Fox of the Day – 6th Anniversary Photo Special

Somehow it is now six years since I first posted a 'fox of the day' on my website. During that time the fox population has changed (and cast of characters) has changed quite a lot. It started with a young fox cub who featured in the very first post back on 17 June 2005.

That shot was taken with a tiny Olympus C370 3.2 megapixel point-and-shoot camera, as were most of the 2005 shots. I was learning a lot about taking photos, and about getting close to foxes. With a point and shoot, that's really the only way. This next shot is also from very early in the series (we called the cub 'Blondie', if memory serves) and is still one of my favourite shots.

By the end of 2005 the 'old dog fox' had become a firm fixture in the garden, and for 2 or 3 years he remained one of our most regular visitors.

At the beginning of 2006 I invested in a bridge camera, a Canon S2 IS. This is still a long way from the gear I'm using today, but was a key element in learning more about photography, though my post-production skills still had (and have) a long way to go. 2006 was the year of the fox cubs.

But the 'old dog fox' still featured heavily throughout the year.

I acquired (polite word for 'bought') my first DSLR, a Canon 400D in December that year, and that proved to be the camera of choice throughout 2007. That year was the 'year of the rooftop fox'.

The 'old dog fox' was still making an occasional appearance too…

He was still around in the spring of 2008.

We didn't do so well with the fox cubs that year, but a couple of juveniles showed up over the summer. Here's one of them.

By 2009 I had upgraded again, to a Canon 40D. The year started very quietly and many of the daily photos in the first part of the year were drawn from the archive. The slow beginning was transformed by spring when I encountered a family of foxes where I was working.

I also had some good sightings out on the South Downs.

As well as more close-up encounters in the garden…

Moving on to 2010 I finally managed to get a long wished-for photo of a fox (actually a young vixen) against a snowy background…

I also watched her through pregnancy and lactation…

And the inevitable cubs…

2011 (now armed with a Canon 7D) has proved relatively quiet, but not without some good encounters, notably the sleepy sequence taken at the beginning of June.

The full collection is maintained at the fox of the day index pages. That gets updated every couple of weeks and features over 2100 different shots.
Nature Blog Network
Camera note: some information above, but I'm not going to track down which lenses were used on the various later photos… it will have been one of the usual suspects though!.

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. Dudley

    16 Jun 2011

    Six years…whew…and I remember some of those pics too.
    :hat:

  2. Words

    17 Jun 2011

    Thanks Andy! It's been quite an adventure, and a real education into their behaviour.

  3. anonymous

    17 Jun 2011

    Wojtek writes:

    I never know what to say in such moments… but… thank you for all this. Thank you… and the foxes. 🙂

  4. gdare

    17 Jun 2011

    I remember most of them through your photos. Old dog fox was my favourite back then 😀

  5. Words

    17 Jun 2011

    Darko, the old dog fox is still my favourite of all of them. He was just so relaxed and friendly.

  6. Words

    17 Jun 2011

    Erwin, thanks :cheers:

  7. Words

    17 Jun 2011

    Wojtek, you're welcome. It's been a fascinating journey so far (for me, anyway!)

  8. SittingFox

    20 Jun 2011

    You've done amazingly well to keep going so long. You've probably taken more fox photos than anyone else in the UK by now! :up:

  9. Words

    20 Jun 2011

    Adele, I'm not sure if that's a record to be proud of though. A little obsessive perhaps, though less so now than in the past. This year's group is proving very tricky. I may have to resort to using the remote trigger if it goes on like this.

  10. gdare

    21 Jun 2011

    Originally posted by Words:

    I'm not sure if that's a record to be proud of though.

    Why? :left:

  11. Words

    21 Jun 2011

    Because it discloses rampant obsessiveness! Of course, it could be a case of persistence and diligence. I think I prefer those 😀

  12. Ukwildlife

    27 Jun 2011

    Well I wandered onto opera blogs after finding your fox photos, now look whats happened, I've been here for a few years.

    Look forward to even more fox photos!

  13. Words

    28 Jun 2011

    Neil, I'm struggling a bit this year with the garden foxes. I may have to do weekly webcam updates!

  14. Wulpen

    19 Oct 2012

    Confrt…..Supper Great photos :up::wine:

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