Everything is Permuted

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

Fly past

Monday, March 23, 2009 11:50:03 PM

,

A short in-flight sequence.

green woodpecker

green woodpecker

green woodpecker

I grabbed these three frames at lunchtime. The sky was overcast (we had a downpour later in the afternoon), and I'd seen the woodpecker a short way ahead of me. As is their tendency, it took to the wing before I'd even spotted where it had come down to ground level. But for once my luck was in as it flew away from the trees and instead climbed up and over a nearby rooftop.

A frog spawn update is due soon (they are coming along nicely) but for now here's another trail cam of the fox. I'm still using small amounts of food to bring him in line with camera, but I imagine he has plenty of mouths to feed right now. In part of the sequence you can see him caching something for later. The sequences were shot over three nights earlier in the week. I'm still catching up with the past couple of nights or so.

Edit: I've just realized that I posted some of the same footage the other night, so feel free to fast forward to about half-way!


Trail Cam Fox 18-20/3/2009.

Nature Blog Network Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.

Fulmars (re-visited)Foxes in the field

Comments

Loiscakkleberrylane Tuesday, March 24, 2009 12:33:23 PM

Very nice, the way you caught the various position of the woodpecker's wings. The fox at night is really interesting. The hedgehog at the beginning is like a little ghost!

Adele BrandSittingFox Tuesday, March 24, 2009 6:10:07 PM

That is a greyhound of a fox - his legs are thin, his muzzle is thin, and he looks rather tall.

You did well to catch the woodpecker! Lately I've been seeing them and then not seeing them, almost simultaneously rolleyes

Words Tuesday, March 24, 2009 9:13:01 PM

Thanks Lois. Those three frames of the woodpecker cover maybe half a second, so quite a slow wing beat. The trail cam is at least letting me see what goes on at night. The foxes are late night creatures this year.

Words Tuesday, March 24, 2009 9:16:31 PM

Adele, I think the trail cam isn't doing his head justice. It seemed much broader in the few proper shots I've managed. If they start coming round a bit earlier I'll start trying to get real photos. I think his height is due to the camera being quite low down, and a slightly peculiar perspective. But better than nothing which is what I had been managing, and it will let me know if we have any cubs visiting (no signs yet).

Loiscakkleberrylane Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:49:26 PM

Words, just as a matter of interest, what time do your foxes arrive at night? The reason I ask is that we've had something - I thought it was a fox, in fact I was sure it was a red fox. He started coming around about 4:30 or 5pm and took a lot of my chickens. He was even so bold as to jump over a 5 foot fence, grab my little Dovey and took her back over the fence. We saw him the next morning, but my husband thought it was a red wolf.

Words Wednesday, March 25, 2009 12:01:16 AM

Lois, sorry to hear about your chickens sad As for our foxes, the current crop are late nighters (between 11pm and 4am), but in the past we've had them visit at all times, and certainly late afternoon or early evening is possible. They are also out and about early mornings. This time of year they are likely to be hunting food to feed their young (normally born early March), so are probably more active across the hours than usual.

Mark JonesFlying Red Fox Blog Wednesday, March 25, 2009 4:23:23 PM

Very good photos and video bigsmile

Words Wednesday, March 25, 2009 6:07:10 PM

Thanks Mark!

Loiscakkleberrylane Friday, March 27, 2009 2:02:40 AM

Thanks for the information. I don't know that we can do much to discourage him so I'm just keeping the chickens locked up tight.

Words Friday, March 27, 2009 7:16:37 AM

That' s probably all you can do other that put steel mesh at the top of the fencing.

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