All About Badgers in Springtime

Hello and welcome to this week's Wildlife Matters podcast.

Well, Ostara has passed, bringing with it the light and the energy.

And spring is here.

The signs of nature are bursting into life all around us.

Dawn chorus marks the beginning of a new day.

As the cubs stir in their dens and the spawn in our ponds begins.

To transform, we can hear chicks in.

Nests chirping for more food.

This week's episode is one I have been looking forward to as we feature badgers in springtime.

It's part of our look at the ecology and the behavior of badgers throughout the year.

And in this week's Wildlife Matters mindful moment, we have something very special.

The sound of an iconic native mammal, rarely heard and not known for its vocalizations.

But first, this week's Wildlife Matters and Nature News includes stories about the phantom of the forest, the announcement of a new national woodland and the success of.

The Sussex Sea Kelp project.

And we will share all of these stories next on this week's Wildlife Matters Nature News.

Foreign.

Welcome to this week's Wildlife Matters Nature News, the section of the podcast where we look at some of the wildlife and nature stories that are of interest right now.

Our first story is about the elusive phantom of the forest, which has been expanding its range in the uk, after more than a century of persecution, are finally looking up for the goshawk, one of the UK's most spectacular and elusive birds of prey.

Could we see this majestic bird nesting in our cities, parks and urban spaces as they do in other European countries?

Well, research from the British Trust for Ornithology suggests that the bird's range is expanding and that we might even be able to see goshawks in our parks and cities in the future.

With its barred grey and white belly, yellow legs and amber eyes, the goshawk resembles a sparrowhawk but is much larger.

Deforestation, pesticide use and persecution by gamekeepers pushed goshawks to the brink of extinction.

It was ultimately saved by falconers who released imported goshawks from Europe.

And the birds thrived.

British goshawks are primarily woodland birds, unlike their European counterparts which inhabit forests and urban areas.

Researchers are investigating how the birds future range and habitats might change as their numbers increase.

And with special license, Ian Henderson and his colleagues at the BTO fitted solar powered tracking devices to 29 goshawk chicks from 22 nests in Norfolk, Suffolk and Gloucestershire.

When the birds left the nest, the tags tracked their movements and surprisingly they didn't travel that far.

Instead of heading to distant woodlands, most.

Young birds spent their first winter on the outskirts of their parents breeding territory, occupying a small area no more than 10 kilometers from their native nest.

A significant difference between adults and newly fledged birds was their habitat preferences, with young males favoring open farmland, while older adults and juvenile females preferred dense woodland.

This may be attributed to the size differences, with female juveniles and adult birds being relatively large compared with male juveniles, who are smaller and may be more adept at catching small birds in open landscapes.

As the young goshawks matured, males joined the females and adult birds in the thicker woodlands.

The short dispersal distances observed in the study indicate that it may take some time for goshawks to spread out of their forest strongholds.

However, their ability to utilise non forest habitats suggests we could witness goshawks nesting in urban areas in future this week's second story concerns the creation of a new national forest in the west of central to southern England.

The government announced this week a significant initiative to plant up to 20 million trees and create two and a half thousand hectares of new woodland in the west of England as part of the National Forest Initiative.

The Western Forest will consist of new and existing woodlands across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, the Cotswolds and the Mendips, as well as in urban areas such as Bristol, Swindon and Gloucester.

Only 10% coverage has been achieved today, prompting environmental groups to warn that much more needs to be done to meet the tree planting targets.

Recent research Research estimates that the total woodland area in the UK is approximately 3.28 million hectares, which represents just 13% of the total land area.

However, England only has 10% woodland cover.

The aim across the UK is to plant 30,000 hectares of woodland annually.

The latest annual figures indicate that about 21,000 hectares were planted, with the vast majority being in Scotland and just 5,500 hectares in England.

Alex Stone, chief executive of the Forest of Avon Trust, which leads the partnership behind the Western Forest project, told Wildlife Matters that some regions in the area currently have only 7% tree cover.

This is about increasing tree coverage in those areas where we need it, alex explained.

Over the next five years, the government has committed seven and a half million of public funds to the forest project.

Government officials say the project will support.

The UK's drive towards net zero emissions, promote economic growth and create regional jobs.

Mary Cray, the Minister for Nature, expressed her hope that the Western Forest would significantly improve water quality, flood resilience and wildlife while bringing nature closer to community.

She acknowledged that more work is needed to achieve England's national tree planting target, saying, I am confident that we can reach our goals.

Projects like this give me hope and confidence that we can succeed with everyone's cooperation from the public and the private sectors.

The Western Forest is England's first new national forest designated in 30 years.

It follows the establishment of the original national forest, which is it covers Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, where 9.8 million trees have been planted.

The new Western Forest will stretch from Gloucester in the north to include Swindon, Salisbury and Bristol, focusing on the urban areas, especially in Bristol and Gloucester.

The initiative is part of the government's plan to establish three new national forests.

By the end of the parliamentary term.

This week's final story is about a marine success on the south coast where the Sussex Wildlife Trust runs the Sea Kelp Restoration Project.

The law protects a coastal area of.

117 square miles, or 302 square kilometers, which runs from Chorum Sea to Selsee.

As the project celebrates its its fourth anniversary, researchers have reported encouraging signs of recovery, including increased population of lobster, brown crabs, angel sharks and short snouted seahorses.

Project lead Dr.

Chris Yessen shared with Wildlife Matters, we still have a way to go, but it's exciting to see nature begin to flourish once more.

Historically, kelp forests cover vast stretches of coastline in Sussex.

Kelp forests provide essential habitat, nurseries and feeding grounds for a lot of marine wildlife.

There are also sequesters of large amounts of carbon, improve water quality and they help to reduce coastal erosion.

In response to the bylaw, Sir David Attenborough called it a vital win in the fight against biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.

Following this, the Sussex Kelp Recovery Project was established to study and promote the return of the kelp.

The project has registered 400 kelp recorders through the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Citizen Science program to gather observations.

Since the bylaw's implementation, the project has documented the presence of oysters and honeycomb worms and an increase in shallow dwelling species such as the Atlantic mackerel, sand eels and mullet.

Local free diver Eric Smith expressed his excitement saying, I was apprehended about what I would find this year after such a stormy winter, but to my absolute delight I witnessed a dramatic increase in marine biodiversity.

Sussex Wildlife Trust Kelp Recovery Coordinator George Short noted the remarkable expansion of mussel.

Beds which had not been seen in.

The area for decades.

It's nice to finish with some positive news on this week's Wildlife Matters Nature News.

Well, how excited are you about the prospect of seeing goshawks in our urban landscape, landscape, cities and parks in the future?

What are your thoughts on creating three.

New national forests within the next five years?

We also have great news from the Sussex coast.

Kelp and shallow marine life species have recovered in just four years and we would love to hear your thoughts and comments on any of the stories that we have shared with you today.

You can share them on your podcast providers site or in the YouTube comments section below.

If you prefer, you can email us at infooildlife-matters.org and don't forget to say hello.

Today we have an intriguing mindful moment for you.

It features a native wild animal not typically known for its vocalizations.

However, as this short audio clip reveals, it has an interesting range of ways to communicate with others.

So sit back, relax and see if you can guess which animal we have recorded for this week's Wildlife Matters mindful moment.

Well, those sounds are not something that most people encounter daily, but they were recorded near to Wildlife Mountain Matters HQ at a location we have been observing for nearly two decades.

We've been fortunate enough to witness several generations of badgers born in our local set as they grow up and in some cases have had their own cubs.

This audio recording features a small group of younger badgers from the set playing and grooming themselves before the dominant sow and boar emerge.

After family time and a little mutual grooming, each badger heads off in a different direction to search for food.

And this brings us to today's Wildlife Matters main feature.

It's part of a series of articles.

And podcasts that followed badgers for a whole year and today we will be focusing on badgers in springtime.

Hello and welcome to this week's Wildlife Matters, a main feature.

And this is one I've been really looking forward to because we are talking about badgers in springtime over the Last few weeks, I have been immersed in the woodland watching my local badgers.

The cubs were born back in January and spend at least a couple of months underground with their mothers.

For many years, I have enjoyed checking my local sets.

Thankfully, here in the Southeast, we do not have the threat of a badger cull that has had such a devastating impact on badger populations.

In some areas of the country, finding signs of badger activity, such as fresh digging, is always exciting.

Other indications of an active set include discarded bedding, including grass and bracken removed from the set's underground chambers during regular cleaning.

Badgers are very clean animals.

They are fastidious creatures and constantly change their bedding.

Already this year, one of my trail cameras has filmed a sow badger bundling grass and other vegetation under her chest.

She held the material with her forepaws before jerkily moving backwards to carry it underground down into her set.

Wandering through these badger woodlands brings many other rewards.

With song thrushes and blackbirds now singing their beautiful spring songs, greater spotted woodpeckers are also making their presence felt.

I adore their machine gun sounding rat, a tat tat that resonates as they furiously drum their bills against the hollow tree boughs to advertise their presence to other woodpeckers.

Apart from snowdrops, the first spring wildflowers are only just beginning to show.

Spring does appear a little sleepy and unable to get itself going just yet.

It will do so, though, in the next few weeks, with lesser celandines and wooden enemies being the precursors, especially on sunnier, south facing slopes.

In the darker, damper woodland areas opposite, leaved golden saxifrage is also starting to carpet the ground.

Each flower is as subtle and small, making it complex to discern them individually.

Still growing together, they form a distinctive floral tapestry that sweeps across the forest floor like a golden sea.

In April, when food supplies are plentiful again, the badger cubs explore the set entrance and may emerge.

Tempted by the many new scents and sounds outside.

The sow protects her cubs and ensures that they stay close to the set.

Aloe badger cubs are born at a time of year that maximizes their chances of survival.

On average, only one of every three.

Cubs survives to its first birthday.

Male and female cubs become sexually mature at around 11 to 15 months and may mates before the end of their first year in areas where food supply is plentiful.

European badgers are unusual amongst the mustelids because they live in highly social family groups called clans.

Yet they show little sign of cooperative behavior within the clan.

I've Noticed that clan formation is usually in areas with abundant food resource and high population densities.

For example, areas with low badger density, such as the Scottish Highland.

Clans tend to consist of a dominant male and female, sometimes with a couple of related individuals.

I've heard that badgers have subordinate non breeding females to help the parents.

Foxes often have aunties or daughters to help their parents raise cubs.

But the badgers assist the sow by cleaning the bedding from the set, gathering new bedding and building set extensions.

It reminds me of a story Dave Williams told me when he saw babysitters rounding up cubs that had strayed too far from the set.

They were chasing a fox and on one occasion the dog fox was nicked or lightly bitten by one of the cubs, making him scamper away, squealing loudly.

More from shots and surprise, I think, than any other injury.

I've also seen mutual scenting where the babysitter scent marks the cubs and the cubs scent mark the babysitter.

So all the badgers in the set share the same smell.

On three occasions I have seen a mother and a subordinate carrying the cubs from the chamber where they slept with their mother to one where they have slept with the babysitter.

This is known as alloparental behaviour.

Another behaviour I have seen during early spring is the bedding being dragged out of the set and left at the entrance to air.

This is to kill any lice, ticks and fleas in the bedding that could parasitize the badgers.

Airing bedding is an essential part of maintaining hygiene within the set.

I've heard that badgers have even moved sets in certain situations due to a buildup of parasites in their bedding.

May is an excellent time to start watching the badgers.

As the days get warmer and longer, the badgers will begin to emerge in daylight.

The cubs will now be three to four months old and come above the ground to explore around the set and to play with other badgers again.

I've been told that badgers in sets situated in open areas may emerge later than those living in the COVID of woodland.

But I have not seen any direct evidence of this.

I've also heard that badgers in sets situated in open areas may emerge later than those living in the COVID of woodland.

Although I have not seen any direct evidence of this my myself.

To back up his theory, Jollens cited three examples.

The second was badgers at a set in Walnut in Hampshire, apparently taking the call of a male pheasant going to roost every night as the queue to commence their own nightly activity.

The third story intrigued me as it was at my local set in Elm Bridge, where he claimed the badgers wouldn't begin leaving the set until the first evening hoot of the resident tawny owl was heard.

This resonated with me as today, 60 or so years later, my own local badgers are still waiting for the local tawny owls to call before they begin to emerge.

This is clearly a learned behaviour passed down through many generations.

Anyone who has watched badgers at their set will know that they spend a significant amount of time grooming.

The longest grooming bouts tend to occur shortly after emergence from the set.

But it's not uncommon to see a badger sit down and scratch in the middle of feeding.

In addition to grooming themselves, badgers also groom other clan members, a behaviour known as allo grooming.

Grooming.

When badgers groom themselves, they tend to do so sitting down or lying on one side of the other, particularly to groom that side.

While self grooming, a badger will focus on its stomach, legs, tail and face.

Some attempts are made to groom parts of the rump, back and shoulders, but badgers can only contort to groom some of their bodies.

This is where the aloe grooming becomes vital to a badger's grooming and subsequently its health.

The proportion of grooming directed to each segment of the body differs.

This means allo grooming badgers direct their attention to areas the badgers being groomed cannot reach.

One thing is clear though.

Badgers have the responsive rule which dictates that grooming can be initiated generously but rapidly withdrawn.

In other words, one badger will start to groom another spontaneously and if the recipient reciprocates, will continue until one eventually stops.

But if the recipient doesn't return, the initiating badger will stop quickly.

One thing I have noticed with mutual grooming is that the shoulders are frequently the initiation site when grooming a new partner.

Badgers in the wild can live for as long as 15 years.

However, most badgers die young, with an average lifespan of just three short years.

Earlier this week, a short but intense thunderstorm came through whilst I was sitting watching the badgers.

Now, some noises do disturb badgers and they may suppress activity and delay emergence.

But thunder, lightning and even hailstones do not seem to bother them.

I guess thunder is associated with rain and humidity and both will bring earthworms to the surface, which is feeding time for badgers.

I don't think any wild animal is that perturbed by wet and stormy weather when there is a potential abundance of food to be enjoyed.

As June arrives, the cubs will be weaned and they will know their way around the set.

The cubs are now confident enough to forage with their other clan members and sometimes alone.

In June, badgers will often sleep in day nests above the ground.

Another cleaning behavior that is very entertaining to watch is scratching.

In addition to tree trunks, badgers may scratch fence posts or other suitable objects.

When scratching, the badger gets up on its hind legs, reaches as high as it can with its front paws and then brings them down, scraping against the wood as it does so.

This is said to improve muscle tone and clean mud from the claws.

Some believe it is one way of marking their territories, and all of these are possibly true.

Another change is that badgers will now travel much further at night.

A male badger can be gone for many hours and have been seen in neighbouring villages, sometimes up to four, maybe even 8km away from the main set.

The females will stay closer to the set and they will move more slowly but still cover a similar area to that of the males.

I hope you enjoyed spending time with the badgers this spring.

If you haven't already done so, then please do check out our Badgers in Winter podcast that came on series one of the Wildlife Matters podcast and that has been this week's Wildlife Matters main feature on badgers in springtime.

We hope you enjoyed spending time with our local local badgers this spring, learning about their habits and how the search for food, shelter and the strong bonds of the family drives them on.

In season one of the Wildlife Matters podcast, we explored the lives of badgers during winter and in future episodes we will also discuss their ecology in both summer and autumn.

Badgers have always held a special place in my heart.

Over the years I have observed them.

And watched their families go about their daily routines.

This has been one of the highlights of my wildlife watching experiences.

Many badger groups offer badger watching evenings.

And most counties have a local badger group.

To find your local group, please visit the Badger Trust website.

The website address will be in the show notes, but it is www.badgertrust.org.

as always, we appreciate your valuable time.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

Wildlife Matters will return in two weeks with the final episode of season five.

And in that episode, we will examine the fascinating lives of foxes during springtime.

We will also share the latest news stories about wildlife and nature, and, of course, spend time in nature with our mindful moments.

So until next time, wild ones stay curious.

This is Wildlife Matters signing off.