Evening brings soft hues to the trees and hills and foxes. I rarely have a chance to show foxes on the higher ridges, as a point of reference against the distant haze.



They're not alone up there. Horses...rolling hills...this is the essence of the downlands.





Bird sightings are still high, although the big flocks of finches have broken up now for the summer.

Goldfinch



Jackdaw



In the meadows, foxes rest.



Look carefully - she's lactating! I have seen cubs in this field in previous years. Hopefully this year's brood will be visible too, later on



I have actually seen one cub already this week - a tall one for the time of year, trotting along a residential road. But most of the cubs are still very tiny and won't be venturing out into the world much just yet.

However, some will almost certainly be coming to the garden when they do, regardless of the Chipped Vixen's intentions We've volunteered our garden for the Fox Project to construct a permanent fox rehab pen, which will be used to temporarily house orphaned cubs and injured adults as needs require. Part of the pen is already here, and the Old Dogfox was standing next to the panels quite oblivious to the notion that strange foxes will be entering his domain...soon...

Thoughts of springtime most immediately conjure up colourful flowers and mild blue skies. But of course that is only part of the story, and the rain necessary for all the new growth is falling plentifully right now

But at least it's very mild. It's still below freezing in Ontario right now, though not as cold as it was in January 2007 Here's a wolf story with a happy ending, to counter the Albertan situation I mentioned the other day

Some of you may recall that about a year and a half ago, I mentioned on my blog that the Toronto Wildlife Centre was attempting to rescue a wild wolf pack that had come down with mange. It's one thing to treat the Old Dogfox with ivermectin in the wild, but for wolves it would have been almost impossible. Without treatment, the whole pack would have died. So the centre went livetrapping, and caught two - the alpha female and a subordinate female.



And here is the alpha female being returned to the wild again, fully recovered, about two months later! (Pictures posted with permission - cheers Alex!)





Back here in the cloud and rain, I did have an interesting sighting last night - a tawny owl, and for once I even had the video camera to hand! But, of course, it flew off very quickly

A horse enjoying his breakfast is less of a moving target.



But the goldfinches are much busier I've heard some baby birds calling in hidden nests while out and about but these ones are still building their nest



Also, some tadpoles have appeared in the pond I will try to get presentable pictures of them soon. It's not easy though without a proper macro lens.

Finally, an apology for not updating my blog much this week. Poor weather is one reason; the other is that Alberta wolf stuff and a few other things have been all consuming

Edit 16th March

Just to emphasise my point about the weather, the Old Dogfox is still drenched through!

...and a hoot, if I may start with mention of a great sighting from last night Tawny owls are much easier to hear than see, and I was startled and delighted to find one perched on a telephone cable at about 8pm yesterday Of course, I didn't have the movie camera with me (or my DSLR, but a still picture would have been out of the question in that light) but I will certainly search for it again. I've found in the past that owls are often quite faithful to their favourite hunting perches, even when peering curiously at cars driving underneath!

The weather has taken a dramatic turn for the better I took this on Tuesday but a cloudy relapse in midweek has now been replaced with pleasant, mostly clear skies.



That compelled me to search for green woodpeckers again yesterday...



...and their great spotted cousins were noisy when I went out soon after dawn this morning. I was hoping for meadow foxes, but fox number one was racing about a residential road dotted with college students who were heading for the bus stop I heard a "wo-wo" bark in the distance so perhaps it was looking for its mate. I had barely recovered from that when, walking up the lane between the horse paddocks, I looked up to see a big roe deer standing in the road ahead! It leapt gracefully over a wooden fence into a garden before I could get a picture.

But the athletic theme was taken up by fox number two! This fox has a distinctive mark (ex-mange?) on its face and I have seen it in a variety of locations, which gives me a rare chance to glean information about local fox territory size. I've never got a great shot of it, but this is probably the clearest (from 19th December).



But this morning it performed a feat that I would not have thought possible See those holes in the fence? They are about five inches high and five inches wide, and evidently, no problem for a leaping fox!



I'm glad it didn't leap over the wire itself; I would dearly love to see that dreadful stuff banned, as it's not uncommon for foxes get themselves entangled in it In any case, it did a good impression of being in a tearing hurry...



...but that didn't prevent it from yawning in mid-flight and marking several tussocks as he fled!

But the most extraordinary leaping this morning grew out of the most normal domestic animal encounter! I choose to walk down down a metre-wide path between two heavily grazed horse paddocks. Seeing a fair sized black horse to my right, I tried to beckon him over - I've always liked black horses He didn't respond, but the huge horse on the left did



At first he was content to take some grass from me and nuzzle my camera view screen (which now needs to be cleaned ) But as the black one came over too, things sparked rather out of hand! They both leaned across the path just in front of me and engaged in mock-biting with each other. The righthand horse huffed and tossed his head and tried to poke Kelly (who, good though she is with horses, didn't exactly appreciate it!) Suddenly both erupted violently and galloped back and forth down their respective sides of the fence, keeping perfect time with each other! It was like standing in the middle of a busy road with trucks whizzing past on both sides

Much head-tossing, hoof-stamping, more galloping.







A very impressive sight, almost like being caught in the centre of a stampede, or jousting tournament , although often too close for me to get with the Tamron, and I didn't have the movie camera or a smaller lens with me.

The Old Dogfox was in the garden when I finally got home and he looked the picture of tranquility in comparison.



He is hobbling a little, probably a strain from a squabble over the breeding season. One-Eye was back in his usual spot by the hedge last night and the SV is paying fleeting visits again; I thought I saw the Chipped Vixen too a couple of nights ago. Hopefully the unpredictability of the last fortnight is now at an end.