A wonderful birthday

Well, after a couple of lapses, back onto my favourite topic this time - wildlife. I have just had my 55th birthday, and what a birthday it was!

Inside my Birthday card was a voucher for a nights badger watching out in the middle of nowhere in West Dorset. I thought this was a fantastic present and was more than I expected. However! When my family turned up, I was presented with my main present! The camera I had drooled over for months. All this coupled with spending the day with Gerry, my Daughter Naomi, My son-in law David and little Ewan made it an almost perfect day. Unfortunately, Neil could not get off work but he was able to come bug hunting in the forest with us the next day, so not all was lost!

The plan for most of the day was a trip to Monkey World.

Now as those who know me are aware, pictures of captive animals generally do not find there way into my collection as I am very 'Anti' caging creatures for our entertainment. Monkey World is different however. All of the monkeys and apes here are rescued from illegal traders, laboratories and the 'entertainment' trade. many have suffered appaling conditions and treatment at the hands of Man and now, thanks to Monkey World can live out their days in a great environment where they are well cared for and loved.

Monkey World exists thanks to the tireless efforts of Jim and Alison Cronin who over the years have devoted their lives, often at great personal risk, to rescue ill treated apes and monkeys from the hands of man.

It was a very sad day when Jim Cronin passed away. There are some people who the world simply cannot afford to lose. Jim Cronin was one of these people.

His legacy is safe however, driven forward by Alison and the rest of the team as Monkey World goes from strength to strength.

The animals here have plenty of space and privacy and are not 'pushed' into public view at all. If you are lucky, you can get a good close up view. If the animals are not in the mood, you may not see them. That is how it should be!

When we had finished at Monkey World, we said goodbye to Naomi, David and Ewan and set off for an early meal in a remote inn before heading off for our evening of badger watching!

The farm that hosts the badger watch does a fantastic job! They have 2 hides, each capable of accomodating 12 people, but on our evening we only had 6 in our hide. Carpeted floors and cushioned benches made the stay comfortable.

When you are a wildlife photographer, you expect to spot nothing, you hope to catch glimpses and you consider yourself blessed if you do better. Well, we were more than blessed with many sightings over 3.5 hours with at times, up to 4 badgers visible at once.

I get very angry at news of planned culls of these delightful creatures. What right does man have to 'eliminate' other residents of our planet simply because they are 'inconvenient'!

The latest excuse is that badgers can spread bovine TB. However, the farm we went to is a beef producing farm. They have hosted badger watches on their land for over 10 years proving we can all live in harmony with nature, and even profit from it!

So, hats off to this farm for doing such a splendid job of combining farming and conservation. It is good to know that at least 4 families of badgers are safe from the guns of man!

At last, I have pictures of wild badgers in my collection! Having arrived at 6.15pm, we finally left the hide in the dark and pouring rain at 10.30pm to walk across the fields to the car. As we got into the car, we had a close encounter with an owl! Camera was put away though, so no picture.

Next targets are otters and kingfishers. Both of which I have seen in the wild, but never managed to capture on film! Watch this space!