A few days ago, I found a burrow that I thought was a badger one so I set up one of my camera traps. As it turned out, it wasn't a badger sett but actually a fox denn. Some of the footgae from the camera trap we have had already is amazing, with videos of the fox cubs (I believe there is about 5) fighting over food and exploring the area. There will be a few posts from that camera trap out soon, but tonight I walked down to see if I could see the cubs for myself.
Once I got to the denn, I set up and tried to get comfy in a bush a few metres away from the earth. After about two hours, I had my first glimpse of one poke its head out. Even though I knew that the foxes were there, it was still had a sense of something unexpected about it. A few minutes later and more of them appeared. I think they could sense that I was there as they weren't leaving the burrow as bravely as they had been on the camera trap, but there were still a few chances for some brilliant shots. Unfortunatley, the camera was struggling to focus because of the low light so most of the photos werent that good. However, if you keep trying you will eventually get something out of am encounter like this. This was one of the only in focus photos, but the two hour wait in a cold bush was worth it for this phtoto alone. It's my favourite photo I've ever taken of a fox, even better than the one last year. The shot doesnt just have one fox though; it has two:
I can't really put into words how pleased I am with this picture, another one to add to the amazing collection this year. This Spring has been the best few months I think I've ever had wildlife watching and we still have a month left. The shore lark, osprey, red squirrels, roe deer, barnacle geese, wheatear and now this photo of these two fox cubs, all in two months. Stay tuned for more posts on the fox denn, as the camera trap already has and will hopefully continue to capture some more brilliant footage.
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