Category Archives: Foxes

A collection of foxes

Springtime Chaffinch (plus swans and a fox)

March 6, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

With the sun deciding to stay around for the whole day you could be forgiven for thinking that spring is really on its way. There’s blossom on the trees, and this pretty male chaffinch was making the most of it this morning at Seven Sisters.

Chaffinch (male)

Chaffinch (male)

Chaffinch (male)

Chaffinch (male)

There was little else until the end of the day, when I passed back through Seven Sisters on my way home. The smaller birds were hiding in the trees, but a pair of mute swans were gliding on the still water in the end-of-day light.

Pair of mute swans

Mute swan

Not much change in the garden. In other words, Pretty was back flying the flag for the foxes. I don’t think she scratched or picked at herself at all this evening, which is certainly a good sign that her treatment for mange is working. She certainly looks well enough as you can see in these photos.

Fox

Fox

Camera note: all bird photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox photos were taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

Also posted in Birds, water birds Tagged , , |

Sunny Day at Falmer Pond

March 5, 2014 by Words | 4 Comments

More sunshine today, though I didn’t have long to enjoy it. Still, it was a pleasure not to be dodging rain and there were some nice images among the few photos I had time to take.

In this first one a moorhen investigates the No Fishing sign.

Moorhen and No Fishing sign

And here’s a simple portrait shot of one of its kin, on the glassy still water. Not only no rain, but no wind. 🙂

Moorhen on still pond

The gulls were largely absent, so it was relatively quiet as well; until some noisy ducks flew in over the village.

Trio of ducks flying past village cottage

Duck landing in pond

It took some searching out, but I eventually also found one of the local rats. It had eluded me at first as it was sitting several feet above the water, resting in the fine branches of an overhanging tree.

Rat in tree above Falmer Pond

Rat in tree above Falmer Pond

Rat in tree above Falmer Pond

Back home, Pretty’s mange treatment seems to be having some effect. She’s still scratching at her coat, but much less intensely than before. She is probably now the most consistent of all the fox visitors we’ve had in about 9 years of watching them. There’s barely been a week when she hasn’t appeared, and generally she shows up several times a day.

Fox scratching

Fox not scratching

Camera note: all daytime photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox photos are with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens.

Also posted in mange, rats, water birds Tagged , , , , , |

Buzzards at Falmer and Treating Pretty

March 3, 2014 by Words | 2 Comments

Plenty more rain today. I took to the local woods at lunchtime in the hope of catching sight of a buzzard. I sheltered under the trees for a while, but without any luck. As the drizzle eased a little I headed to the neighbouring field, and saw this.

buzzard

While I was watching the intensity of the rain increased, but things were only just starting to get interesting. The buzzard flew across to some fence posts and I tracked it with the camera. There was a second buzzard, engaging in a mild dispute with a crow.

buzzards and crow

The crow won that encounter, but the second buzzard was less easily put off and settled down adjacent to the corvid.

Common buzzard

The rain got heavier. I waited. The buzzard gave in first and headed to the woods for some shelter.

buzzard in flight

buzzard in flight

buzzard in woodland

I lost track of it after that, and I too needed to find some shelter as the rain intensified. Still, a really nice local encounter and well worth the soaking.

Meanwhile I’ve been becoming more concerned about Pretty. She’s been scratching a lot (foxes do, of course), but some of the smaller breaks in her coat have become larger and I do suspect she may be suffering from early stages of mange. Apart from that she seems well enough, and tonight we’ve started her on a course of treatment. She’ll receive four weekly treatments, which should do the trick. Here she is checking out the first dose.

Fox being treated for mange

I’ll keep you updated on her progress.

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Camera note: all buzzard photos taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. the fox being treated for mange taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM.

Also posted in Bird of Prey, mange Tagged , , |