wildlife photography – Chough Rock

Following the successful release of our third publication ‘Badger Bill’, our latest blog is about Martin’s relationship with photographing Badgers…

Since I got into wildlife photography about 7 years ago, I have had a fascination with badgers. Before our first son was born, some kind friends of ours would let me sit up late into the night, waiting and then watching their nocturnal visitors. It was great to view the badgers up close, just going about their business. I was learning how to fire my camera remotely, using wide-angle lenses which was fun and new to me at the time.

The badgers paid no notice to the camera, allowing for some great, intimate shots of Britain’s largest predator.

Once our first son Noah was born, having the time (and energy!) to stay up late and with no guarantee of the badgers turning up, I had to rethink my strategy to keep documenting these wonderful creatures, but not kill myself (or get divorced) in the process.

I discovered the world of ‘camera trapping’, and a book called ‘Back Garden Safari’ by a photographer called Richard Peters, has really inspired me to this very day. Using a passive infra-red motion sensor, and a low powered flash, I quickly learnt that I could still keep going with my wildlife photography, in a new, exciting way.

I met a great friend whilst taking Noah out in the pram who allowed me to photograph on his land for a period of about 5 years, in various locations, most notably at a small gap in a fence by a stream. It was this gap that inspired the story for ‘Badger Bill’. We had badgers, foxes, otters, polecats, a long eared bat, pheasants, a tawny owl, blackbird, nuthatch, water rail, rabbit, brown rat, robin, thrush, great tit, jay, and buzzard, roe deer, cats and a stoat that all used the gap. A remarkable project that allowed a glimpse into their nocturnal world, whilst we slept in our beds.

It is important to be ethical whilst camera trapping, I would not set up my kit at den sites, and also monitored the animals reaction to the flash by using trail cameras. None of the subjects acted adversely when the flash fired, although when the rare time a fox passed by the sensor, they would often be spooked but I think that was from the noise of the camera shutter. This resulted in me padding out my camera box with anything to help insulate and lessen the noise of the camera click.

At another friend’s property, a trail camera was showing two dogs entering a badger sett. We managed to track down the owners of the dogs (who were oblivious to the dogs activities), apparently the dogs had gotten out of their garden, and would investigate the sett. This was unintentional disturbance but could still be bad for the badgers, especially as they were breeding at the time. The dogs were stopped from breaking out of their garden, and the badgers are still living happily in between two housing estates – thanks to the power of my trail camera. It was amazing watching the behaviour of the animals passing these cameras. One photo in particular springs to mind. One night, a badger passed through the gap in the fence, followed closely by a fox. My camera was set that time to take 2 shots per activation, and I got two interesting photos of a fox following a badger. There would be lean times, however, maybe in 2 or 3 weeks not much would be recorded. Then out of the blue one night I’d check the camera and badger, pheasant and an otter had all used the gap within a few minutes of each other. I guess the not knowing is the thrill of camera trapping.

I now have camera trap projects running all the time, and have got an exciting new kingfisher project going at the moment. I use old Canon 7d’s, which cost about £100 second hand, and make my own camera housings from £4 plastic boxes..

Zoe and I are active members of the Cornwall Badger Group. Again, thanks to my trail camera, we got footage of a sow badger with probable mastitis. It was odd that no cubs had been filmed ( it was the middle of May), and the year before the 2 cubs first came above ground on the 12^th April. Under the advice of the CBG, we attempted to trap the poorly female, but unfortunately we were unable to do so. There were no cubs this year, but from my camera trap and trail camera surveillance, there were 4 adult badgers living in that particular sett ( and still are).

The Cornwall Badger Group regularly go out to injured (and deceased) badgers. The mortality rate (mainly due to road traffic accidents), is unfortunately high, but the badgers that are able to be rehabilitated are taken to the Last Chance Hotel in Chacewater, and are then released to the area that they were found once recovered. They are a brilliant group, and are all volunteers. Please pay their page a visit if you would like to know more about them.

https://cornwallbadgergroup.org

https://www.facebook.com/CornwallBadgerGroup

If anyone has concerns regarding a badger sett being interfered with, (for example a building project blocking access to a sett), please contact Badger Trust.

https://www.badgertrust.org.uk

My friends have a sett in their garden and builders had unintentionally blocked a sett. Badger Trust were contacted, and after getting some advice, the builders then happily left a small gap for the badgers.

What better way to start a new year than by reflecting on our highlights of the year that’s just gone with a brand new Blog!

What a fantastic year 2022 was for our family and our wildlife encounters! The year started off with a camera- trapping project, in our friend’s garden, focussing on badgers, the occasional fox, and lots of cats! Using trail cameras and a DSLR camera trap, we documented the lives of a clan of badgers, who successfully raised two adorable cubs. Some of the footage captured was beautiful, show casing the cubs as they grew, bigger, braver and bolder. Also of importance was the fact we made some builders allow access to the badger sett, as they had blocked access due to a development. A call to the authorities put that right, and they left a few access points to local fields for this badger clan.

For about six weeks, each Sunday, Noah (our 5 year old) accompanied me to the local bird hide, at our ‘Bird Club Before Breakfast’. This was at the end of the summer / start of autumn, and we saw a whole host of action. Highlights included the resident female kingfisher, the one -legged peregrine falcon, egrets, herons, and the usual wading birds. Not only was it a great opportunity for myself to attain some decent photos, I believe it has also strengthened my bond with my son, as he loves seeing the different birds, writing what he saw on the notice board, and then we’d often draw some or make some out of play doh upon returning home. His knowledge of birds and facts about them is amazing, and I hope he continues with the same enjoyment and passion.

There was a great white egret on a local pool for at least a month, I would often take both Noah and Ruan to watch it. We got some great photos of the bird – and the boys ate plenty of blackberries whilst watching it.

The kestrels and choughs at an isolated cove were on good form during the spring and summer. Many early starts proved successful, and many lovely encounters were had.

I spent about a fortnight watching a family of foxes locally to us which we named the ‘rock-foxes’. They were a joy to watch, the young cubs frolicking and fighting with each other amongst their rocky den.

Two greater spotted woodpecker nests were found, and Ruan (3 years old) and I spent many hours quietly watching the birds go about their business. We also spent one morning in the presence of a green woodpecker, which was fantastic, as they are usually very skittish.

Our friend’s farm proved successful for watching a pair of barn owls during the summer, and once more some lovely moments were had, notably when one of the owls flew right over our friend’s son’s head, as we were hidden away in the hedge watching one of their favoured hunting fields. Watching the fledglings was one of the highlights of 2022 for sure.

At the start of the autumn I was lucky to be able to start a new camera trap project in a friend’s garden. Some great images of visiting badgers were taken, plus some of a very curious young red fox. Noah and Ruan helped me set up the camera kit, and ate Pat out of the cucumbers she had grown.

Kingfishers were documented in our village, but I only managed to get the adult pair together a few times, but still very thankful they are still here, and seemingly thriving. The local herons and cormorants were very active here too.

Our stall at the Cape Cornwall
Art & Craft Exhibition 2022

In August we were glad to once again be able to sell our wares at the Cape Cornwall Arts and Crafts Exhibition in aid of Cancer Research, after a 2 year hiatus. In just 12 days they had over 3700 visitors and over £29,000 was raised for Cancer Research UK.

An absolutely brilliant memory was a family visit to a pool near Truro. The boys had a great time on the muddy walk, threw sticks in the stream and to all our amazement an osprey turned up! This location is a special place for Zoe and I, as it was the day after a trip here five years ago that we found out that Zoe was expecting our first son Noah.

Chough 20

I think the best highlight from 2022 was during the summer holidays being involved with ‘Chough 20’, celebrating 20 years since the return of the Cornish Chough. The National Trust contacted us asking if we’d like to be involved. Our first book, ‘Choughs & Chums’ was played (as a video narrated by Edward Rowe (aka ‘Kernow King’), at the Count House, Botallack. We were proud to be part of the celebration, and thankful to all involved in Chough Watch.

You can see a snippet of the storytelling at Botallack by clicking to watch the video on the right >>

Click here to read more about the Chough 20 celebrations “TWENTY YEARS OF CORNISH CHOUGHS AND ANOTHER BUMPER YEAR”.

Around Christmas time, I upgraded my camera lens and was lucky to coincide this with a cold snap in the weather. A visit to a frozen local pond proved dividends, as I managed to capture some very unusual behaviour by a pair of redshanks, who were fighting and slipping on the ice. A great wildlife sighting and successful test of the new lens.

Just before the New Year I checked one of my camera traps, and was ecstatic to discover a pair of otters! I have got a pair before, but never to the standard of this image!

Goals for 2023 include continuing to document and look out for our local wildlife, as well as myself getting involved as an active volunteer for The Cornwall Badger Group’. Our third book, ‘Badger Bill’ is high on our agenda, with a hopeful publishing date for Easter. We are also hopeful that ‘The Badger Trust’ will become involved, helping us to increase our sales, and therefore subsequent donations to their charity.

As a family we hope to stay healthy and happy, and continue to enjoy our nature walks together, whatever the weather. We encourage our boys to read and learn about animals and birds, and hope they continue to enjoy this lifestyle.

Thank you to our friends and family for the support for Chough Rock, and also to our friends who allow us on their land to watch and document the wonderful wildlife around us.

Martin (Author)

Tag: wildlife photography

Badgers

2022 Highlights

Chough 20