During another woodland birds' photography workshop yesterday, proceedings were interrupted when a sparrowhawk again made a deadly attack run through the feeding birds before deciding instead to take a bath in the in the shallows of the pond in front of the hide. This gave me the chance to grab just a few reasonable shots like this one before she sunk down behind the rushes to bathe properly. The shot shows that it is a female which is interesting because most of the sightings at Scrag, 95% I would say, are of male sparrowhawks especially in winter. This is actually the third time in as many weeks that I've observed sparrowhawk bathing in exactly the same spot, so it has given me the plan to maybe set up a small temporary hide at the pond edge in order to get that all elusive perfect portrait of wild sparrowhawk. I took one several years ago on transparency and have been endeavouring to do the same on digital format. My plan is to provide a natural perch close to the pond edge; a sparrowhawk is more likely to want to perch on something solid and upright before taking a bath - you can see in the image that she has perched on this log laying next to the water's edge. Raptors are vulnerable from attack when they bathe and I have noticed they often choose very small, quiet ponds to bathe in. Anyway, it looks as if this pond has been chosen as suitable, so with perch, hide and potentially a very, very long wait I may get the shot!

Badgers!

Last night, or late afternoon in fact as it now gets darker so much earlier, I set up to photograph the badgers again. It was very, very dark when I got myself in place; the moon, although just past full hadn't yet risen and a hail storm and period of torrential rain had ominously darkened the sky. Sitting there cold, wet in a dark wood, I did wonder, 'what am I doing?' I often do this though on a solo badger watch or photography shoot; there's always lots of better things to do popping into my mind instead of sitting there alone in a darkening wood looking at a pile of earth!
These misgivings didn't last long though. Having settled at 5.05pm after just setting up the flash units, I was surprised when at 5.16pm, 2 then 3 stripy heads emerged; in fact they may have been out a couple of minutes before I even noticed them; I just didn't expect them so early. I was fully prepared for an hour of tawny owl vocals before I saw any badgers!
Anyway, they, or certainly one, performed fantastically, moving into the exact baiting spot and not being bothered at all by 3 flash guns firing! The shot above is one of about 20 images I managed to take before the badgers moved off allowing me to retrieved the flashes and leave.
The walk out, was lovely; the moon, now risen, was slanting through the trees and bathing the east side of Scrag in silver pools. Driving up the track I was also lucky enough to get a tawny owl perched at headlamp height. It sat there fully illuminated by the van's lights for about 5 minutes, scanning the ground and undergrowth beneath it; it is not often you get such a prolonged view of an apparently relaxed adult tawny. I shall check the same spot as I leave on Friday; if it's a regular perching spot it may prove valuable.

Yesterday started with a total drenching; fortunately, the group who had turned up to learn about woodland bird photography were a pragmatic group and made the most of it. The weather improved as the day progressed and in the end we had some good light and some good bird behaviour topped when the sparrowhawk made a pass and then perched on top of one of the feeders just 4m from people in the hide!
The weather today, by contrast was beautiful though a little colder than it has been over the past couple of weeks. I took this image of one of the many fly-agaric fungus that has emerged outside the bird hides.
While I was having my lunch and watching all the birds at the feeders I was again treated to a close fly-by from the stunning male sparrowhawk; what a bird!

Halloween!

Last night was halloween night and I thought the best way to spend it was with a badger watch. There was a slight mist over the meadow and the nearly full moon was slightly hazy as it rose, though still easily bright enough to cast long shadows through the trees. The tawny owls were very vocal as they tend to be at this time of year. We caught a glimpse of a female perched behind us and she repeatedly called from the general vicinity of the sett; this is good news as she seems to be holding a territory where one of the tawny nest boxes are.
The badgers came out at 5.50pm; I was expecting them at 6'ish. They fed noisily on the peanuts and raisins I had laid down for them; I had to lay this outside the main sett entrance as I haven't been laying anything for them down since June or July. In the end, we got about 30 minutes of fairly relaxed viewing before they were spooked (no pun intended on Halloween night!) by something and retreated to the sett.
Another eerie sound in the night but a very, very welcome one was the chilling scream of a barn owl as it hunted across the meadow! I just hope they start to use the barn owl boxes again.
It was a fantastic way to spend the evening; deep in the woods and the badgers performed well as usual maintaining my 100% 2009 record, however, it was the owls and their evocative calls that, for me, were the highlight.

Scrag is now looking particularly beautiful; the autumn is rapidly approaching the peak of colour and fortunately we haven't had a blow so the golden leaves are still firmly on the trees. Field maple is probably the first to go really yellow, followed by hornbeam and then oak. I have been out capturing the colour on camera and will attach some images in the next day or so.
I have also been busy trying to coax a robin to a regular perch; I have done this before very easily in gardens where the birds are habituated to people, but in Scrag it has been taking some time. Eventually, however, the resident robin around the storage shed has started taking the bait, mealworms in this case. So, I intend to keep this up and re-build the unsuccessful robin hide nearer this location; this will provide another shooting hide for photographers.
The birds in the general baiting area are now in good numbers after a slow start at the beginning of the month. I think the chilly nights, sometimes down to freezing a couple of times have triggered this. The cold nights will be killing off some of the invertebrates so the feeders are becoming more attractive to them. All groups on the woodland birds workshops are getting plenty of great spotted woodpecker opportunities. The nuthatches, however, are proving less reliable; they are very much present in Scrag generally but are visiting the feeders less often than they have in the past, possibly it is just a question of time.
The group of photographers I had last Thursday were lucky to witness a sparrowhawk kill right in front of the hide. After a scream of alarm calls and frantic commotion in the edge of a hornbeam, the male sparrowhawk then swerved across the front of us showing his cinnamon barred underparts and prey gripped in his talons. He took his meal to the back of the hide area to consume before gliding, 10 minutes later, down to the pond for a post meal drink. Dramatic stuff!
As far as work goes, the badger platform now has a set of safer steps running up to it instead of the step ladder; I always had my heart in my mouth as members of public negotiated the step ladder in the dark! I have also stapled chicken wire to the bridge where the public footpath crosses the stream; another dangerous spot, especially in the wet! I want to get all these jobs done well before the winter takes hold.

I know, I know, I have neglected the blog and a couple of people have reminded me of this. I apologise but I was away in Brazil as usual at this time of year and returned to unreasonable jet-lag and the start of the beginners photography workshops for both Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Anyway, what about Scrag? Well, I have been very surprised at just how dry it has been there of late; in fact it is the driest I have ever known it. This is great for getting the van closer but perhaps not so good for the wildlife. At this time of year the badgers put on another 50% bodyweight to help get them through the winter (although badgers do not hibernate). They will often get this from the harvest of nuts and berries but as usual they do rely on the worm supply and with it being so dry the ground is rock hard and cracked and I assume the worms are deep. This may affect the badger's mortality over the winter if they struggle to get their reserves up and if we have another brutal winter like last year.
Anyway, the drop of rain we had today was very, very welcome though I think it has only managed to soften the surface; at least when we get a decent amount of water it won't just run off. I noticed today as well that there was an explosion of fungi due to the rain; I'm hoping to see a few good species over the next few days as this moisture seeps down.
The woodland birds' photographic workshops have started again and there are fairly good numbers of birds coming down to the feeding areas. There do seem to be less woodpeckers this season though, but that just may be because I haven't seen them. I had a great view of the male sparrowhawk as it made a killing run towards the feeders; it came in 'contour hugging' just a foot or so off the ground before darting up past the nut feeder. On this occasion it missed but last Thursday I saw him successfully devouring one of the small birds. Apart from that all the usual suspects are there and the marsh tits are back; they always disappear from the feeders during Summer.
Overall, there is a general yellowing of the leaves, especially the field maples and hornbeams. The bracken is also yellowing and giving the whole place an autumnal feel, especially with the low slanting sun. Despite this there are still dragonflies zipping around and slow worms under the refuges when it is sunny. However, I sense there is a definite advancement of autumn now that we have had a couple of cold nights and a bit of rain.

This badger image was taken last night by Graham Saxby during a badger photography one-to-one session. It was taken using manual flash and is the first time Graham has done this. I think he would have preferred a lower viewpoint for a more intimate portrait but the wind was not friendly and we had to change position to the top of the viewing platform. However, I think he's done an excellent job and was surprised at how easy it was once certain rules were obeyed.
If you wish to learn more about badger photography please email me via the website www.davidplummerimages.co.uk