SS15 wildlife watching: Red Foxes near St. Nicholas Church

Thursday 7 April 2022

Red Foxes near St. Nicholas Church

The main purpose of my visit this morning to the area surrounding St. Nicholas Church was to watch and photograph the local Red Foxes. For more on my visit, please see here.

As on my visit on 3rd March 2022, I didn’t just take my binoculars and camera but additionally the remains of a chicken carcass, the contents of a can of dog food and some dog biscuits and peanuts …. a full Red Fox “breakfast” 😀.

I accessed the site via the track from Larkins Tyres and then took the short track through the trees to my usual watchpoint overlooking the rough grass field bordered by scrub, hedges and trees.

I climbed over the fence and walked across the field to the large oak tree where I left the food for the Red Foxes. I then returned to my watchpoint and made the first use of my newly purchased Walkstool as I waited for the Red Foxes to appear.

Unlike my last visit on 3rd March 2022 when a Red Fox appeared after just 10 minutes, this morning I had to wait for over an hour before my first sighting of one tentatively approaching from within the dense wooded area behind the main oak tree.

However, this Red Fox very quickly became confident to start eating, albeit whilst being harassed by some Magpies. As I noted on my last visit, the Magpies seemed to be oblivious to the food that I had scattered and only became interested in having a share once a Red Fox had found it.

After about 10 minutes, another Red Fox appeared and the 2 animals both fed at a respectful distance from one another although there were a couple of occasions where tolerance was exhausted resulting in some loud “geckering” and brief fighting.

Although I had to wait for over an hour for the first Red Fox to appear this morning, I was then able to watch and photograph both animals for around 30 minutes.