Everything is Permuted

This was going to be just about foxes, of which more in a moment, but earlier this evening I came across a juvenile crow at Rottingdean Beach which takes pride of place in today's blog. I've seen crows sporting one or two white feathers, but never one with such extensive white feathering as this youngster.

White crow





As for the foxes, things have suddenly become active again. I caught some great activity on the trail cam overnight. There are four foxes in it. First up is 'Stumpy' the male fox with a truncated brush. He stayed for about 8 minutes grazing on peanuts and sultanas. Later, Bold showed up with two of her cubs. They had something of a riotous time, staying in the garden for around an hour. The clips give a flavour of their activities. Of course, being between 5.00am and 6.00am, I saw none of this.



I did see Bold tonight though. She stopped by for about half an hour (without cubs). She seems to have picked up an injury to her left eye (you can also notice it in the video if you look carefully). She also encountered a hedgehog, and took a close look at the trail cam (it's the first time she's seen me place it out there). She was calm, unbothered by the injury, and seemingly just looking for a bit of peace and quiet.

Relaxing

The bold vixen with a hedgehog

Investigating the trail cam

Close up of her injured eye

It's impossible to know how she got the injury, but foxes are more than mildly accident prone. She wasn't worrying it or scratching (good sign), and in this shot it appears to be the lid that is swollen. In all other respects she looked well, and her brush is beginning the thicken out again.

Camera note: crow photos taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. All the fox pictures were taken with the EF 24-105 F4L IS USM lens.

It's always a bit of a debate where to head for at the weekend. There's the coast with the fulmars and oystercatchers; or the valley with its wide array of birds; and the downs more generally with sheep and cattle. Today, we headed for the valley where the skylarks were abundant, singing loudly as they played out their distinctive vertical flight and hover. It's a great location for them (they like to nestle in the long grass) and if you can spot them on the wing (tiny dots high in the sky) and listen closely, you can time their descent by their song. Basically they run out of puff! Or that's how it appears to me. The singing gets stretched, weakens, and they then slowly descend back to earth. Listening closely allows you time to get near the landing spot.
Skylark on the wing

Skylark landing

Skylark preparing to take off again

There were many other birds around, including linnets, starlings, whitethroats and blackcaps, wheatears, and crows and magpies. The kestrels were about, but not near enough to worry the camera.

There were plenty of rabbits though. Most were in typical poses, sunning themselves and then running for cover... This is the way I like to see them.
Rabbit

Run rabbit... run

Unfortunately as well as the numerous young bunnies, there were a number of rabbit corpses around and evidence that we have another outbreak of myxomatosis. While most of the local population seemed unaffected, there were more than a few rabbits showing the distinctive and distressing signs of disease. I took some photos but I don't feel that I want to post them here. I'll make do with one of the more natural outcomes (and it's a more distant shot), since it's the first time I've seen a carrion crow actually demonstrating how it got its name.
Carrion crow with rabbit corpse

And if disease doesn't make life hard enough for the rabbits, there's always the risk of predators. This next series of shots was taken over a period of 9 seconds. We were in a quiet part of the valley when a male fox poked his head out of the thick undergrowth. He stared, and then turned slightly...
















And then he was gone... It was quick (very quick). Much quicker than when I came across a stoat doing much the same a year or so ago. The time from the the second to the final shot is just two seconds.

Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens. I used a Manfrotto 685B Neotec monopod and 234RC tilt head for all of them, with the exception of the flight shot.

A short sequence - taken from too far away - of a buzzard being chased by a crow.






The crow was definitely the victor in this encounter with its much larger competitor for carrion. The buzzard eventually gave up and took shelter in the trees.



Not all animals are as difficult to spot. Indeed some love the camera. This pretty horse trotted over to the fence as I was walking past, and all but insisted on being photographed. I was happy to oblige.





Back at home, the foxes are still being evasive, the hedgehog is making regular forays across the garden, and the tadpoles are finally swimming free.
Tadpole

Camera note: all daytime shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens. The tadpole was photographed with the Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro lens.