I watched this small, finely-boned fox as he loped through the waving grasses as the sky pinkened with impending dusk. I've seen him before; he has a brush that is heavily banded with darker rings of brown, almost like a paler version of a wildcat's tail. He is not a nervous fox, and in any case seemed preoccupied by the wind. Gradually he loped closer and closer, slipping silently through the fence and out onto the verge - then realising, in an instant, just how close to me he had come. I took a couple of photos, and then he turned about and raced off through the meadow.


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Further down the road, two much larger shadows were tiptoeing towards me. A roe deer and her fawn! By this stage dusk had fairly closed upon the lane, and this photo is at the absolute limit of what is possible with my DSLR without a flash or tripod in the dark.



Isn't she beautiful!