Red Foxes at St. Nicholas Church

This was undoubtedly the best encounter with the Red Foxes since the very early days with the cubs from the first week of May.

I watched the same area as on my last few visits but it was again a slow start today.

I arrived on site at about 5:30 a.m. and it was 30 minutes before I had a very brief view of one of the Red Fox cubs and then …. absolutely nothing!

After about an hour, I gave up and walked around St. Nicholas Church and the graveyard before deciding to go home. However, I thought I would take one last look around the Red Fox watching area.

At 7:20 a.m. I saw the vixen run across the grassy area adjacent to Church Hill …. quickly followed by a cub …. and another cub …. and another cub …. and another cub. However, it was all over in an instant and I did not manage to get any photos. 

This is only the second time that I have seen all 4 cubs and it is good to know that all of them have survived.

I continued to have brief occasional sightings in the same area and I manged to get one record shot of one of the cubs.

Then a man walking his dog appeared and I thought that was it for the morning. However, I moved to my usual watching point and shortly afterwards one of the cubs appeared unaware of my presence half hidden along the hedge line.

What followed was the most amazing 10 minutes from 8 a.m. with the cub out in the open and in close proximity to me.

Initially I had a few problems with camera shyness and the need to negotiate image rights 😀

…. but then I was able to take many photos of this particular cub ….

My final encounter before leaving was of the vixen returning to the hedgerow area with 2 cubs running behind her. Unlike the cub that I had been able to watch and photograph for over 10 minutes, she immediately spotted me and issued her warning bark which sent the 2 cubs diving for cover.

💚🦆 🦉 🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature