From my window

 I havn't had much to do for the past few weeks with the restrictions and weather limiting my movements. I have found myself concentrating on garden visitors. As you are aware Junior the fox is a regular visitor during the night. One afternoon much to my surprise I looked out of my window and the in the long grass was Junior having a nose around. I had reports from my neighbours that they had seen him in daylight but sitting in my garden is another matter. I think I can look forward to some interesting pictures.

Seasons Greetings

 

Fox party

It has been quiet for the past couple of nights due to a lot of fog. The camera would not work very well through the fog in fact I got nothing but shadows. Last night was better and I got these pictures. Firstly Junior turned up and tucked into the food and was joined a little later by his friend.

They are good pals and get on very well together. There is another fox that calls but is not liked by these two and is rarely seen

They were in and out of the garden for several hours. They were last recorded at 4.30am  having arrived at 10.10pm  so had spent most of the night here.
 

Routine change

Since we put the clocks back the fox has changed his routine. He usually called just after ten in the evening which suited me fine, I could get a few pictures before bed.

He has now changed his routine and rarely comes before two in the morning so I have reverted to my I/R camera's. This suits me because there are signs of a visiting badger.

So I am doing a bit of practice on the foxes so I can make a success of the badger when it calls.

In the meantime I will have to be content with Junior lazing about on the grass.
 

My question answered

 More than two years ago I noticed a drop in the number of creatures visiting my garden. I did a survery of all my local spots and found the same thing happening. Nobody else seemed to have noticed this. Not being so active these days I just look after my garden creatures. Then a few weeks ago I read in the local paper that a water company had been releasing toxic waste into local rivers etc. with devastating results. The company has been fined £90,000,000 not that it will do much good, their customers will end up paying it and it will take years for the waterways to recover. In the meantime the wildlife will suffer horrendously.  I shall make sure there is a fresh water supply as well as food in my garden.

 I shall have to get Junior to spread the word where they can feed and drink safely. As you can see he is well fed and healthy. He calls every evening before midnight and sometimes brings a friend.

Midnight caller

I know you have seen him before but he is getting so friendly and reliable and is a great comfort for me. I now have to use a walking stick which is a great handicap when using my camera. So to sit in my room and have this creature visit is something special. This picture was taken at about 0100hrs this morning and at my age I prefer to be nice and snug indoors.
 

Well I never

I looked out of my bedroom window the other night to see if anything was happening and I saw Junior laying on the grass enjoying a biscuit, I turned away tp get my camera and another fox arrived.

Obviously a friend of Juniors because they settled down and had the rest of the biscuits together and spent the next hour or so enjoying each others company.
 

Garden tidy up

 We allowed the garden to become a little wild in order to give a little more of a friendly feeling towards our wildlife. Yesterday we spent alot of time tidying, weeding and cutting the grass etc. and generally getting the place ready for winter and then the new year.

One of the foxes came into the garden early, got scared when it saw how clean and tidy it was and ran off as quickly as it could. An hour later Junior wandered in and stood and admired the scene before having a snack of biscuits and trotting off home.

Foxes again

It has been very quiet with the foxes for some time, calling well after I had gone to bed each night. On my birthday last week two of them turned up and enjoyed some food and a rest in my garden so that was a nice little birthday present for me. As usual this shot was taken through my bedroom window.
 

Don't know what I'd do without my foxes

I really don't know what I would do without my foxes. The birds have disappeared from the village, I can no longer walk far so the local woodland is out of the question but the foxes visit me every evening without fail.

They are all getting used to me and if they here the click of my camera they just glance in my direction and carry on with what they are doing.

This one is standing in the corner by the road as a car goes by the other side of the hedge but it doesn't bother it. It knows it is safe this side. All these pictures are taken after dark through my bedroom window, no flash is used, just the light from a street lamp.
 

New fox

I noticed a little movement at the bottom of the garden late last night and spotted this youngster. He saw me looking at him through the window and quickly left.

I looked round the garden and saw Junior tucking in to evening meal. I then realised the youngster was the animal that Junior was feeding but had brought it along to feed itself. I have waited a couple of months for this event. I am now looking forward to getting some good pictures in the near future.
 

More fox pictures

I am still working on improving the quality of my night pictures with the help of Junior who visits me about the same time every evening. These were taken with a 300mm lens with a two times converter setting equalling a 600mm lens f2.8 at 1/6th of a second. I think there is a great improvment.

It is unbelievable looking in the viewfinder and just seeing shadows and getting results like these.

I am now investigating ways of  recording more detail and and so making the pictures sharper. These pictures were taken earlier this evening around 2200hrs. Well dark.
 

Back with the foxes

The foxes are still regular callers. This is Junior he calls at dusk for his evening meal. He starts by gathering food for his family, takes it home then returns to feed himself.

If he is disturbed during his visit, like a car rushing by, the road is just the other side of the hedge, he will not run away he will just wait for a few minutes in the long grass until it quietens down.

He will then continue his meal.

When he has finished he will sit and enjoy his surroundings sometimes staying for more than an hour before going about his business.
 

Fox keeps me going

Junior calls just after night fall every night without fail. He comes into the garden through a gap in the hedge. He stands for a moment to check it is safe for him.

He then picks up mouthfulls of biscuits and trots off to feed his family.

Returning sometime later he tucks in himself and then has a rest while watching passing people and traffic the other side of the hedge.

When it gets a bit too noisey with people returning from the pub he will lie in the long grass under the fruit trees. He never runs away, I think he feels protected in my garden. I look forward to his visits as I do not get out much anymore it makes me feel satisfied that I am doing my bit for nature.
 

Foxes again

Taking care of Jacque's health problems over the years has not been very stressful but now I have reached the age were everything is hard going so having to limit my energy expenditure I am glad I have these animal friends that visit me especially when I am relaxing indoors. The above picture is of Junior relaxing after supper about midnight.

He is getting a bit cheeky, when I put the food out one night as I walked back to the house I turned to see him following me. He stopped and I took this picture.

This is a new kid on the block, one that I have never seen before. I have recorded six animals over the past year and I think that there is some youngsters on the way.
 

Foxes keeping me busy

I think that I have reached the limit of my experimenting. These three pictires were all taken between 2200hrs and midnight on different nights. There is of course the help of a street lamp but still would be impossible without the settings I have on my camera.

This is mum collecting food for her offspring. I have seen one but it was too quick for my camera. You can't get a picture of a speedy animal at 1/5sec. Its just a blur.

This is a new kid on the block. One that I havn't seen before.
 

Still keeping track

Still keeping track of the foxes in my garden but nothing seems to be happening yet. Coming in at about 2200hrs every evening collecting mouthfuls of bicuits to feed the youngsters with.

One cub came in once but it was quickly ushered away before I had chance to get a picture. Better luck next time.
 

Foxes in the dark

I am begining to master my camera in different ways during darkness.  This one was taken on my normal night set up. This is fine as long as the subject is perfectly still.

This one was taken in moonlight with the help of a nearby street lamp. I revert to mono when it is as dark as this. Again the subject must be perfectly still. Shutter speed is 1/25th of a second at an ISO of 25600 on a 350mm 2.8 lens. and taken through my bedroom window. There, given all my secrets away.
 

Fox update

The foxes are still regular visitors collecting mouthfulls of biscuits for their youngsters.

They arrive after dark so I prefer to shoot in mono, I think I get better resolution in the photo's.

The light varies a bit because o passing cars but this does not seem to upset the foxes.

In fact most of the time passing cars are ignored.

Well most of the time. I am now patiently waiting for the family to come to dinner.
 

Fox pair

This is the pair of foxes that come to dinner most evenings. On the left is Mum and on the right is Junior. Junior has been around for several years and was only a few months old when he first appeared. Mum has had young in the past few months  and I am not yet discovered whether Junior is the Dad.

Mum is quite used to me and when I appear at my window she is not bothered and will look and then carry on with whatever she is doing. I know there are youngsters somewhere as Mum often runs off with a mouthful of biscuits, then comes back later for more.

Both of these pictures were taken after dark and lit by a street lamp some 10m away.
 

Getting better

With my night photography I am now using colour as I am now mastering the controls better. These pictures show the fox behind the hedge about 10m away from a street lamp. This is the scene I see through the viewer but see nothing but shadows with the naked eye.

If the subject is in a good position there is not much difference to the norm. The only problem is the high grain of the picture but for the record I cannot fault it.

Mono is good and so easy to get good results. These pictures were taken after mid-night with just the light of a near-by street lamp.  These were taken at 1/8sec. at 256000asa. Its a different world.