Primroses in the wood
What a difference a couple of weeks makes! I’ve been busy with various (non-badger) things for a couple of weeks so I haven’t been able to get out until last night. But things have changed since I last went out to the wood. The leaves on the trees are starting to show, the blackthorn is in full flower and the woodland flowers are blooming. The weather is noticeably warmer (i.e. not freezing!) and the birds are starting to sing as they begin their search for a mate.
The wheat field that I walk through on the way to the wood is not a wheat field any more. This year it is planted with oilseed rape and the first yellow flowers are already out (the field behind my house is rape too, and the scent this evening when I went out to feed the chickens is marvelous. It can become overpowering later in the year but at the moment it smells like spring and its nice). This field has been wheat for the last two years, and it’s been a food source for (I think) at least three different clans of badgers. I wonder how it will affect them now the food source has gone? I imagine that the badgers won’t be so keen to try to annexe it as territory, but I’ll see what happens. Unless badgers each oilseed rape, of course…
I arrived at the sett at about 7.45pm. The tawny owls hooted and ‘ke-wicked’ and the first woodpecker of the year yaffled away somewhere behind me. It’s good to get back into the wood. I spend so much time rushing about at work that it’s a real luxury to just sit and listen and watch and do nothing.
It is a good time of year to be watching badgers at the moment, for two reasons. Firstly because the undergrowth has not yet grown up. Later in the year the nettles and elder will block a lot of the views at this sett, but for now it is possible to look across the whole area. Secondly, and more importantly, this year’s cubs will be emerging about now. I can tell myself that I want to see cubs because it allows me to judge the success of the clan, but if I’m honest I want to see them because they’re cute, especially when they’re finding their feet outside the sett for the first time.
There were six active sett entrances visible from where I was sitting, so the badgers are still active. At 8.15pm an adult badger emerged at the east end of the sett, followed a few minutes later by a second. They groomed themselves and each other for a moment and then wandered slowly around the area. Ten minutes later they were joined by another badger from the east end and two more from the west end – all adults, no cubs. It was too dark for pictures but light enough to see well with binoculars.
I didn’t stay long. I had to go to work the next day so I couldn’t stay late. The badgers seemed relaxed and happy, and at least I know that there are at least five adults still in residence. The next few weeks will be busy for me too, but I’ll try to get out again soon. The evenings are lengthening and I hope there will be cubs out in the next week or two.
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
Good to hear you have made a start and enjoying the peace and pace of your woods. I pushed myself to start a couple of weeks ago just checking each sett for the ‘live’ holes and trying to clear a nest for myself to view them. Things are starting to get more active now, especially with the really dry ground, they are up and feverish to find food before dark. Cubs are just starting to poke their noses out but expect things will get crazy with them in a few weeks. Don’t give up on your wheatfield ,I imagine the Badger clans that visit will continue to do so, after the bugs and worms in the turned and loose soil under the rape. Happy watching.
Badgerman, Would you mind possibly, posting a picture of your set and the area around your set the next time you go to watch them, Also maybe get a picture of where you watch them from. Hopefully my badgers are still tucked underground and i hope to go and watch them for the 2nd time now and maybe spot them for the 1st 🙂 My set is on a hill, and i would like to know which of my sets are active, so i can plan where i want to sit and watch them. Just a thought, heres a plan, you send me some pictures of your sets, and i will send you some pictures of mine, then you can help me tell wether the badgers are there or not! Next time i go there in the day time i will remember to take some photographs for you.
Hi Kristian,
take a look for fresh earth outside some of the holes. It will be freshly turned out onto the spoil heaps. Also some fragments of fresh bedding may be left as it is rolled in. Any holes with leaves and cobwebs inside have not been used for some time. This will help narrow down where to watch from. My first watch this year was a blank, so don’t be put off if you don’t see anything first off. Keep the wind up your nose.
Ghillie.
P/S Nice African photos on your website.
Hi Kristian
I’d follow Ghillie’s advice. Look for fresh soil around the hole. Badgers are compulsive diggers so an active hole will almost always have spoil outside, fresh and loose, not old and weathered. There will often be a groove outside the hole where the badgers have dragged the spoil backwards. Other things to look for are well-worn paths, which usually lead to active parts of the sett.
One thing I have yet to understand is how badgers use the different holes in a sett. One day they may emerge from one hole, the next from another. As long as you have active holes though, you’ll see them eventually.
As to photos of setts, the best thing would be to have a look at https://badgerwatcher.com/2010/02/21/how-to-recognise-a-badger-sett/. I don’t have any more recent pictures at the moment. By all means send me pictures of your sett (badgerwatchingman@googlemail.com) – I’d be happy to take a look.
All the best
BWM