Category Archives: Behaviour

Fox Time Again (includes video)

September 2, 2013 by Words | 6 Comments

It’s been a few days, but I’m back with a fox post again. Of our brood of cubs, Bully Boy is the only one who seems to have stayed around. We’ve not seen Pretty or Red for several weeks, but some of the adults still show up at night, so I’ll start with a brief glimpse of Nicked Ear skulking in the corner of the garden late last night.

Fox in corner of garden

The adults retain a healthy wariness. The cubs are still learning their way, and Bully Boy is quite happy to sit around the garden with us. These are a few shots taken during the day.

Young fox

Young fox

Fox grooming

And now some video…

[embedplusvideo height=”337″ width=”600″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/18w0eA4″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4yeRMLDgP9c?fs=1&hd=1″ vars=”ytid=4yeRMLDgP9c&width=600&height=337&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=1&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep8100″ /]


The last couple of shots were taken as dark was falling. I’d gone outside. Something seemed out of place. A fox to be precise. Bully Boy was happily settling down on a neighbouring roof. The shots aren’t great (taken without flash with a 100mm hand-held lens), but a rooftop fox is always a bit of a treat.

Young fox on rooftop at night

Young fox on rooftop at night

Camera note: daytime shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. Night shots taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

Also posted in Foxes, Wildlife Tagged , , , |

A Greedy Bee and Some Frisky Butterflies

August 25, 2013 by Words | Comments Off

A lovely sunny afternoon emerged after a dull start to the day. Ideal for spending some time in the garden; and evidently ideal for the host of insects that came out to enjoy some time in the sun.

We’re fortunate to have plenty of bees in the garden. They have a particular taste for the hibiscus bush, so much so that it is a small wonder they can even fly.

Bee on hibiscus covered in pollen

Bee on hibiscus covered in pollen

Not all of them are quite so greedy. This bee was enjoying a taste of wild marjoram.

Bee on wild marjoram

All the time the gentle buzz of bees was punctuated by the percussive chatter of grasshoppers.

Common grasshopper

As for the butterflies, I saw painted ladies, small whites, a couple of red admirals, several blues (different species), a speckled wood and numerous amorous large whites.

Speckled Wood butterfly

Speckled Wood

These are the large whites. They were darting all over the garden whilst engaging in a courtship ritual where the female rests and the male dances around her. The female’s raised abdomen is actually a ‘rejection’ posture as it makes mating impossible. This is a common feature in butterfly behaviour, and she may well have already mated.

Pair of large white butterflies in mating dance.

Pair of large white butterflies in mating dance.

Pair of large white butterflies in mating dance.

Camera note: greedy bee taken with the Canon 7D and EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM; marjoram bee, grasshopper and speckled wood taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens; and the mating large white butterflies with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Also posted in Bee, Butterfly, Insects

Buzzard Buzzed!

August 23, 2013 by Words | Comments Off

Today was one of those strange days where I seemed to spend most of my time not really seeing anything worth photographing, but was lucky enough to have a small handful of encounters that more than made up for the down time. The star turns were a heron, a buzzard, and a welcome re-appearance in the garden by Bully Boy, the young fox. I’m going to stick with the buzzard for this entry, partly because I like the shots, but also because it’s the first time I’ve seen them share air space with flocks of swallows and house martins.

I’m not entirely convinced the smaller birds were mobbing the raptor but with so many young fledglings around they may have been more than usually defensive of their patch. If they were mobbing, their technique is rather less confrontational than the full-frontal attack mode so often adopted by gulls and corvids.

Now for the photos… (click on the image to enlarge)

Buzzard with swallow and house martins

Buzzard with swallow and house martins

Buzzard with swallow and house martins

Buzzard with swallow

Buzzard with swallow

Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Also posted in Bird of Prey, Birds, Wildlife