Everything is Permuted

Tales of a South Downs fox... and other ramblings

A new visitor to the garden (and some old friends)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 11:07:44 PM

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I had a surprise this morning when I looked outside. There was something large attacking the bird feeder. It seems that one of the local squirrels has discovered our garden. As far as I can recall this is the first time I've seen a squirrel in the garden. A year or so ago I caught a brief glimpse of one in a neighbouring garden, but for some reason (an over abundance of foxes perhaps) they've kept their distance until now. So that's another creature to keep watch for out there, to add to the foxes, wood mice and occasional hedgehog. Plus of course the birds which now flock to the seed feeders. It can get quite busy out there at times!





The wood mouse was back again tonight. I've been worried about this little one as a couple of weeks ago it showed up with its tail in a frightful state. It seems fine now and the wounds (probably inflicted by another wood mouse - they fight among themselves apparently) are healing nicely.





To complete the collection mammals for today, the young fox was back again.

Caught in the actA most surprising development (fox news)

Comments

Uncle MickMickeyjoe-Irl Wednesday, September 12, 2007 11:48:36 PM

lol They way that mouse peeks around the side of the feeder always cracks me up.

Adele BrandSittingFox Thursday, September 13, 2007 3:35:49 AM

Lovely pictures! Hope the squirrel doesn't eat you out of house and home. The big Nuttery feeders (the ones in cages) seem to more or less squirrel proof - they're able to get the tops off, but that's it - but I'm dubious about some of the other ones. I once had an RSPB squirrel-proof feeder that survived less than half an hour bigeyes

Mark JonesFlying Red Fox Blog Thursday, September 13, 2007 7:38:00 AM

Nice Squirrell:D They look less plump than the ones in the park lol:P

Good to see the woodmouses tail getting better, they can survive this kind of thing, when i had Gerbils, one got its tail caught in the lid and it came right off! He was ok though, but their tail never grows again so it becomes stumpy, all i have to do is make sure it didnt get infected, they squeak like mad though! Its a defence against predators i think.

Nice to see the Fox again, your garden is very busy lol:D I wonder what Roofy is up to these days.

Words Thursday, September 13, 2007 8:02:16 PM

Mickeyjoe, you're so right. Other than when occasionally I can get a clear shot in the tree, those are my favourites. It's his eating position, so he's usually got a piece of nut in his hand.

Adele, so far so good. It the greedy greenfinches that are eating us out of house and home. They empty the upright seed feeder in a day. The squirrel is still investigating, but was back this morning.

Mark, I'm not surprised they're a bit skinnier. They have to work for their food. Park squirrels have it easy wink Must have been a shock for the gerbil (and for you yikes) when its tail came off. I'm glad it recovered. I hadn't thought about defence against predators but it makes sense. As for the foxes we've not seen Roofy for a while. He may have found somewhere quieter to live. It's been like Piccadilly Circus out there lately.

Loiscakkleberrylane Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11:55:46 AM

Beautiful photos, as always. Very happy bunch of animals you have there!

Words Tuesday, September 18, 2007 9:29:55 PM

Thanks Lois. They seem pretty contented. The new feeders have brought more life into the garden. smile

Chthoniidchthoniid Thursday, September 20, 2007 8:04:03 PM

Great night pictures- what lens are you using for the wood-mouse? Does the mouse let you get reasonably close?

Words Thursday, September 20, 2007 9:14:53 PM

Brendan, I'm fairly sure those were taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM, but I have resorted to the macro lens on occasion.

Yes I was reasonably close! On a good night I'm within about 2 feet of the mouse. Sometimes it scampers off after one or two shots, but if it's in a good mood I can wander round the feeder and it doesn't seem to mind the camera at all. Mostly I set the camera to ISO 100, crank the flash down almost as far as it will go. I shoot at around f/9 or f/10 and between 1/125-1/200sec depending on how far away I am. The main difficulty is not blowing out the highlights smile

Chthoniidchthoniid Friday, September 21, 2007 3:42:42 AM

Thanks- you looked like you got close to the mouse. I can see the value of having a macro lens for these shots too. Flash photography is a real art-

- so , how many lenses do you own now? smile

Words Friday, September 21, 2007 6:34:05 AM

Just the four lenses:
EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS
EF 24-105 F4L IS USM
EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS
Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro

What I really need to explore next are extenders and such like.

Chthoniidchthoniid Friday, September 21, 2007 7:18:36 AM

smile I wonder how many people who own 1-2 lenses would regard that as 'just' 4 lenses smile

Are you thinking of expanding your macro shots with the extenders?

Confession time- I own 6 lenses, and am pondering number 7... wink

Loiscakkleberrylane Friday, September 21, 2007 11:38:35 AM

In the days of the old film cameras, I did a lot of astronomical photography and had a 400mm lens. It was adequate, but my dad gave me a doubler effectively making it 800mm. Excellent quality for the money!

Words Friday, September 21, 2007 10:25:23 PM

The four lenses is getting close to what I can use, but I can see me adding over time. A true wide angle lens, a 5:1 macro maybe, but maybe tubes for the macro and an extender for the 100-400 will be a much cheaper route for the moment. Plus I must think seriously about a low level tripod. And someone to lug it all around for me!

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