Introduction

This was a much better year for the comfort and welfare of badgers across the UK. Wet weather and a plentiful supply of worms brought an end to the starvation conditions of the last three dry years so that the badgers who had survived the famine became fat and healthy.

The Hide

In February we began the process of upgrading the lighting system with a new solar panel and a new battery. Once installed the new system gave us two independant circuits that hopefully means we will never run out of lights and never have to lug batteries home to recharge them from the mains. It all works very nicely, although the surviving battery from the old system showed signs of old age towards the end of the season and it will be replaced during the coming winter.

The Badgers

The badger population in the area has taken quite a tumble in recent years due largely to the dry weather. However, as already mentioned, the surviving badgers have done very nicely indeed during this wet and wormy year, to the extent that they managed to produce two cubs, one of which appears to have survived to sub-adulthood. As far as we are able to tell, this is the first successful breeding on the estate for three years.

Despite nine years of receiving hundreds of summer visitors, our badgers remain very wary of human beings and all visitors have to be well briefed on the importance of staying quiet during their visit. I believe it is in the best interest of our badgers that they retain their fear of the human race so it is pleasing to note that they are displaying no signs at all of becoming tame. This may be helped by the fact that they only have to put up with our visits for the summer months and even then they receive no encouragement from us to make friends.

Goldeneye Ducks

We discovered last year (too late for the report) that goldeneye ducks had bred in both of the old pine marten nest boxes. We therefore took them down, re-built them and installed them low down in trees near the hide from where we could observe progress. Both boxes were used this spring by the goldeneyes - one raised a full brood of thirteen while the other lost all of its eggs to a pine marten. On 3rd May some lucky guests and I watched this happening and I was able to get some action photos of the burglary.

Users

Our guests comprised a similar mix to previous years with the usual organisations and businesses making block bookings to include an evening of badger watching in their programmes. These regular groups included the Heatherlea Birdwatching Centre, Moray Firth Wildlife Centre, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the RSPB. However, for the second year running, the largest group of users was the general public.

The Statistics

The drop in average badger sightings comes as no surprise and is due to the damage done to our population by recent dry springs and autumns.

In addition to badgers, a total of 38 other species were seen from the hide. They were:

Barn Owl, Bat, Black Grouse, Black-headed gull, Brown Hare, Common Sandpiper, Cuckoo, Curlew, Dipper, Field Vole, Fox, Goldeneye Duck, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Hobby, Kestrel, Mallard, Merganser, Merlin, Osprey, Otter, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pine marten, Rabbit, Red Deer, Redstart, Robin, Roe deer, Shellduck, Sparrow Hawk, Swift, Tawny Owl, Toad, Tree Pipit, Widgeon, Wood mouse, Woodcock.

Money

Visitor numbers were down a little on recent years so our income fell in proportion. Nevertheless we were able to donate sums of money to Scottish Badgers in recognition of their work for badgers nationwide and to the Boat of Garten Wildlife Group who are now the leaders in our local wildlife conservation work - hopefully they will provide guides for the hide in future years.

Thanks

Finally, my thanks go to all those who have contributed to the continued success of the hide. I am especially grateful to the Birkbeck family who own the land and the Cruickshank family who farm the land, without whose indulgence we would not be able to offer such a wonderful wildlife experience to members of the public. I also wish to thank the Cuthbert and O'Reilly families who stepped in to guide groups when I was unavailable.

Allan Bantick
Honorary Manager, Strathspey Badger Hide November 2004