Not much wildlife to report on as I spent most of the day in London and had precious little time to explore the nature havens of the city. And there are plenty, from the major parks through to the small squares that are scattered throughout central London. My only photo opportunities were outside mainline railway stations amid signs saying 'Do not feed the pigeons'. Well I don't; but if the sign is there, well so are the pigeons. And they were looking splendid.<\/p>\n
In the evening we had a brief visit from the bold vixen, the one seen in Tuesday's post.<\/p>\n Thursday<\/strong> There's nothing to stop you photographing feeding blackbirds though, and I took this brief sequence of a male blackbird and a somewhat reluctant worm:<\/p>\n In the evening we had a brief visit from the old dog fox.<\/p>\n Friday<\/strong> Ever the kind soul, I pointed it in the direction of the nearby pond ('Just over there, through the woods'):<\/p>\n And so to the evening where I again had the pleasure of two foxes appearing in the garden. The first fox to appear was the nicked-ear vixen (not the same one as Tuesday, that was the bold vixen). At first she was fairly relaxed, but while I was taking photos (I'd put down a small amount of food as reward) her demeanour changed. Her ears went back, and she crouched into a low squat. At first I wondered whether I had startled her:<\/p>\n But it wasn't anything I had done. The next frame reveals the cause of her caution.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/pigeon_feral_2304084415.jpg\")
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A couple of interesting sightings. I was wandering through one of the car park areas at work and noticed a lively thrush zipping to and fro from one of the trees. She had a nest in the higher branches. Now nesting birds always present a dilemma. To photograph or not? A number of species are protected by law and photographing their nesting spaces requires a licence<\/a>, so in some instances photographing a nesting bird is straightforwardly illegal. The purpose of the law is to help prevent disturbing endangered species during the breeding season, and that's a principle worth extending in general to all wildlife breeding areas (birds or otherwise). If the site is disturbed there's a risk of young being abandoned or, in the case of the more rare species, being vandalized or raided. Thrushes don't come within the legislation, and the site was in an area with heavy human traffic, so I did take a couple of shots from a safe distance. But the clear rule must be to avoid any possible disturbance of the bird or its habitat.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
A quiet day all told, but as I was leaving work I stumbled upon a slightly bemused duck who had got lost and couldn't find where it had parked.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n