Forest of Dean, July 2013

Just back from a week's family holiday in the Forest of Dean. The height of summer, especially in the current very hot weather, is not the best time to be photographing nature. Was out looking for boar again and did see at least two one evening but not to photograph. Got a few other pictures during the week, mostly in the garden of our rented cottage at Cannop.

Daisies on the lawn.

Foxgloves on a recently-cleared part of the Forest near Speech House.

Small tortoiseshell butterfly near Blakeney Hill.

Young robin near the Forest of Dean Crematorium (Cinderford).

Nuthatch in the garden.

Marsh tit in the garden.

Young great tit in the garden.

A male greenfinch in the garden.

Great tit heading for the bird table.

Great tit arrives at the bird table as a blue tit leaves.

Badgers, Tiverton, June 2013

I visited Devon Badger Watch, just north of Tiverton, over the weekend to try my hand at photographing badgers near a woodland sett. There is a great set-up there with a comfortable hide just a few yards from the main sett of the Barton Clan. Being shady and a dull evening, the light was not brilliant and for most photographs I used fill-in flash. The badgers were out when we arrived at 7pm and soon reappeared after some peanuts were put out.

The hide can accommodate over 20 people. Current cost is £11 per adult for a viewing evening, and £30 for a photographic evening when numbers are restricted to just four. Details are on the Links page.

Badgers, Stroud, June 2013

Whilst it is easy enough to find badgers to photograph in the dark, given the right artificial lighting, it certainly looks more natural to photograph them in daylight. That requires an open aspect, and a remote and quiet location. I found one not far from Stroud, plus an obliging tenant farmer and landowner. The sett had seven badgers, and the young badgers were usually the first to appear in the evening, sometime after 7.30pm, to forage and play. These are a few pictures from my first three visits.