{"id":5998,"date":"2012-08-26T07:20:01","date_gmt":"2012-08-26T13:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5998"},"modified":"2025-11-23T05:13:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T11:13:25","slug":"an-american-badger-paying-attention-pays-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/26\/an-american-badger-paying-attention-pays-off\/","title":{"rendered":"An American Badger – Paying Attention Pays Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few days ago while photographing Swainson\u2019s Hawks during the evening in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana, I felt like I was being watched, and as anyone who goes into the backcountry knows, when you get that feeling it should be paid attention to, so I took my eyes away from my viewfinder and looked around.<\/p>\n

\"HiddenHidden American Badger – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow!<\/strong> There were two ebony eyes peeking at me through the light golden grasses along with the strikingly marked face of an American Badger!<\/p>\n

I was nearly at eye level with the Badger because the dirt road was lower than the sandy ridge that was cut away when the road was created, and there was plenty of vegetation in the way.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Badger profile – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I got a better view of the Badger, I realized there was no way to avoid having some of the grass in front of the Badger. I really wish the one slender grass stalk didn’t go across the corner of the Badger’s face, nose, and eye in this frame.<\/p>\n

Still, I was tickled to have this Badger within close range for a few moments before it went back down into its burrow.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Badger in Beaverhead County – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have learned that even when I have a great subject in front of me, I should always try to pay attention to what is outside my viewfinder, and because I do, I have seen and photographed some gems I might have missed if I only looked through my camera’s viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Paying attention pays off big when a curious American Badger<\/span><\/a> shows up and hangs around for a little while in southwestern Montana.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Badger photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow! There were two ebony eyes peeking at me through the light golden grasses along with the strikingly marked face of an American Badger!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1764,1513,223,12],"tags":[4458,5128,4035,5129,4459,4032],"class_list":["post-5998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-badger","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","tag-american-badger","tag-badgers","tag-nature-photography","tag-paying-attention","tag-taxidea-taxus","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/badger-mia-mcpherson-3116.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1yK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16020,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/01\/american-badger-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":5998,"position":0},"title":"American 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