A Valentine Badger Bodge

Valentine’s day wasn’t the most romantic for me and the Mrs. It turned out to be the only day I could get together enough friends – and borrow a teleporter – to put up my new badger hide.
I’ve been working on this for months and it was fantastic to see it finally in place – five metres high in a tree opposite a badger set.
I have fitted it with double glazing and insulation so I reckon I can bear badger watching nights in all weather – although putting it in place turned out to be particularly freezing.
Perhaps I can make it up to my wife in the summer with a romantic sunset picnic up there – after reading my column on courting grebes for The Yorkshire Post, http://www.robertefuller.com/RobertEFullersite/wildlife-diary-feb09-grebe.htm, I think she was expecting dinner at the very least.

A grebe painting by me!

Anyhow, fellow wildlife lovers, watch this space– I’m hoping to photograph badger cubs in the spring and see them grow up.

Looking for Heronries

Last Sunday I took my family off to Pickering beck to find a heronry I'd heard of close to a public footpath. Sadly, we never found it and after a few hours of spotting nothing but squirrel dreys, six-month-old Lily was cold and tired so we turned homeward.

I did notice, just at the spot I had been told to look, that the forest had been replanted - I hope this heronry hasn't been cut down! If so it would a great shame. A heronry really is worth seeing - it's like something out of Jurassic Park. The four foot wide nests can number up to 200, each weighing in at about four or five stone, and there are around 13,000 along Britain's waterways.

Read on: http://www.robertefuller.com/RobertEFullersite/wildlife-diary-feb09-heron.htm

Hello!
Everyone keeps telling me to start a blog, with little bits of info about what I'm painting, what I'm doing and what I am watching. So here goes, I hope you'll enjoy!
Robert