Two of a kind

So many photos are of birds and animals on their own. Partly that's the habit of using a long lens and framing the shot to capture an isolated image, but occasionally the scene lends itself to showing more interaction. I came across these two dunnocks early on Friday morning.

With so many foxes locally, it's surprising how infrequently I photograph more than one. Tonight (Saturday) I was in luck. Three of the cubs were playing in the garden. Getting all three within shot proved beyond me; but two of a kind is a little easier.


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Camera note: all the dunnock shots were taken with the Canon 40D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The fox cubs were photographed with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.

This entry was posted in Birds, Foxes and tagged , , .

17 Comments

  1. debplatt May 16, 2010 at 12:05 am #

    Was that a mating display on the part of the male dunnock? I hope the female was suitably impressed. I especially liked the bottom dunnock one.

    The fox cubs look much more confident and at ease than they did at first.

  2. SittingFox May 16, 2010 at 10:05 am #

    Wonderful! They really have taken ownership of your garden 😀

  3. Words May 16, 2010 at 10:05 am #

    Deb, I don't think so. Dunnocks are fascinating. It's usually the female who displays, but it gets more complicated as she generally will mate with more than one male, though sometimes arrangement is reversed. The ritual tends to be at ground level.

  4. Words May 16, 2010 at 11:05 am #

    Adele, they certainly have. And the big news is that there are five of them (trail cam evidence up later). 😀

  5. SittingFox May 16, 2010 at 11:05 am #

    Oh wow! 😀

  6. Words May 16, 2010 at 11:05 am #

    Vulpes, thanks. I can see the garden is going to suffer from all those inquisitive paws.

  7. Vulpes vulpes May 16, 2010 at 11:05 am #

    Great shots! Adele is spot on with her comment – "this garden in MINE"! 😀

  8. gdare May 16, 2010 at 4:05 pm #

    5? Wow!!! :eyes: :yes:

  9. Words May 17, 2010 at 11:05 pm #

    Erwin, thanks!

  10. Words May 17, 2010 at 11:05 pm #

    Adele/Darko… yes 5 could be a real handful!

  11. Cynthia23 May 18, 2010 at 6:05 pm #

    Fantastic photos!! Love the birds!

    @@ Oh, FIVE!
    WOW … now off to watch the trail cam footage. 🙂

  12. Words May 18, 2010 at 8:05 pm #

    Yes five! Quite a little pack of them 😀

  13. cakkleberrylane May 19, 2010 at 12:05 am #

    Wonderful shots!

  14. Words May 20, 2010 at 12:05 am #

    Thanks Lois!

  15. Flying Red Fox Blog May 26, 2010 at 9:05 am #

    Very cool photos especially the cute cubs. 😀

  16. Words May 26, 2010 at 6:05 pm #

    Thanks Mark!

  17. Wulpen October 19, 2012 at 8:10 pm #

    Lovely Pict