And two shots from this evening. She was only in the garden for a few minutes, but it's about a week since I'd last seen the bold vixen. There are still signs of a slight limp, but nothing as severe as it had been, and she was able to jump down and use the 'weaker' leg for landing.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D. The deer were photographed with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. I used the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM and Canon 430EX flash unit for the vixen.
It's raining heavily right now, but this morning the skies were blue and the sun bright. I headed for the fields near work. The yellowhammers were once again busy in the tree tops, flitting busily up and down along the fringe of woodland that runs along the path between the fields. Yellowhammer
I'd gone in search of the roe deer. They weren't in the higher field, but on my way back to the car I spotted an 'inconsistency' along the hedgerow on the far side. The sun was facing towards me, and the shapes were difficult to discern against the dark shade. A little Photoshop work was needed to bring this shot up to scratch. Roe deer
At lunchtime it was still bright, but cooler than I'd anticipated. I must remember that winter sunshine is deceptively weak. Some rooks were out in the fields, but mainly it was quiet. The cattle have been moved to new pastures. The trees have shed their leaves as winter approaches. Downland scene
As I was nearing the brow of the hill, two birds came into view. Low down, on the grass. A pair of partridges.
I watched as they crossed the path and disappeared behind the distant slope. Red-legged partridge
I'm still monitoring nightly activity via the trail cam. The badger has been back, and early this morning an inquisitive squirrel was chasing birds. This clip though is from a couple of nights ago, and shows two of the foxes interacting.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D and EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
For a couple of days I was worried. The bold vixen had seemingly vanished. No sightings in the evening, and nothing of her on the trail cam. She's fine though, and for the past two nights has been back in the garden. These photos were taken this evening. I used the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens (which I picked up from the repair shop today). The flash was dialed down to 1/4 for most of the shots. Aperture was f/10. Click on any photo to enlarge it.
There are often pheasants out in the local fields. Usually at some absurd distance that makes them nearly impossible to photograph even with a 400mm lens. So I'm not sure who was more surprised when I came across a pair early this morning. They soon scuttled off into the cover of the woods, but not before I'd taken a few quick photos. The second pheasant is in the top right of the image
Scuttling away
The one bird I can guarantee to see is a robin which dominates the prime site at the corner of the road and path. He was singing brightly again today. Robin
A jay flew past, as did a sparrowhawk (that was a 'missed opportunity' as I was putting the camera away). The goldfinches were also out in force, sitting in small clouds of insects looking for easy pickings. Goldfinch
Back home, Bold caught me out and was in garden when I went to set up the trail cam. I'm not sure whether any of this will be on camera but she was very curious to see what I'd left on the ground and spent a minute or so investigating the torch and cam. The Bold Vixen Investigates Camera note: all shots taken withthe Canon 40D. The birds were all captured with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. The vixen was photographed with the EF70-300mm 4.5-5.6 DO IS lens and Canon 430EX flash unit.
Most of my wildlife watching this weekend was from the wheel of a car (that's the one time I don't have a camera at the ready, so no photos of the buzzards or kestrels that hug the fringes of the A23). But there was a low sun over the garden when we got back today, and a greenfinch was feeding on the mousebird-feeder. Greenfinch
Overhead the gulls were circling, watching for predatory intruders. A kestrel flew by, but too far for more than a reference shot. The gulls proved better subjects as they came in to land on neighbouring rooftops. Gull
The garden is relatively quiet at the moment, though the frogs are more in evidence at the moment. I think they may be politely requesting that I clear some leaves from the surface. Frog
And a garden (well this garden) isn't complete without a fox. The Bold Vixen
The weather forecast looks promising, and with the reversion to GMT the light should be that much better early in the morning for a few weeks more. I hope it stays clear. Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 40D. The birds were both taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. The frog and fox were photographed with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens and Canon 430EX flash unit.
Leaping deer
Leaping deer
The Bold Vixen
WIDGETIZE