Tag Archives: fox

Rain, Sun, Cormorant, Rat, Fox

Very typical weather today. I left home in high hope of some decent light, but by the time I’d arrived at Falmer the gloom had already set in. It was a dark and somewhat dismal scene, but it held one welcome surprise in the form of a cormorant. It’s been a quiet year for them here, but this lone bird was quietly gliding around the pond as the heavens opened and the rain came down.

Cormorant

Cormorant

Almost as quickly as it had started (though not so quickly that I didn’t get soaked) the rain relented, and the cormorant took the opportunity to dry off.

Cormorant

The weather was still struggling to make up its mind at lunchtime. The sun emerged long enough to entice this common darter out…

Common darter dragonfly

The rats prefer a touch of sunshine even though they mainly lurk in the shade. These are my favourites of the numerous shots I took of them today.

rat

rat

The end of the day was beautiful. The skies cleared and we were blessed with warm red light as the sun descended to the horizon. And all that needs to set it off perfectly is a pretty red fox.

fox

fox

fox

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

Posted in Birds, Foxes, Insects, water birds, Wildlife Also tagged , , |

Digging for Grubs (fox video)

This is a rare event. I mentioned yesterday that I might edit some video and I’ve actually done what I said I’d do!

Pretty was enjoying being left alone in the garden, and when she thought we weren’t watching got down to the serious business of hunting grubs. Grubs are a regular food source for foxes (chafer grubs are a favourite), but getting them means digging them out from under the grass. This does remove a nasty garden pest from the lawn, but probably isn’t ideal if you like your garden to be bowling-green smooth. 😉

fox digging for grubs

fox

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

Posted in Behaviour, Foxes, Wildlife Also tagged , |

Saturday is Pretty Day (Fox Photo Special)

She’s been in and out of the garden all week, so it wasn’t a surprise when, late morning, we looked outside to see Pretty, the young fox, lurking in the garden. For the first few minutes she was cautious, running off into the hedge before slowly re-emerging, but gradually became more confident.

fox sitting

fox walking

fox scratching

fox yawning

fox resting

fox portrait

All told she spent several hours out there from late morning to mid-afternoon, and for much of the time we left her to her own devices. Apart from sleeping, she enjoyed herself digging for grubs in the lawn (term used loosely), rolling around and watching birds fly overhead.

I also shot some video from a window, but have yet to edit it. Photos are so much easier to manage, but I may put a couple of short clips together tomorrow.

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

Posted in Foxes, Wildlife Also tagged , |