2020 - My garden

With the poor weather conditions and seeming to have less time since retirement, I decided to try the wildlife in my garden.

28th January. I have seen 2 woodpeckers, a male and female, frequenting the feeders we have around the garden. I heard one of the woodpeckers in the garden, so dashed to get my camera and managed to photograph this female who came onto the feeder near the house. The yellow background is a variegated holly we have at the bottom of the garden. They are favouring the flutter butter and suet blocks, but also like the peanuts.

28th January. We also have frequent visits from a flock of long-tailed tits, so was intent on photographing them. This one obliged by posing on the stick for a few seconds before feasting on some flutter butter and flying off. The light in the garden is not great with the best time to photograph the birds being late morning/noon.

7th February. Still intent on photographing these beautiful little birds, who frequent the feeders but are very fast and don't settle on the perches for long. The light was good on this day though.

8th February. This tit came very close to the house, almost too close for my lens.

8th February. I was excited to see the nuthatch come close too, but he was there for just a second before flying off, not enough time to get a decent photo.

26th February. The starlings frequently come to our garden and are gregarious birds, but in the right light their feathers are beautiful.

12th March. I was very excited to see this blackcap in the garden on the feeders. At one time I saw 2 males and 1 female. At least one of them is a daily visitor and spends a lot of time feeding on the suet blocks.

28th March. I was so excited to see these cubs on my trail cam last night. I knew their den was under our shed but did not know if the cubs were even born, let alone old enough to venture out of their den. At first I thought there were 5, but then counted 7 cubs.

I can't wait for these to venture further afield into the garden. Hopefully I will see them playing in the garden and I will attempt to photograph them.

6th April. Unfortunately over a period of about a week, 6 dead cubs were found in our garden and neighbours gardens and the foxes appeared to move out of the den under our shed. I did see some disturbing behaviour on the camera and looked like one of the foxes probably killed them (not the dad, who was very attentive to the cubs). This was very upsetting and I gave up any hope of seeing any cubs this year, although I did see the adults around still.

28th April. I set up the trail camera to try and capture some hedgehogs. Instead of a hedgehog I saw the adult foxes and a cub move in under the shed again. I was very excited and put the camera out again the following night and this time saw 2 cubs :). The situation this time appeared much more positive and I saw some lovely behaviour with the adults grooming the cubs and also playing just outside the den. I assume there must have been 8 cubs in total, with just the 2 surviving.

30th April. I was sitting in the conservatory and suddenly spotted the dog fox in the garden at 4.30pm. I dashed to get my camera and attempted to photograph him. He didn't stay still for long, so more patience required, but managed to get a couple of photos.

3rd May - Plenty of action and wonderful behaviour to watch with the fox family at the bottom of our garden still. Last night I decided to leave a tennis ball strategically placed to see what happens. This is some of the action.

11th May - The fox cubs are starting to venture away from their den at the bottom of the garden, occasionally seen on the lawn. I started to stake out in the house in the hope of photographing them. Unfortunately, the light is not great in our garden of an evening, so not easy to get a decent shot, but loved watching them. It looks like a couple of the adult foxes have a sore eye, possibly an infection. I contacted The Fox Project for advice and they recommended a homeopathic remedy, which I have ordered.

13th May - Didn't see the cubs last night until after dark, but today they came out early. Light still not great, but still a cute moment. Will need to move the plant pots for future photos!

14th May - Weather hot and still in lockdown, although restrictions are beginning to be lifted. Thankfully we have a nice garden with lots of wildlife in to occupy us. Here is a photo of a blue tit in the azalea bush.

18th May - Eye treatment arrived a few days ago but it does seem the problems they have with their eyes is improving. Another of the dog fox, but unfortunately, it looks like the family have moved out from under our shed again. I have seen the adults since, but no sign of the cubs. I hope they are ok

26th May - The dog fox and the vixen are in the garden every day but no signs of the cubs during the day. However, I have seen brief glimpses of them on the trail camera and occasionally seen them in our neighbours garden, so they seem to be ok but further afield. I suspect our garden was too busy for them and that is why they moved the cubs.

15th June - The dog fox comes every day any time from 6.00pm but also the vixen is beginning to come often too. Last night the young foxes are doing well and beginning to come to our garden around 10.00pm. I see them playing in our neighbours garden all the time and think their den is nearby. One night I left a tennis ball in the garden to see if it tempted the cubs, but the vixen seem to have more fun with it.

18th June - I spotted the dog fox sleeping in our neighbours garden and attempted to photograph him. I think he knew I was there

19th June - I put a box out every night to feed the hedgehogs. It is designed to keep out larger animals allowing the hedgehogs to eat the food. Or so I thought! The young fox somehow managed to get into the box, eat the food and turn around in it to get out. There is a partition in the box but he still manages to get at the food. Unfortunately, I found a dead hedgehog run over in our road and I have not seen a hedgehog in our garden since. I thought there was more than one, but can't be sure. The foxes used to eat all the food each night so decided to remove the box in case they got stuck in it.

14th August Update. The vixen and at least 1 grown up cub visit most days but in the last week I have not seen the dog fox at all. I have no idea if he is ok or not, or if there are 2 cubs still. The vixen and cub(s) are looking very well and healthy

6th November update. The vixen and dog fox visit daily and look very healthy, often sitting in the garden. I have not put the trial camera out for a while, but at least one cub has done well. I think they were male and female so suspect the male cub would have been pushed out of the territory by now.

April 2021 update. The dog fox, vixen and young female from last years litter have been visiting daily up to now. The vixen hasn’t been seen for a few weeks and was pregnant when I last saw her, so suspect she is in their den with some more cubs. It is thought the den is a few gardens along this year.