Nature doesn't stop

The  blogging stops but nature keeps on going. The badgers continue to visit on a nightly basis although the youngster is now much bigger and by the sound of things, when he bundles through the hole in the fence, he's a little clumsy. It's not been caught on video yet but that's a project for the future. As the video below shows, there are two badgers visiting the garden and their visits are throughout the night, joined by a couple of foxes. We've got the adult male who has been visiting for at least two years who is quite distinctive in that he squats down as he eats the peanuts and has a large, long tail, and then there is the new badger cub. The cub is now pretty much adult size but his/her tail is smaller. That may be because it's female or just young, the other telltale signs of badger gender are proving difficult to identify. The youngster certainly is hedging its bets returning at least three times during the night.

Additionally the pond is rejuvenated following a refresh in 2015. There are now at least three Common Frogs, one of which is the size of a child's hand, and at least two newts. One is definitely a Common Newt and the other is harder to be sure about. It could be a Great Crested Newt which would be a long shot but it does have a very orange belly and black splotches, although it's skin does not have the rough, warty texture. Hopefully the frogs and newts will produce some offspring next year.

More fox action

Looks like a fox cub and a juvenile

Early bird?

An early badger visit from Mr and Mrs followed by the Fox taking advantage of the heavy rain.

Scratch and sniff

Once more, multiple badger visits across the night, interspersed with a rapid fox appearance. Lots of scratching, sniffing and marking of territory.

Fox action

A bit of close-up fox action. Looks like a youngster.

Badger update

The camera trap has caught more badger action over the past couple of nights, and a fleeting visit from a fox (who laid a trail of urine down the side of the house!). We are averaging about four badger visits throughout the night, of at least two different badgers (a pair turn up at one point), but no sign of the cub again.

Florida wildlife and some badger news

During a recent trip to Orlando for the Invictus Games some downtime allowed for a bit of birding, both in a pond behind the hotel and out on Lake Cypress Gator hunting.

Little Blue Heron at Lake Cypress

Great Blue Heron at Lake Cypress

Got a lovely view of an Osprey coming into its nest over Lake Cypress.

In the lake behind the hotel, a largely urban area but obviously with a healthy fish/amphibian supply to satisfy the Egrets and Ibis.

Glossy Ibis

Great Egret

Cattle Egret

The were plenty of lizards, a frog and even what I believe is a Banded Water Snake by the pool.

The camera trap has been out a few nights this week, although the one night I missed putting it out two adult badgers turned up with a young badger cub! Curses. But the trap has offered interesting information about visiting habits and whilst it's difficult to ascertain it is the same badgers returning each time they are averaging five visits a night between 9:45 pm and 3:00 am.

Badgers got talent

A new camera trap has been set-up in the back garden and has proved successful although I'm still experimenting with the location and range.

The first visit, around 10pm lasted for approximately 30 minutes, clearing up all the peanuts.

There was a second visit just before midnight and the video shows a badger with a smaller tail coming right up to the camera lens but I've not done any direct comparisons of head markings to see if they are the same badger or not.