Farnboro John
Well-known member
My intention is that this should involve more than Red Foxes this year - though I expect they will still have a significant part to play.... I want to get out and photograph some species I've neglected or which have evaded me for a few years during 2022. Locally I will have time to spend on small mammals and my local Badgers; more distantly its a few years since I managed anything with Chinese Water Deer or Wild Boar. Not to mention rarer mustelids!
2022 didn't quite kick off with my own foxes, mainly because the WWI style bombardment starting at two minutes to midnight scared the living daylights out of Jitter. As he was being supplied with a succession of chicken drumsticks he did his best but one particular series of very loud rockets (he was watching them go up after the first one, my boys and girls don't miss a trick) made him flinch more and more and eventually he made off, hopefully to some refuge where the noise was muffled.
So it was left to an anonymous Red Fox ambling casually along the pavement along Mayfield Road as I headed out at 0610 to pick up Clare to be first four-footed beast on the year list.
During the day we were mainly birding but we had Rabbits on the A3 verge on the way South in the dark, ran across a number of Grey Squirrels in various woodlands and then got really lucky in the afternoon with two winter-coated Fallow bucks - one with really massive antlers - near Eyeworth Pond.
John
2022 didn't quite kick off with my own foxes, mainly because the WWI style bombardment starting at two minutes to midnight scared the living daylights out of Jitter. As he was being supplied with a succession of chicken drumsticks he did his best but one particular series of very loud rockets (he was watching them go up after the first one, my boys and girls don't miss a trick) made him flinch more and more and eventually he made off, hopefully to some refuge where the noise was muffled.
So it was left to an anonymous Red Fox ambling casually along the pavement along Mayfield Road as I headed out at 0610 to pick up Clare to be first four-footed beast on the year list.
During the day we were mainly birding but we had Rabbits on the A3 verge on the way South in the dark, ran across a number of Grey Squirrels in various woodlands and then got really lucky in the afternoon with two winter-coated Fallow bucks - one with really massive antlers - near Eyeworth Pond.
John