My favourite fox

Sometimes he calls round in the daylight but finds the birds have eaten his food.

This little fox has become a real friend. He lays down on the grass outside my bedroom window and waits for me to go to bed. When my bedroom light goes on he jumps up turning the security light on. I throw his biscuits and grapes (which he loves) to him to which he leaps into the air trying to catch one. He then calms down and I talk to him while he eats his supper. He is very regular and comes at about eleven o'clock every night. His family used to come too but he is on his own now.

 

At last.

 Its all happening in the fox world. I was evacuated during World War 2 to a little village in Yorkshire where I lived with a lovely family. The son was the lead singer (Alwyn Fernhead ) of the Radio Revellers. Who were very popular during the war. His father had a government job at a local factory. He was also a brilliant photographer and even at the age of 5 I learned a lot about photography.

We had foxes visit the garden and I got to learn how to treat them. So when I moved to this house over 10years ago I found the knowledge I had gained very useful. Living next to a wood the place was infested with rats. I decided the best way of dealing with the problem was to let nature deal with it with a little help from me.

With a bit of encouragement from me the rats disappeared in a couple of weeks and nothing has been seen since. The foxes won and now have the freedom of the gardens. Some of the family have left but Dad remains and I believe a new family is on the way.

I do hope so, they are a delight to have them visit. I call them and they come, I talk to them and they listen. They no longer run away when I approach them.

There is evidence that red foxes lived with man as a dog.

Fox update

 The foxes have stopped coming. Dad fox has chased last years cubs off so I imagine he has a new family somewhere. He comes round for his evening meal each day with no sign of the rest of the family. He has a favourite biscuit and loves black grapes which he scoffs before the others see them then leaves the rest for the cubs when they arrive a couple of hours later. I am hoping for some new pics soon.

White Red Kite

These are pictures of a bird that you will not see very often. I spent near 20years travelling to Wales to photograph the red kites and I was only able to identify 4 birds.

It is a normal red kite but lacks a substance called melanin in its skin, this puts the red colour into its feathers so I am told. It has no physical defects or handicaps.

This lacking of colour make it into something spectacular when in flight. It is not rejected by normal red kites.

This picture was taken at Gigrin farm, which I visited many times during my younger years.
 

Peregrine

Before Jacque and I ventured into Wales we worked in a friends Bird of Prey centre to gain a bit of knowledge of the birds that we were going to photograph. The birds shown are mainly peregrines.

You would be surprised at what you can learn by just handling the birds.

You really can get to know their ways and it is an experience that I will never forget. Jacque found a way of making friends with a peregrine chick.

Beautiful bird that my camera's will always be ready for.