Foxy Update

[Grandad]

I think I mentioned that sometime last year a group of around 6 local foxes dispersed leaving just one pair. We have not got to know this pair as yet but they have cubs which are about a month old now. Both animals now search for food and I am getting some IR clips of them with the camera. I recently mentioned that my rear sentry light went on the blink so I only have IR at present.
Here is a short selection from just recently. Hoping to catch sight of the cubs soon and then in May/June we may see them during the daytime.

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[LovelyLadyLux]

Great film clip! This pair definitely looks to be in really good shape. Lovely coats on them.

Hopefully you'll get some shots of the cubs soon

[Grandad]

PS: I forgot to say, turn your sound on and you can hear the vixens submissive sounds. She also has her tail held low which is another submissive sign....

[Horus]

Nice job Grandad now get that light fixed

[Kiya]

Good job on the video, hope to see the cubs soon

[Grandad]

still not seen any sign of any cubs. As the weather has warmed up, the wildlife in general has been very active. We have occupants in one bird box, not yet sure if it is Blue or Great tit. I had not been able to clean out the box from last year but I expect they had a tidy up

Here is a little clip of some activity the last couple of days.

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[LovelyLadyLux]

Terrific video and photos. The birds sure do seem to congregate around the bird bath and seems the white/black birds were giving the squirrel a hard time.

Hopefully you MIGHT get albino squirrels again. Loved seeing those ones.

What are the white/black birds? Crows? or? We don't have those here.

The fox is looking quite good and healthy. Hopefully you'll get some good shots of the kits once they're introduced to you

[Grandad]

LLL, they are Magpies, members of the Crow family. This is the brief RSPB description of them:

"With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers, and a green gloss to the tail. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades - scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers, their challenging, almost arrogant attitude has won them few friends. Non-breeding birds will gather together in flocks".

I think they are lovely birds although noted as scavengers, egg stealers, and young chick takers. They are actually a threat to small birds particularly song birds......but I still like 'em. Eh!

[Kiya]

Lovely video Grandad you do have a variety of birds enjoying the bird bath................hope you manage to see somes cubs soon.

[Horus]

Nice clear video and pictures Grandad I am not that keen on Magpies, we have lots around where I live and I agree that they do harm other birds especially the smaller ones by pillaging nests and taking young.

LLL, as they are often seen in large numbers, if you count them there is a nusery rhyme that goes:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird,
You must not miss

They were once considered as ill omens and some early rhymes go like this:
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth
Three for a funeral,
Four for birth
Five for heaven
Six for hell
Seven for the devil, his own self

[Grandad]

HaHa! Yes H, I remember the rhymes about magpies. I like them because I find the black and white with the iridescent blues in the black plumage striking. They are terrible scavengers though. If I put out some meaty chunks dog food they are there first to get their share.

Another 'crow' that we get a lot of are the Daws (or Jackdaws).There are a couple in the vid with their smooth neck plumage and beady eyes.

My cheap field camera is not very good when in IR but it does very well in normal light.

[Horus]

I dislike them because they are so persistent and like all members of the crow family they are very intelligent. I have even had them sitting on the top of my Blue-tit nest box hoping to get inside it and have seen them raid a pigeons nest and keep coming back and taking the chicks until they were all gone even though they were the size of large day old chickens. I really do put down the decline of our native birds to when it was made illegal to shoot magpies and crows on farmland and elsewhere.

[LovelyLadyLux]

We don't have "magpies" here although from Grandad's photos, to me, their colours are an interesting contrast.

It is also too bad they're scavengers and pillage other birds nests. Not good and H is probably right that they're accounting for some of the decline in other species.

NEVER hear that rhyme before either.

[Mad Dilys]

In the nearly 4 years that I've been in Cardiff, I've seen a Sparrow once, two long tailed Tits and lots of Jackdaws, Magpies and Seagulls in my garden.

When I came back from my extended holiday, the first thing I noticed was an invasion of weeds between the paving stones in my very small front garden. Then I noticed that the invading moss had been torn out in clumps - Hurrah! Blackbirds!

I have seen Mr and Mrs Blackbird working in the back garden too......... what I haven't seen are any snails or slugs! Hurrah and Hurray!

[Horus]

I get lots of Blackbirds and Bluetits nest in my tree box, I have a little Jenny Wren that flits about in my Ivy covered fencing. House Sparrows used to be very common when I was young, but I hardly ever see any now days, the one I really miss are the Thrushes that used to keep my shelled snails under control, sitting on his 'anvil' bashing seven bells out of the snail shell to get inside it.

[Grandad]

Now you mention it H. we get blackbirds, blue and great tits, robins magpies and jackdaws; but this year I have not seen a thrush. We do get sparrows and other smal birds but in the past thrushes have been among the regular visitors. Very strange.

BTW, have you been watching Springwatch. I think it is very good this year with so many raptor nests and chicks, and so much more.

[Horus]

Yes I watch Spring Watch

[Mad Dilys]

My daughter's home is almost surrounded by scrub and trees, which by the birdsong are alive with males staking out their territory. Several blackbirds are in evidence and lots of Little Brown Birds speed about.

The most obvious birds are Flycatchers and Wagtails which seem to thrive and are quite bold.

Oh, and the Buzzards overhead, mustn't leave them out.

From the beginning of May fires in the open, like campfires and bonfires are banned because of the risk to the woodland in dry weather - none the less the firefighting helicopters which have to scoop up water from the sea and dump it on forest fires work in the winter too. The damage to the wildlife is a very serious problem.

It's so sad to see the hillsides with blackened stumps and little else after a fire. Of course the roots were holding the slopes together so now very quickly drystone retaining walls are erected.
There are firebreaks, but still in the summer the helicopters are busy.

[Horus]

It seems to be a catch 22 situation with wild fires, if they keep putting them out it just builds up a bigger fuel source for the next time. I see that in some countries they now have a policy of allowing them to burn out unless it is threatening lives.

[Mad Dilys]

On Ibiza there is nothing left but stumps which are quickly removed and the slopes supported by these lovely drystone walls.

In the last few years I have noticed old, very old and not very productive trees being grabbed out and replaced. Altogether looking cared for and productive with the firewood in demand for domestic use.

The garden centres are full of big old Olive trees which have been carefully pruned and put in large containers.

I saw one in a container 9 feet in diameter, maybe 12 feet high and priced at....................25,000 Euros!