Photo of the Month: December 2018

"Red Squirrel" by Duncan Penfold

Let's round up last year's photos of the month by sharing December's image with you. Our quietest month saw lot's of red squirrel and otter photographs shared. Unsurprisingly with our otters, and our lovely two little cubs we have, but a little more surprising with our squirrels while they are currently temporarily shut in their holding pens. This didn't stop many of you though, and December's chosen photo is this one above by Duncan Penfold of a red squirrel sat beautifully in the light on top of his nest box.

Duncan's photo will be on display in our coffee shop gallery this year, and he will be in with a chance to win our photographic day here at the Centre if chosen by our professional judge.

With this in mind, this year I am pleased to say the judge will be Sean Weekly. Sean is a professional wildlife and wedding photographer, a close friend of the Centre and an all round great bloke! With wildlife in mind Sean is one of the guides for Nature Lens photography workshops. His photos truly are stunning and inspirational. Have a look at this link to see some of his wildlife work.

Sean Weekly Wildlife Photography: Instagram

To see a few more of our visitors photos from last month, have a look below.

"Red Squirrel" by Keith Duke

"Otter family" by Paul Stuart

"Otter cub with mum" by Claire Hilton

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2019 to you all!

Lots of plans for the coming year which we will tell you about as and when they happen, but for now a little update. The badgers have settled down well, and Stanley, above, seems to have taken on the head of the clan. It won't be until the weather warms up and the evenings become lighter that they will be out regularly to feed during the afternoon, but you can see them all in their observation sett if you do decide to visit the Centre.

This is a photo of susie from last year, and once again this year she is beginning to turn white. Time will tell how white she will go but at the moment it is just very slight changes around the hind quarters. Keep an eye out for her if you do visit though, white or brown she is a real beauty!

And our otter cubs are beginning to be seen out now. Usually they make at least one appearance a day while we are open, but still not predicable as to when that will be. Another week or two and I imagine they will be following mum and dad out for the talks. 

To start off the new year we will bring the last photo of the month later this week, and then look at announcing the overall winner for last year as well as an otter cub update. Don't forget, we are still open today and tomorrow (Wednesday the 2nd) but then it will be back to weekends until next half term. 

Happy Christmas!

A little blog post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! and to remind you that we are open for a few days over the next couple of weeks. From Thursday the 27th we will be open through till the following Wednesday, the 2nd of January, for our Christmas opening. So if you need to escape the family, or need somewhere to go to walk of all the extra food, keep us in mind.

The last few weeks here have been very busy for us. We use the slightly quieter weeks either side of Christmas to do the more larger cleans and tidying up while visitors are not around, unfortunately (or fortunately from another perspective) these quieter weeks are getting less each year and so more needs to be done in a shorter space of time. I think we are getting there though.

While all this has been going on, there have been a few animal changes which you will notice when you are next in... if not already. Our otter cubs are now just beginning to come out. I have not had a camera with me when I have seen them, so the photos above are of older litters, but that is the size of them roughly now. A few members have got some great photos on flickr and instagram though if you want to tray and see some.

These cubs will be getting bolder by the day, and so next weeks opening should be a great time to come and try to see them.

You will also be able to see all our badger together now too! We introduced the cubs to our two older badgers about a month a go now, and thongs are beginning to settle down. They rarely venture out this time of year but you can see them clearly in the inside set. The extended outside area where the cubs were has been closed off, and will be renovated in the new year to be more suitable for the whole clan to explore.

So, once again, a very merry Christmas to you all, and hope to see some of you next year!