Badger's Blog

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My nature detective friends are really great! I love our spotting competitions, and lots of you are really getting into the wild spirit by building animal homes and garden cafes, and asking lots of interesting questions. Good work!

I think I might have an even better 'spring spot' for you now though...

I was taking a wander along my local river that goes through a big town nearby. I don't often go very close (there is lots of scary traffic there) but sometimes I like to take a look at what all the people are up to.

There were lots of human youngsters - Cubs? Human-lings? - feeding the ducks. I heard some cheeping coming from the riverbank.

'Badger,' I thought to myself, 'there is absolutely no way that cheeping noise is what you think it is. It's too early and too cold. You must be hearing things.' But I wasn't hearig things. Can you guess what I saw?

That's right - ducklings!!!

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Wow - ladybirds already, eh? Good spot, Boaryex! There's a joke in there somewhere, I'm sure. Ladybirds, spots...?

I asked Beebee about them. She's a bit of a minibeast expert. She told me about how to tell the difference between the British ladybirds and the alien invaders called harlequins.

Apparently, you have to look at the head and the legs. Harlequin ladybirds have brown legs instead of black. They also have an 'M' shaped marking on their heads. Have a look at the one in this picture.

How's that for nature detecting!

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Snuffle snuffle

Yay! Look at the lovely fresh and green website! If only it would start to look more like that in the real world. Still, it won't be long now and all the snow and snowdrops will be replaced with daffodils and tulips.

Swiftafa has seen a bee already, and some frogs. I've been looking at all the hazel trees near my sett with their cool dangly catkins. I like poking them and watching the little puffs of yellow pollen that come out.

You can go to the downloads page (www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/Games-Downloads) and get a spring things wallchart to help you count down all the new things you see. I'm going to put one on the wall in my room.

And well done Robinova - you obviously know your woodpeckers!

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Doh! Clumsy, over-sized badger paws...

Here is the video - fingers and claws crossed!

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The most beautiful pheasant has been visiting my garden just lately. He's very tame and comes right up to the edge of my sett.

I've been getting a really good view of his multi-coloured feathers. They shimmer in the sunlight sometimes and change from green to purple to deep red-brown. He looks a bit like the one in this video.

I'm going to leave some seed out for him so that he'll keep coming back. He always lets me know when he's arrived with a really loud bark. I particularly like the feather ruffle he does afterwards!

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Hello, nature detectives. I have another spring spotting challenge for you.

This time, let's test our animal spotting skills with a bumblebee search. Beebee says that at the end of February, the weather usually starts to warm up just enough to wake up some sleeping minibeasts. One of the first to get out and about is the early bumblebee.

Apparently, they get a headstart on other insects because they have the first flowers all to themselves. They'll be hunting for snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils just like we were!

You can read more about them here: www.wildlifewatch.org/beast-of-the-month-bumblebee. Happy hunting!

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Wow! Check out this link: www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/lego-birds

I've been spending the day looking through all the amazing Lego birds that you lot have sent in for one of the magazine competitions. They are really cool! There's a special slideshow to watch where you can see every single entry.

I really like all the different kinds of birds that people have made. It's not all eagles and owls - even unusual species like shelduck and rook have been built. Maybe blue Lego bricks are popular because there are loads of kingfishers and blue tits. Lots of blackbirds too! Some of the birds have also caught Lego prey or have amazing bendy legs and beaks.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a badger building competition? I think I'd be pretty good at that. If only my big badger paws weren't so clumsy...

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Snuffle snuffle

Swimming blue tits? Robins landing in your hands? Blizzards?? You lot have been busy nature detective, haven't you? You've seen a good selection of birds too. Have you got a tick list for the year?

I like the idea of becoming a wildlife photographer, or maybe even a TV presenter. I think I'd be quite good on camera, a bit like a really hairy Kate Humble or a slightly earthy-smelling Chris Packham.

I hear you need lots of patience to film wildlife though, and I can get a bit fidgety. Have any of you ever snapped something rare or unusual?

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Look what I've found!!!

I used the new spring wildflowers spotting sheet to help me identify these lovely winter aconites. They were all clustered together under a huge tree with snowdrops nearby. Aren't they colourful?

The February Wildlife Watch e-newsletter came just in time - that was where I found out about the new spotting sheet. You can get hold of it too on the spotting sheets page (www.wildlifewatch.org.uk/Spotting-sheets).

I've already caught up with the next bit of Buster too, and watched Nick Baker's new YouTube videos. Yay for fun-packed Watch newsletters!

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Humpf. I'm grumpy today. Very grumpy.

I was out snuffling around, looking for flowers and minding my own business, when I got my foot stuck in some rubbish! My big badger paws can be a bit clumsy sometimes, but they are also very strong. So when I went stamping around in the park, I put my back foot straight through an old plastic tube!

I was very lucky - I didn't get hurt by the sharp edges, but the gooey, sticky gunky stuff inside messed up my beautiful badger fur and wedged the tube on tight. I had to hobble back to my sett and ask Solar to cut it off for me.

Aren't litter bugs just awful? I can't understand why people with perfectly functional arms and legs can't make it to a bin when they've finished munching their fast food. I don't even have fingers and thumbs, but I don't leave stuff lying around!

Ah well, it won't stop me on my flower hunt. Well done Hawkatus and Swiftafa - your nature detective skills are out-doing me!

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