The Transgressions of Badger X

Dear Neighbours,

I hope that this finds you well. It has been our pleasure these last few months to host your nightly incursions into our garden, and we were very delighted a few nights back to see your new cub. He looked very well.

I hope you have enjoyed the small snacks and bowls of water (and the pond) provided for your refreshment. I have reassured other neighbours and friends, who were sceptical that having so many of you regularly in our small garden would not cause some problems, that this happily has not been the case. I appreciate that you need to root in the borders for your food and the few small plants that I have had to replant have worried me not a jot.

However, I feel that I have to write and voice concern about the incident on last Thursday night at two o’clock in the morning. As I think you know, we – the house dwellers - are basically diurnal in habit and hence the garden-share with you (as you require it mainly at night time) has worked out well for all of us. I was probably foolish in leaving the bin bag outside, especially as it had an old peanut sack inside it and some other old and smelly food items which no doubt drew your attention, but the noise one of you made in disemboweling the bin bag woke the whole house up! And whichever of you this was, did not seem the least bit inclined to leave when I shone a torch on him (or her) and requested this. Indeed, even when I went into the garden ‘Badger X’ seemed loath to leave the sack alone. This was at least somewhat impolite.

But more seriously, I strongly recommend that you guys do not develop the habit of raiding bin bags as this will not play well with our other neighbours. I believe that the headmaster next door is already a little troubled at your seemingly growing number and I should stress that you will need to continue to cross his garden to get to mine.

Anyway, this is I am sure merely a minor glitch in our otherwise harmonious and mutually enjoyable relations, and snacks and drinks were of course provided as usual last night. I hope that these were satisfactory (and of course the bin bag has been safely stowed to avoid further temptation).

With kind regards,

Mark.

Badger X?

The Jackdaws of Dyrham Park

Roof view - stone eagle

There is a wonderful old stately house to the north of Bath called Dyrham Park. At the moment it is undergoing major roof renovation which means it is wrapped in plastic and scaffolding and there is an extraordinary false roof as big as a modest cathedral draped over the top of this substantive building.

Despite all this disturbance, a jackdaw family has gone on nesting in of the old chimneys of the great house, flying in through a gap in the false roof and going down through a hole in a chimney cover to get to their chicks - which can be heard calling inside.

Incidentally these remarkable once in a generation views of the upper aspect of the old house are possible because the National Trust (which now owns the property) allows visitors up to a specially constructed walk way.

Roof under wraps

Parent jackdaw approaches

Peers inside. Anyone in? (They are and excited calling can be heard.)

Here emerging having fed the youngsters within with a beakfull of wastes

One of the adults - note distinctive blue eye

Fallow deer at Dyrham Park

Oh and Dyr-ham has deer too!

Badgertime REV

Badgers on  a summer evening   

People often ask me if having such a large numbers of badgers regularly in my small back garden causes destruction and mess. Don't these filthy, verminous animals spread pestilence and smear your garden with their mess, threaten your children and pets, undermine your foundations and threaten the future of civilization as we know it, they inquire. 

No, I explain with a smile, the worst that the badgers have done is to unearth a few recently planted flowers (they deftly move them out of the way to find the worm that they somehow know lurks beneath - the worm being their main form of sustenance); and there is the occasional small 'whiffle-hole' (more worm hunting) in the lawn. But these holes are small and easily fixed.

And as for mess, the badgers use a communal latrine (I don't know where it is) but they leave no mess whatsoever behind (which is more than you can say of the local cats). 

As an additional bonus the badgers have kept the snail and slug population at an all time low - and my hostas and other plants are thus doing exceptionally well.

Below badgers in the rain. These two minutes of badgertime were taken over successive nights and the third film shows what these area of lawn looks like in the day time and the arrival of the first day-time visitor.

Entangled in trash

Some readers will know there are some reoccurring themes in this blog and one of these is marine debris (along, of course, with badgers, one-legged pigeons, views of the canal, the starling flock and images of places that I wash up).

Anyway this is about the terrible, ensnaring and wildlife torturing issue of marine plastics including lost and discarded fishing gear.

It was gratifying to see that when the G7 world leaders met this month that marine debris was on the agenda and they issued an action plan which you can find HERE (page 8)

So certainly marine debris is now high on the international political agenda and this is thanks to those that have been campaigning on it for years, like the Marine Conservation Society with their famous beach cleans and assessments in the UK (Beachwatch). I have mentioned previously the new campaign about lost and discarded fishing gear coming from World Animal Protection and here is a LINK to a film they issued a few days back to coincide with World Oceans day (be warned there is footage of entangled seals included).

Here is a Californian sealion that I saw off San Diego which was hauled out on a bait station. You can see the circumscribing wound that either marks some embedded plastic or the scar where he was previously entangled. In my experience now it is difficult to go and look at a seal or sealion colony anywhere in the world without seeing one or more animal with netting or some other debris attached.

Welcome to the Hotel Del Coronado

Just before leaving San Diego, a few unexpected free hours give the opportunity to visit the famous Hotel Del Coronada. This is on Coronada Island reached by a vast arching span of a road bridge that transects the sky as you look south from the main city.

The Hotel is famous for many things - its age (it's Victorian); its architecture (it's rather grand, rather large, has big red turrets and made of wood); that it has featured in many films - most famously the 1959 classic comedy  'Some Like it Hot' starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis; and that many famous figures in world history have stayed there.

It is rather a grey morning but I think that you can get an idea from the images below that this is a rather splendid venue.

Near the front entrance to the Hotel stands a large Dragon Tree (below right) - native to the Canary Islands and planted in the late 1800s. It too featured in Some Like it Hot.

Here recreating a scene from Some Like It Hot with the famous tree
are the modern day equivalents of Jack and Marilyn  -
Frank and Miguel - (Toni Curtis
is of course behind the camera).   

Marilyn with the Coronado Hotel behind

The Crown Room - a great wooden hall - on this day hosting a few small tables

But once hosting USA president Nixon and his Mexican equivalent, Diaz Ordaz.

Wood paneled lobby

The white sandy beach of Hotel Del Coronado where Marilyn once walked. 

A walk along San Diego marina

The Scientific Committee of the IWC was this year hosted by the USA at the Marriot Hotel in San Diego (the silver building in the background above). The Hotel sits by the sea and close to the San Diego conference centre and 'gas-light district' (home to many clubs, pubs, cafes and restaurants). [Incidentally for American readers I mean 'harbor' and 'center'.]

This is a wholly man-made environment of giant statement skyscrapers, roads, railway and pavements with lines of palm tress and small planted areas. The wildlife on the landward side is largely limited to big black crows, European sparrows and the very occasional hummingbird. Seaward - in the very busy harbour - there are herring gulls and the occasional sea lion. 

Pavement art includes some wise words from Martin Luther-King

Some of those palm trees and skyscrappers

Cafe on the Pier from which you can watch the sealions and vessels while you eat

One of many tour boats

A black-crowned night heron lurks in an ornamental pond

The kite shop

The Marriot towers from the far side of the marina

The seals and sealions of La Jolla

I last visited the pretty sea front of La Jolla, San Diego, in California, some ten years ago. At that time, I took some film and photographs of the Californian sealion and harbour seals that form two separate groups at opposite ends of the sea shore and registered some concern about the way tourists were behaving around the animals.

The habour seals were pupping and the steps down to Children's Beach, where their small group hauls out, had been chained off half way down to allow them some privacy from disturbance. In fact you could actually watch the seals giving birth from the walkway above the beach and it was quite a remarkable spectacle.

Pupping was well over by this latest visit and the chain was gone but there were many advisory signs asking people to keep their distance from seals and sealions and on the Children's beach a yellow rope hung with more signs was drawn across the beach.

The message was pretty clear - please stay behind this rope - but no one did. People, many armed with selfie sticks, simply ducked under the rope and advanced right up to the seals. Children even ran among them. The seals seemed to mainly tolerate this although during my brief visit there was some seemingly nervous shuffling towards the water's edge and some seals seems to move into the water as the human crowd built - as it surely must do every summer's day.

The sealions fare little better than the seals. I did enjoy the guy who walked out onto the rocks where there sealions were, sat next to one and took his selfie and then stayed out there close to the animal talking animatedly into his phone. I half expected him to hand the phone to the sealion to see if it had anything to add.

I won't say more - although I did discuss the situation again with the relevant authorities - but will let the pictures do the talking.

A little group of sealions at the northern end of the seafront

Looking down on Children's Beach - the protective rope has 4 people on the landward side (one person is actually
in the process of ducking below) and at least 18 people on the seal-side.  

Close up of rope and notice ; 'please view the seals from behind the rope guideline'.

My photo - from behind the line - harbour seals and herring gulls

In among the harbour seals is a large youngster of another species - the biggest animal in the picture (right in the middle) is actually an elephant seal.

Some other local wildlife:

Cormorants and a brown pelican

Naomi A Rose TED talk

After a small wait, the TED talk by Naomi Rose is now online for all to be able to appreciate. Here is how it is advertised:

"As a scientist for Humane Society International and a marine mammal scientist for the Animal Welfare Institute, Rose has spent her entire career studying whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in captivity and how society’s relationship with these animals needs to change.... She brings scientific grounding to an often divisive and emotional topic. 

Her work has been profiled in the book “Death at SeaWorld” by David Kirby; she also consulted on the 2013 documentary film “Blackfish” by Gabriela Cowperthwaite."

So, if you want to hear Naomi speak on orcas click HERE.


Incidentally, Naomi is becoming increasingly well known for her work and even recognised on the streets where she is now regularly asked her for autographs and for 'selfies'.

The perils of 'selfies' is well illustrated below. (Naomi is on the right)

Incidentally, Happy Birthday Naomi Rose!

Out to the Blues

So after nine solid days of non-stop IWC Scientific Committee meetings (from which I am not allowed to report), we are finally given a break and emerge blinking into the daylight.

Some of us scamper off to go whale watching, because, after all, we are in San Diego which is famous for its access to grey whales and blues and, despite having talked and written about them, I have seen neither species. We are past the season for the greys on this coastline (although a friend recently reported one off Los Angeles) but the blues have been seen in the last few days.

So, we head out to sea.

We pass the bait fish pens where the fishermen come to collect bait for their trips and where the sealions and cormorants hang out. A little further out we meet a small group of bottlenose dolphins, then a much larger school (maybe 200) of common dolphins.

Finally, someone sees a mighty blow and then a great tail as the world's largest animal starts to dive. We are about eight miles out and after the first whale is spotted, two more are seen. All dive out of sight and the naturalist on board (who has been providing some commentary) announces that the prey ball is just below the surface, The whales are feeding.

It is difficult to get a sense of size when they return some minutes later to the surface to breath. But that is partly because you only see a portion of their backs at one time and you need to carefully watch the diver-sequence. They make a long slow 'forward roll' as they swim - an incredible long section of curved back eventually leads to a small dorsal fin and then they may 'fluke-up' and show their tail fins.

Sealions at the bait pens - a snowy egret in the foreground

bottlenose dolphins

a common dolphin leaps

Here's the blue whale - and is that whale-watching boat too close?

The small dorsal fin has appeared on the left. The whale is perhaps 80 feet long.

Back to shore for another snowy egret