Fox Cub in Garden (and House!)

Whilst doing some gardening I disturbed a very young Fox cub.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something running towards the house.  At first I thought it was a cat, but it was struggling to run in a straight line so it made me look again as it went straight through the back door.  I went to investigate and couldn't see anything, it had obviously gone into hiding. After a while a beautiful young Fox cub emerged and ran behind a plant.  It eventually peered out so we could get a look at it.

After opening the door it went straight out again and disappeared at the back of the garden.  

Later in the evening we were lucky to find it back on the lawn, this time reunited with the Vixen, and in a playful mood.

Thanks for looking.

A Glut of Gannets...

...Assuming that is the Collective Noun for Gannets. Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire is the place to see and photograph these superb birds which breed in good numbers from March onward.  I arrived on a cold April morning just after dawn. A bitter wind was blasting off the North Sea. The Gannets were everywhere, coming in from fishing sorties, sitting on nests or claiming nesting material from the cliff tops. The weather conditions were ideal for a close encounter; when the wind hits the high cliffs it produces an updraft which the Gannets can steer into and just hang in the air feet away from you, or drop down slowly onto the cliff top to pick up their nesting material.

Thanks for looking.

Wetlands Images

As I haven't posted for a while, here is a catch up of images from London WWT, and a few from Slimbridge, over the last months of winter.


Ring-necked Parakeets:

Cormorants:

Teal & Tufted Duck:

Pintail:

Bank Vole:

Redshank:

Green Sandpiper:

Little Grebe:

Great-crested Grebe:

Lapwing:

Thanks for looking!

Ivory Gull - Winter Wonder

A quick post of a few images from the depths of winter; December's Ivory Gull in East Yorkshire.

Picked up around two miles down the coast, we watched it battle the winds for ten minutes before flying in to feed meters away - a superb experience on a freezing December morning.

Great Yorkshire Diver

Here are a few images of the beautifully plumaged Great Northern Diver that frequented a fishing lake near Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, just before Christmas.  A short diversion off the M1 was worth it as it showed well in a bit of afternoon sun.

Waxwing Returns!

Following the huge influx of Waxwings from Scandanavia during the autumn of 2012, this individual was part of a large flock in Sheffield.  After being disturbed on a busy road it flew straight into the window of an adjacent house.  I took the bird, and after spending the summer in the deep freeze, it is back to something of its former glory.

It has been superbly mounted by talented taxidermist Derek Frampton of Hertfordshire; a nice memory of several sightings of these great birds during last winter.