Category Archives: wildlife

Looking for Foxes 3

Blasdale Home Posted on by

3rd February 2024

Another week of fox hunting. Camera in a slightly different position, hoping to see more investigation by the fox. Plenty of rabbits feeding at night. During the day, a group of starlings came to feast amongst the leaves. There was just one sighting of a fox, she looked to be investigating a home amongst the ready built dens. Still, plenty of time before she has her cubs. Next week the camera has been moved to show a wider view of the likely den area. Let us hope for some foxy pictures.

Looking for Foxes 2

Blasdale Home Posted on by

27th January 2024

Another week by the pond, and not much to report. Plenty of rabbits, a definite need for an AI application to filter them out of the videos. A grey squirrel, an import from the USA, unfortunately it has found the bird feeders now, but has not learnt to climb. A sighting of a Muntjac deer most evenings. One sighting of a Fox.

Looking for Foxes

Blasdale Home Posted on by

20th January 2024

As the new year begins, it is the season for foxes to find a home to raise their young. Next to our field pond, there is a large mound of earth that is friendly to wildlife. Rabbits use it to dig their burrows. In early January, when the weather was sunny, many birds came to feed amongst the fallen leaves. We saw starlings, redwings, fieldfares and garden birds, including a cheeky blue tit that pecked at the camera. We also had many rabbits, a squirrel who luckily has not discovered the bird feeders, and a mouse. The fox visited several times, inspecting the holes. It won’t be long before the rabbits move out for a while when the fox cubs arrive.

Please ignore the date on the camera, the day and time are correct, but the month is wrong. This is January, not March.

Red Kite Taking a Bath

Blasdale Home Posted on by

30th October 2023

With its rufous body, angled wings and forked tail, this majestic raptor is easy to identify. I was lucky enough to spot this Red Kite in our field, doing something unusual. It was splashing in a puddle, bathing itself. It stayed there long enough for me to grab my camera and capture its image and a short video.

Red Kite taking a bath
Red Kite taking a bath
Red Kite taking a bath

The Fox Cubs

Blasdale Home Posted on by

30th June 2023

It has been a long while since I posted a video about our fox cubs. This five-minute video shows the fox cubs still with the Vixen down at our waterhole. The timeline is from mid-end June.

On the waterhole (pond) you can see a pair of moorhens racing around the pond, and preening. In one shot at about 32 seconds in you can see a fox cub on the bank, and the moorhens in the pond.

At 45 seconds in, a Muntjac (?) deer makes an appearance, after which we see a Vixen and her two cubs walking along the bank in the darkness.

During daylight hours, a grey heron comes fishing and catches a small unidentified morsal of food from the pond.

More fox cubs and their mother appear during daylight and darkness, often to come for a drink from the pond.

A Greater Spotted Woodpecker appears at 3.15. It hangs around entertaining us for a few seconds.

Not so nice is Ratty at 4.45.

Finally, a Jay comes for a drink.

The Fox Cubs

Blasdale Home Posted on by

26th May 2023

This week’s fox cub video was a success. The battery did not fail, and I was able to capture footage of three cubs playing and exploring their immediate surroudnings. I moved the camera partway through the week to a lower vantage point, which allowed me to get better shots of the cubs.

There were originally two vixens and six cubs, but this week I saw only three cubs and no vixens. I believe one vixen has moved home. Towards the end of the week, only one cub remained by the den. I believe the other two cubs have begun to explore a larger area. Last year, they were often seen sleeping under the willow trees. There are also many other large holes on this side of the earth mound and the other sides of the mound.

I am eager to receive my new camera trap. The model I ordered is currently on back order, but I am hopeful that it will arrive soon. In the meantime, I will continue to monitor the fox cubs with my current camera.

I am also pleased to report that the rabbits have returned to the area. They were seen exploring the fox den several times this week. I believe the cubs are not a threat to the rabbits. Too small, or ignorant, to hunt?

The Fox Cubs

Blasdale Home Posted on by

19th May 2023

The video of the fox cubs this week was cut short due to camera battery failure. The batteries were depleted quickly due to the high activity during the night. Unfortunately, most of the night-time footage was discarded in favour of the daylight scenes. We have six fox cubs in total, with two vixens and four and two cubs respectively (we think). Although we have seen all six cubs together, only five are visible in this video. Four of them play together while the other two are slightly smaller with darker fur and can be seen together. A fox cub was spotted sunning itself on top of the compost heap. We suspect there may be more fox cubs in the compost heap and we need another camera trap to investigate.

Fox Cub sunning itsef on the compost heap

The Fox Cubs

Blasdale Home Posted on by

12th May 2023

The Fox Cubs continue to grow and flourish. This week I haven’t seen the whole litter of six together, but the younger pair and the older quartet are often active. The older ones still nurse from their mother, who tries to wean them off by bringing them small prey. They pounce on her and suckle whenever they can.

They enjoy wrestling and biting each other. They also venture out in the daylight, playing and making noises.

Two Fox Cubs show themselves

Blasdale Home Posted on by

We have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of this year’s fox cubs, and on the 25th of April we were delighted to catch a glimpse of one cub. The little furball popped out of the den for a few seconds, curious about the world above ground. The next day, we saw two cubs emerge for several minutes, stumbling around on their tiny paws. The video shows how the vixen visits the den regularly to feed her babies. You can also see how the rabbits seem oblivious to the danger lurking nearby. This could prove fatal for them; the previous video shows a fox carrying a rabbit back to its family.

Fox cubs are born blind and deaf, with dark grey fur and floppy ears. They weigh only about 100g at birth. Their eyes open after two weeks and change colour from blue to amber after a month2. Their red fur starts to appear on their face and their muzzle turns white as they grow older. By six to eight weeks, they are weaned from their mother and start to explore outside the den. They are incredibly smart and have a keen sense of sight, hearing, and smell. They are also very adaptable and can survive in a wide range of habitats, from woodland to urban areas. Foxes are social animals and live in loose family groups, sometimes helping each other to raise the next generation.