2016

Red Squirrel in the Snow

It has been a slow start to the year photography wise for me. Work has been very busy, more so than usual for the beginning of a new year, plus there has been less need for documented photos for work and so my camera has generally stayed at home.

The next big thing for me of course will be the adders dancing. Fingers crossed they do again this year, and that will encourage me to pick the camera up again. But in the mean time here are a couple from the early part of 2016.

We had a very fleeting amount of snow fall one weekend morning. Not enough to really make it special, but with some clever framing and angles it was possible to make it look like we had a lot more than we actually did.

A simple portrait of Whitstable, one of our male polecats.

And a very grumpy little owl... Tyrion.

Thanks for looking :-)

Few Snow Photos

Tawny Owl in the Snow

With the very mild winter it looks like we won't be getting any snow down here this year, so thought I would share a few old... some you may have seen, some first time sharing, photos from the snow a few years a go.

Red Squirrel in the Snow

Snowy Owl in the Snow

Wildcat in the Snow

Fox in the Snow

Otter in the Snow

Short-eared Owl in the Snow

Fox in the Snow

Thanks for looking :-)

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.

BWC in the Snow

Red Squirrel

Here are a few of my favourite snow photos I have. A few years a go now we had nearly 2 foot of snow around the Centre, it was the most I can remember seeing, and in many places on the reserve it drifted up to 4 foot. I remember taking Bess round the reserve one evening thinking it wouldn't take much longer... but a quick twenty minute circuit turned in to an hour of trenching through the snow. I managed to get a couple of nice photos of her though, which you may have seen in the post I did on Bess a couple of weeks a go.

Above is one of my favourite red squirrel photos.

Snowy Owl in Snow

The snow always brings a conflict of thoughts for me. I do enjoy it while it is pure and white, and love how vibrant it makes the works appear. I like colour, and the natural white background makes the colour really stand out. For photography, this is great, and I missed not having any snow earlier this year to experiment with. Near the top of my list when the snows fall is to get Hedwig out and take him to the reserve for a photo shoot, although that being said, one of my faves of him... above... was taken in the Dell.

Wildcat in Snow

From a work point of view the snow is nothing but a pain. Everything takes longer. Locks need un freezing before going in to a pen, then un freezing again when you need to go bak in later. Water bowls need ice removing before refilling not to mention taps defrosting before being able to use them, bedding replaced more often to make sure all are warm and cosy. Even just walking through the snow to get to everywhere takes its time and repairing any damaged enclosures. If the snow is particularly bad and the keeper scan't get in, then I am on my own to do all the work...

Don't get me wrong, that isn't a complaint, I enjoy it... and the keepers are so good at trying to get here all weathers, it has been a rare occurrence that I have been on my own, but it is all things we need to account for.

Peeking Wildcat

For me, the wildcats are one of the best animals to see in the snow, and it is really where they belong. They look amazing in it, and this is one of my favourite photos of them in the snow. Lex, peering around a trunk where the snow has drifted up it by about 3 feet.

Stoat

Not as many British mammals hibernate as people think... only the hedgehog, dormice and bats. Others like badgers, squirrels and this stoat are still active but do cut down there activity a lot and hunker down to keep warm.

Otter in Snow

The otters love the snow, almost as much as the foxes, and often run around in it. They are very playful animals and love the colder weather, really enjoying playing in the ice too.

Red Deer

A lot of people don't go out with their cameras in the bad weather like rain or when it is actually snowing, but this can lead to some great pics that not many people get as they are indoors or concerned about their cameras getting wet.

Cameras these days are pretty good at being weather resistant, and you can always through a plastic bag over your camera to protect it.

Tawny Flying in Snow

I have only once been around when it was snowing at the Centre, but I tried to make the most of it with a few owls, foxes and deer.

Tawny Flying through Snow

Florence flying in the snow, they seem to get less wet in snow than in rain and so we can get away with flying them.

Flo the Fox

Flo, always photogenic.

Fox

Enjoying playing in the snow and catching snow drops... I think of all our animals the foxes enjoy it the most.

Fox

And I quite like this one, it looks more wild with her battling agains the wind and snow to move.

Short- eared Owl

The last lot of snow we had fell just before an Andy Rouse owl workshop, so I went out the day before to scout out some new positions that would work well with the snow.  While out there I took some nice close portraits of some of our owls.

Little Owl

The little owl really fluffed himself up to keep warm.

Snowy Owl

This one of the snowy was taken on the Andy Rouse workshop day.

Fox in Snow

Fox in snow is one of my more popular pictures, and was lucky enough to win a place in the Country file calendar a few years a go... This is when I first learn't how bitchy photography can be, reading comments on forums about this and others photos. Good came from it though, as it gave me the relaxed attitude that I now have towards photography and taking pictures and means I enjoy it far more.

Otter

Simple otter portrait that was one of our many Christmas cards over the years, and below Lilly running over the ice.

Cool Runnings

Thanks for looking.

Owl Awareness Day (Yesterday)

Fly Over

Apparently it was International Owl Awareness Day yesterday... That one slipped me by! Never mind, here are a couple of owl photos in any case.

Big Pete flying above. 

Tawny Owl

Florence in the evening light, this photo is being used for a section in my talk next week.

Evening Barn Owl

I believe this is one of our old owls, Tutoke, taken a few years a go now. I liked the tree in the background.

Nessun Dorma

 Florence singing the opera :-)

Close Up of Archimedes

Close up of Archimedes.

Short-eared Owl in the Snow

Fawkes in the snow.

Long-eared Owl Peeking

And finally, Archimedes peeking around the edge of a tree.

Thanks for looking.

Scottish Wildcat

Scottish Wildcat, Felis silvestris

It is very difficult to take a photograph of a wildcat and have it look like a wildcat!., a nice normal portrait looks like a picture of a tabby cat to most people. Don't get me wrong, myself and I'm sure others that work closely with them, or are really interested in them, could probably pick a wildcat with relative ease. But to Joe Public, and I don't mean that in bad way at all, they look just to similar.

Of course the differences are there, all be it subtle, but it is the behaviour in particular that makes them stand out. So this leads to countless photographs of a snarling wildcat, as a above.

Wildcat Stare

I like a good snarl shot myself, but you don't always need that. It is all in the look to make the wildcat look like a wildcat.

And a Nice Chianti...

This one was one of my earliest wildcat photos, and has been shortlisted a few times in competitions, but never made the finals... It is quite old now so has been retired.

Wildcat in the Snow

If you can't get the look, then having a wildcat in the snow is the best way to go. This is where they should be and where they look their best.

Wildcat in the Snow

Full on winter coat making them appear their true size, the larger feet, head, legs and face really showing through and their tail is the full bushy wildcat tail with the black rings and blunt end.

Peeking in the Snow

This is one of my favourites of the wildcats in the snow, peeking around the vase of a tree trunk where the snow has drifted about 3 foot up it. This was taken a few years a go in the very heavy snow we had one winter.

All three snow photos above are of an old wildcat called Lex... arguably the best male we ever had. Unfortunately he died young, but continues on in his daughters Kendra and Iona.

Wildcat in Evening Light

A couple here a little different, above with the lighting.

Panning Wildcat

And this one attempting a bit of panning. I went for a slower shutter than I would usually use for this one, I think it went okay, but more practise is needed.

Little Tom with the Wildcats

Our three kittens bred here last year are great jumpers, and I have many of them in "supercat" poses flying through the air! It leads to fun photos like the ones above of Little Tom. It may look like he is kicking and throwing the cat, but it is just them jumping for the food he has thrown... honest!

The last one in the row shows you how close they get when they hand feed, you have to be careful feeding them, but they rarely miss.

Jumping Cat

Flying through the air with the fish-eye lens.

Kitten, only a few days old

One of the many advantages of working here is getting to see the rare moments, such as these very young kittens. They are only a few days old here, eyes still closed, I have not seen them this young before or since, but this one litter a few years a go were kept outside Kendra's nest box and successfully reared. This could even be Richy Junior, now on loan at Wildwood.

Young Wildcat

It is lovely seeing the young animals grow and mature, a real pleasure of the job.

Snarling Kitten

Even at this young age they have their characteristic aggression. Weight for weight they are believed to be the most aggressive cat in the world!

Wildcat Kittens

These are two of Iona's kittens from last year, still with their cobalt blue eyes!

Wildcat Kitten

And only a couple of weeks later, the eyes turned already to a browny green.

Dougal: Bonafide BadAss!

This photo is of one of our original wildcats, Dougal. Taken many years a go now with an old point and shoot. Still one of my favourites though as it really shows off his attitude well.

Thanks for looking.