Everything is Permuted

Those of you who read last night's entry will recall that I spent some time waiting for a badger to show up. The camera set-up I used was the 24-105 lens set to manual focus, with a wide aperture and short zoom. Shutter speed was slowed down to about 0.3" and ISO was up at 1600. This is never going to get the best shots, but I want to avoid flash if possible so as not to alarm the new visitor. The whole set-up was planted safely on a tripod and I was using a remote device to trigger the shutter.

After about an hour of standing out in intermittent drizzle (I put a hat on the camera to keep it dry), I was finally rewarded with a visit!!!


But it wasn't a badger. The old dog fox had decided to come on a late night prowl around the garden. Not what I'd intended (but not entirely a surprise either). At least I now have some idea that the technique will work well enough to document a visit should the badger show.

The dog fox was back again this evening, displaying some unusual behaviour. He did the same last night, so clearly this something of a habit. He's taken to attacking the shrubby honeysuckle (a fairly dense shrub) which borders parts of the garden. And I do mean attack.




I've not seen him behave like this before, but I recall that Adele (Sitting Fox) reported similar behaviour by another fox a while ago. I'm certain it was the hedge he was after, by the way, and not something lurking in or under it. He's been known to climb it when hunting, but that wasn't the aim today.

Meanwhile a quick update on bird life. Despite the overcast weather, I had two excellent sightings at lunchtime today. First was a green woodpecker ( ). I got several shots and was able to watch as it flew between the trees. This is a fairly hefty crop, but the line of sight was good, and I was far enough away (and under cover of other trees) to avoid scaring it.



The other sighting was a wren. Now I've seen these before (though not as often as I'd like). The wren is one of our smallest birds, and surprisingly one of the most numerous we have. The trouble with spotting them though is that they tend to flit into heavy shade, shrubs and dense trees. I saw this one in a small area of woodland. Most of the time it managed to hide behind a twig, but eventually I was able to get close enough with a clear view. The shot was taken at 1/250s, F5.6, ISO 800 at a full 400mm zoom. I used a monopod to help avoid camera shake.



Camera note: All fox photos taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens. The birds were captured with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS.