There was much excitement when I arrived at YewView to find a badger in the sett… during the day! We have had quite a lot of night visits with individuals staying for increasingly amounts of time, but we have never had them stay for the day. This is a very thin individual, that I thought was very old initially. On closer views of footage, I’m not so sure now. I am not sure why it would be so thin and I hope it is not too ill. It seems fine and has a good appetite as it often also visits the feeding station as well.
The great thing about the badger being in the sett during the day , is that I can access the camera that is inside the chamber and zoom in on the badger. I cannot tilt or move the camera, so as long as the badger is roughly in the centre, I can zoom in for a closer look!
The following clips were all captured over the last few days, with those that are zoomed, being filmed on the day I was on site. I also lifted some stills from this footage.
…. and if you are caught short whilst in the sett? Well, just use one of the corners!
This individual is also appearing at the feeding station with another individual…
Obviously, this daytime sleeping is an exciting development. One the last 2 & a half years, they have gradually used the sett more and more.
From big mammals to small ones… we are getting more visitors to our mammal box again. We had regular visits from both a bank vole and common shrew this week.
The kingfisher was busy on the pond, making numerous catches of the sticklebacks that seem to be doing well.
Finally, the swallows are growing at an amazing rate! One nest are just about ready to fledge..
The second nest will need another week of development…
Both these sets of youngsters will have fledged by the time I get back to yew View, as I will not be there for a few weeks whilst I travel out to Costa Rica!
I really hope the badger stays though…. it would be lovely to be able to watch her more during the day.