A great few days at the Badger sett and some fantastic results

 After visiting Brock wood with Andrew and noticing the Badgers were very active on the edge of the main sett I thought we would feed the Badgers the new mix here and after 10 minutes of waiting over three days we started with one, then two on the second day then four on the third.

I was amazed after a few days of feeding the new area and after getting some fantastic daytime shots of the group with my camcorder from 2-3 metres away I thought what other interesting shots that I could get that I have not seen in other Badger videos and my other thought was what cameras and kit would get me the best shots of the Badgers at Brock wood.

I decided that I would start with three main shots to achieve at the sett and they were adapted to the land around the feeding area from filming above from a tree overlooking the sett holes.

I also wanted to  film the Badgers from behind giving a Badgers eye view when they come out to feed with me filming them in the background and the Badgers being in the foreground feeding or checking for dangers this shot would be a great piece of footage to take you into the mind of the Badgers and what a Badger view is like from being low on the ground.

The last shot I wanted was to get a low level colour Hd closeup of the Badgers feeding with some great snuffling and sniffling as they search for food.

Here's a photograph I took with my DSLR which is one particular Badger that is easily identifiable because hes the big boy and has lots of white on one ear tuft and a small amount on the other and hes very confident as when I click my trigger he tolerates it the most when the others dive for cover but he will return to the sett to if he feels that hes had enough of the strange noise.

 He notices the camera but is unaffected
 I followed him feeding before he caught my scent and returned to the sett

As I was leaving I spotted one of the younger cubs peeping out so I took a quick photo as it sniffed the air and after a few seconds it disappeared back to the safety of the sett.

Thanks for reading


Mike

Closer to Badgers with a new food mix

After getting back from a short week's filming on the Little orme at North Wales I wanted to get down the Badgers sett to see if the Badgers were okay and if they were still active during the day the woodland seems to be changing already with ripe berries on the trees and nettles dying down and the Hazelnuts are beginning to grow and drop from the trees I know it is only July and we have a few months till Autumn begins but things are slowly changing at the Brock wood sett.
Today I grabbed a few apples from a public orchard to make a new food mix for the Badgers and I decided to add raisins and peanuts to bulk up the food and as peanuts are abit pricey these days it was good to feed the Badgers for free and as there were alot left over from the winter I thought the birds should still have enough to help them through the winter.

 I wanted to film the Badgers close up using my IPhone from one angle and my handheld camcorder from the front using the motion trigger mode and at about 5.30pm out came the individual that seems to be the first to have a snack and greet us from the sett with a few loud sniffs and when he had his fill he returned to the sett for 10 minutes and then came back for another snack.
Camcorder setup

 Close-up

 Zoom out

 I see you watching me watching you

Motion trigger camcorder

IPhone camera

I was rather impressed by the results from both cameras and its the closest i have been from the Badger at this sett and it was about 2 metres at the most so hopefully they are beginning to trust me but they only feed in daylight when there is a special ingredient that I haven't mentioned added to the mix to let them know there is some food on offer and that its safe to feed but I will keep that a secret just to make sure that they know that is me and not somebody who wishes to do them harm.


Thanks for reading


Mike

Building a hide at Brock wood

 This week I hope to visit my local woodland to build a semi permanent hide so I can take people to watch the badgers that live there the hide hide will have a small bench in. I will build from branches and for the main hide structure will be a large fishing umbrella shelter for the roof which I will take home with me as and when I intend to use the hide as without the umbrella there it will look just like a piece of the woodland scenery once the summer foliage comes back.

I do not really want to build something to big or something that stands out just in case anybody wishing to cause damage for fun finds it and another thing is the hide will be very close to a badgers sett so I can watch and film the badgers from a comfortable position without disturbing them.

Photographing, filming and protecting wildlife is my passion

Hi my names Mike and I am an amateur wildlife cameraman and wildlife photographer. So here goes my first post and here's some information on what I will be posting on this blog. I love to observe and film wildlife in my local area of Middlewich in Cheshire by using different ideas used by professionals and a few of my own ideas and inventions thrown in. I thought I would start this blog so I could share my wildlife encounters and story's with other nature lovers in the UK and around the world.

Regards

Mike