...and here we go again! But there is a very important difference this time



I've seen five foxes so far today, which given that I usually struggle to find any in the snow is somewhat mind-boggling.

But first, rewind to the morning, when I was nervously making an attempt at getting into London for my day job. The golf course at half six was showing that never-quite-dark glow peculiar to snowscapes, but the train station merely looked cold.



I did take note of the red sky in the morning



The warning perhaps should have been heeded. Unforecasted snow blew through at midday, prompting me to make a mad dash back to Victoria. Even small quantities of snow can disable trains in this part of the world, and after my recent adventures I didn't feel like taking chances.



But the train coped until it reached the North Downs, whereupon it nearly broke down Escaping onto the station, I had some opportunity see just how much these trains and winter weather disagree





They're electric trains that draw their power from a "third rail", which perhaps isn't the most suitable design considering Surrey's hilly landscape and tendency to attract snow. Anyway, the onward car journey, mired in slow traffic on very slippery roads, suddenly took an unexpected twist



A town fox! It seemed quite uncaring of the traffic, which was just as well considering that I only had my 300mm lens with me.



Definitely an excellent bonus But foxes today seem to be bucking the custom of vanishing in snowy weather, or perhaps it is not deep enough yet to interfere with their hunting. Either way, I headed out to the meadows this afternoon in search of others. And there they were!



This fox was unquestionably hunting, travelling back and forth across the meadow...



...and sitting down a lot, as foxes do



This might be a very wintry weekend

I haven't been posting much recently because I've lacking my main wildlife lens, not to mention struggling with extremely short November days. But even if I've been only travelling (or trying to travel!) to London and back, my camera equipment has having adventures. Tamron had to fly a spare part all the way from Japan



It's back. They've cleaned and fixed it, and now of course I need to test it in wilderness conditions

But in the meantime, I have got a few pictures from London. The National History Museum is currently hosting its annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, which is well worth visiting if anyone happens to be near South Kensington. Outside, old is meeting new - a carousel is in the forecourt...



...as is an ice skating rink!



But the nearest fox in sight was in the Victoria and Albert Museum There were two of them, in fact, forming the front corners of a rather unusual table.



Finally, to complete this rather disjointed post, I have been experimenting with the "if you cannot photograph them, draw them" philosophy. Here's a margay, a tiny species of cat from South America



I'm hoping to get some wildlife photos next week. I had a surprise this morning - hearing a tawny owl at 8:30am! The smaller birds, especially the finches, are busy on the garden feeders. There is a decided chill in the air, with snow forecast for the end of this week. Winter is almost here

PS: Opera, please, next time, if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it!