have a closer look :-)

Oh finally, let me share a video with you of me feeding the pine martens.

OK, for those interested in "Instagram" i recently discovered it, and am actually enjoying using it. I have only uploaded photos I have taken on my phone currently, but am running out fast so will move on to my other photos too to keep it going. If interested, drop by and have a look. You will find me as @themattbinstead I'll mention more about that on my next post. 

Thanks for looking :-)

New Pine Martens

Pine Marten, Martes martes

At the end of last year we acquired two new pine martens at the BWC. Those that know me well, or have followed my blogs, know I that the pine marten is my favourite animal. I have a particular bond with one of our females called Bonnie, a story I have told many a time, and may repeat here at some point in the future. 

Anyway, after moving our new male Drogo on to display earlier this year, I felt the time was right a few weeks ago to start some training. The evening where lighter, I had some time and he had settled well and even started following us around when we went in to feed him. 

He now hand feeds well, a bit snatchy, but that will calm with time. Fingers and jam is still a way off, but I will get there :-) Will he ever be as "friendly" as Bonnie or Clyde?.. I would be surprised, but then you never know.

Feeding comfortably I then started getting him used to the camera, being tempted to different areas of the enclosure, and the shutter going off. He doesn't keep still! But I have managed to get a few photos I am very happy with!

The light in the evening is good, but only falls in patches in his pen, and move around quite quick. I managed to catch it right in a couple of cases though and while he is learning to pose and go where I ask, I am learning where the light falls at different times of the evening. It is a work in progress, and one in which we both have to help each other out and work together. 

This bond with an animal is what I love, and is really pulling me back to my roots... something I need at the moment. I am beginning to learn his limits, and he is beginning to really trust me when I ask him to do something new.

Handsome chap ain't he! :-) He is a good lad, and I am thoroughly enjoying my evenings with him. I haven't forgotten the others, I still spend time with them all, but since they are so steady I can afford a bit more time with Drogo at the moment.

Our other new pine marten, Daenerys, is still housed off display. She will be on display at some point, but it will mean retiring one of the others off so will take time to see who and when is best.

I have been working with her too. I have spent many an evening with her already, but not really training. Only watching and getting her used to me being there. The other week I started, and originally thinking she would take a long time to "tame", she had proved me wrong and is making much faster progress than Drogo, despite me starting later with her!

She regularly hand feeds, is less snatchy than Drogo at the moment, and even comes up and tries to steal food from the bowl before I am ready! Good stuff. I have stated some jam training with her the last couple of nights, so expect some bloody fingers soon :-)

Isn't she beautiful! A real stunner. Bonnie will always be my number one girl, but I don't think I have ever seen a pine marten more beautiful than Daenerys! 

The pen has poor backgrounds for photographs, but I just wanted some record shots and was happy with the above. 

While working with the two newbies, I realised I didn't really have any good photos of Hamish, another of our martens. He is a small male, a little runty actually, but full of character and personality. Here is one I took of him the other evening.

I will post a video of them feeding soon, just a couple more clips I hope to get before editing.

Thanks for looking :-)

Pine Marten; Drogo

Drogo the Pine Marten

Most of you will know we welcomed two new pine martens to the Centre at the end of last year. Now with the evenings beginning to, ever so slightly, draw out it gives me time to start working on them to become a bit more friendly, used to cameras, and eventually hand feed.

Daenerys is a non starter at the moment... very shy, and off display. She is a project for another time. But Drogo, above, has been settling in very well to his new enclosure.

He comes out most afternoons, and if not too active you usually see him with his head resting on the entrance to his nest box keeping an eye on the comings and goings. He readily comes out while we are in there feeding him too, but keeps his distance for now... i don't think it will be too long though till he is confident enough to come close.

These photos are nothing too special, and all a bit samey, but I am just trying to get him used to me getting closer and the noise of a camera etc at the moment. Hopefully something more special will arrive in time.

Three were taken through the inch gauge wire, but I don't think you can really tell... The others I was in the pen with him.

You may notice he is missing a bit of fur on his head. Nothing to worry about, that is just where he was fur clipped at the New Forest for recognition before coming to us. Spoils the photos a little, but it will grow back and he will be as handsome as ever!

"This content is created with the Samsung NX1, which has been provided by Samsung Electronics Co.Ltd."

This last one was taken on the Samsung NX1, and was actually the first one I got of him. It was a very dull evening then.

And what of Samsung?.. Best not ask :-) Still waiting...

Thanks for looking :-)

Wildcat Snarl

Wildcat

It has been extremely busy over the past few weeks here, and I have had little time to take any photographs... but when I have, experimenting was what I was doing. I have a couple of photos in my head which I am very keen to get, and am just working out the best way to do it. One is of a wildcat snarl and strike.

Above is the closest I have got, but work is needed. The light was non-existent and finding a background that works in the pen is very difficult. I think it may have to be a snow shot if we get it this year. Two things I have learn't thought are... 1. Use the fisheye lens (as above). The wide angle just didn't give the effect I wanted, but this does make the background harder to get. 2. Wear a glove! :-)

Wildcat

While setting up I took a couple of simple portrait snarl shots.

Wildcat

And a simple one to get the settings right for the fisheye lens.

Pine Marten

Another thing I was experimenting with was the pine martens. They are looking really good at the moment in their longer coats. The tricky things with this are the pens are not too great for photography, and the light is on Bonnie's pen in the morning when they are more afternoon animals.

Pine Marten

We got somewhere though, and I think we found a nice area to work with...

Pine Marten

This spot has potential for something.

Pine Marten

But still needs a bit more work.

Running Weasel

Another experimentation was a running weasel, this had to be done in the run to get a straight head on shot, but is difficult... and I mean really difficult! Above was on f/2.8 and ISO 3200. Even then the shutter was not really fast enough and I will happily admit, that the above was a lot to do with luck! It was very dark though, so with some light I think it is possible.

American Mink

A couple of photos from a few I took of one of our mink. I have never really photographed them before, but Mindy, our female, was out a week ago in the morning so I took the opportunity to get a few snaps.

American Mink

Thanks for looking.

Pine Martens

Bonnie; Pine Marten, Martes martes

Where do I start?.. Umm...

I LOVE PINE MARTENS!!!

Okay. I appreciate there is a lot of photos here, but I wanted to show them all. I'll try to keep future posts to a few less photos than this, but can you blame me... look how beautiful pine martens are!

Above is one of the first photos I ever took, literally in the first 50 I took with a DSLR. It was a Canon lent to me by Gary K Mann, a member of the BWC. I wanted a souvenir photo of Bonnie, and this was the best I got... and still my favourite to this day! Yes, it is slightly out of focus on the face (focus is on the log), and there is a plank running through her back, but I love the pose and it shows "my" Bonnie!

Clyde

It only seems fair to introduce our other three martens too, so here is Clyde above.

Buttons

Above is Buttons, our elderly pine marten, and first ever pine marten I saw in the flesh.

Hamish

And finally, Hamish, small for a male but with a big personality... He really ttys to dominate through the wire with the others.

Me with Pine Martens - by Izzy Coomber

This is my favourite photograph of me, taken by Iz, of me feeding Bonnie and Clyde while they were in together a few years a go.

Bonnie, Old BWC Leaflet

The rest of the photos will just be of Bonnie or Clyde, they are by far the friendliest of them all. Although the others do hand feed, these two are happy to come out and spend more time with me while I am in their enclosure.

Above is an early photo of Bonnie, one of the first taken with my first camera, a Nikon D90. It was used as the cover of our leaflet 4 or 5 years a go now.

Award Winning Clyde :-)

This is the first photo that ever won an award!.. Best photo in the West Hoathly village county fair, don't knock it, it won me 50p.

Bonnie

A few of Bonnie now, it is very difficult to get a decent photo of our pine martens... they move extremely quickly, their pens are quite dark and not ideally set up for photography. This is why a lot of my photos of them are wide angle. I waiting to get that really good portrait photo I have in my mind!

Bonnie

A softer shot which is used a lot for our publicity, seems to be one of Liza's favourites.

Beautiful Bonnie

A peeking shot, showing of Bonnie to her beautiful best when she is in full winter coat.

Bonnie in a Tree

This is Bonnie peeking out of a hole in a tree. It is a set I took in to her pen a few years a go to try and get something looking a bit more natural... It didn't really work, but this was the best of the series.

Close-up of Bonnie

Close up of Bonnie, one of the more unusual ones I have of her.

Curious Clyde

Clyde showing off their inquisitive nature. They are such curious animals, and often tilt their head to one side like a dog when trying to take everything in.

Clyde

These few are of Clyde, the one above taken only a couple of weeks a go.

Peeking Pine Marten

Having the backgrounds so close, and wire often in the way, it leads to lots of close ups like the one above.

Clyde

These two are from a recent shoot with Clyde, looking a little scraggly as he had just started to moult.

Clyde

I was quite pleased with them though, and manage to take them in some softer evening light... always seems to help lift an ordinary photo.

Close-up of Clyde

This is an oldie, but possibly the first photo of Clyde I took that I was pleased with. It shows him just before his spring moult, his old winter fur bleached blond while spending so much time in the runs under the sun.

Bonnie with an Egg

We sometimes offer our pine martens eggs, and it is great to watch how they carry them off and try to crack in to them. On one occasion I watched Bonnie for a good while rolling an egg up the back at the back of her enclosure, and then letting it roll down again to hit the ground. Once it had cracked she started lapping it up.

Fisheye of Clyde

Had to include one taken with the fisheye lens :-)

Clyde Keeping an Eye on Me

And my current favourite, and new only taken 5 hours a ago. Love the look he is giving me.

Below I have included a video I uploaded last summer. Ignore the commentary, it is old and we have not just split them up... we have just introduced them, but thought you might like to see Bonnie and Clyde hand feed.

Anyway, apologies for so many, if you managed to get this far, thanks for looking, and I'll keep the posts shorter in the future. It's just that... 

I LOVE PINE MARTENS!