Sunday, 31. January 2010, 15:16:07
It's a little while since I've been out there

Perhaps "M" is also for "Mid-winter" - we may be well past the winter solstice, but January and February are usually our coldest months, and the wind is still tending to blow from the East.
"Tis good for neither man nor beast" so the saying goes, but I disagree

These frozen, bright conditions with only a dusting of snow...
...are near perfect for fox-watching

Only a few horses are in the meadows are present, and those are keeping close to stables. The local sheep pasture has been heavily trampled and grazed down to the ground, but the rough, tussocky landscape left behind in this virtually unused horse pasture is excellent for voles. And voles mean foxes!
I've been this large male fox with his distinctive black brush on-off for a year or so now. He wasn't inclined to come too close when I spotted him yesterday morning, but he's certainly in fine shape
But there was something else moving down the lane - something that I don't usually see in a cooperative mood
A green woodpecker! You can see the red moustache - it's a male. But for all his bright colours, he blends in beautifully with the backdrop!
Not far away, and insanely well camouflaged, a redwing flock was scurrying about in the fallen leaves. I counted nine of them in this photo but I'm open to revised suggestions
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In other news, there was an intriguing twist in the drama of the garden foxes yesterday

A strange fox - tall, thin, with a heavily scarred muzzle and short red brush - is lurking around, eyeing up the peanut butter on the bird table

and generally scrounging. I suspect he is a young vagrant who is wandering, as male foxes do in January, in search of both a vixen and a vacant territory. He looks as if he's had a fight or two already

but he is less robust than the Silver Dogfox, whom I suspect he will avoid if he can
I've also finally uploaded an album of my winter photos. Please
have a look!