All about the Foxes in the garden
The Iberian Magpie Feeding Area has been having some visitors overnight, identified by droppings left. I believe that a Badger is coming and possibly a Genet. Therefore, I now leave a trail cam running to see what comes along for a free small snack.
Last night a Fox, a healthy looking one, came along. The video is just some quick snippets as it was there for a long time, the camera picked up its arrival at 3:01am and it left at 3:47am!
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}After more torrential rain overnight thanks to Storm Felix, the River than runs through our land has again flooded. So today I took the drone up to get a birds eye view.
Just 10 days ago the river was still dry from last summer. In just these 10 days it has flooded twice due to the deluge of rain. It’s the River Odelouca which feeds the Odelouca Barragem, the main drinking water supply for the Algarve, so the water is very welcome apart from the flooding which will cause some issues for the wildlife living around the banks.
Keep a look out after 30 seconds, you can just make out the Fox Hole on the side of the track on the left where the water level has reached, hopefully it won’t flood the den.
{Remember to watch in HD or 4K if possible}I’ve not been monitoring the (Rural) Foxes we have in the garden as much as I did this time last year, however, last night I set the Bushnell Natureview up in the garden.
We occasionally leave out some food scraps (no cooked bones!) and sometimes some treats, but not enough for them to rely on us for food.
Foxes will collect and store food that they don’t eat in food caches but the “Cramming” we are seeing is exactly what happened this time last year. As you can see on the footage, the Fox crams as much food in it’s mouth in one go and carries it off. I think it’s because it’s taking it back to the Den to feed the Vixen who is babysitting her newborn. The food could even be for the young if they are already old enough.
A few weeks after this happened last year, and the Vixen made an appearance in the garden with a single cub.
This repeated behaviour is hopefully a sign that the Vixen has given birth again.
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}
The Foxes are still around! This video from last night shows what I think is the Vixen and “Bottle Brush” the male.
Bottle Brush is so called due to his short bushy tail. Last year, the Vixen was limping and as you can see, she is again. However, this is a different injury as last year it was her left leg.
Very impressed with this new Bushnell, the Infrared LEDs are a lot brighter. I did think I stumbled across a bug as it was only recording 15 second clips instead of the 60 seconds I had configured the camera to do. Turns out, if you use the LEDs in full brightness, the maximum you can get is 15 seconds. Possibly down to the amount of power it uses. I imagine the Medium setting will still be adequate.
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At first, the Fox was a bit scared but it was due to the drone flying at full speed so was quite noisy, so after slowing right down it didn’t seem that bothered that I was following it around.
As the video progresses, I get a bit closer with a great tracking shot near the end.
Early days and I’ve a lot to learn with both flying and capturing footage, but looking forward to more photos and videos from this great piece of equipment.
[youtube-HD]Here is some footage from Wednesday evening of the Vixen with her Cub and you’ll also notice right at the start another Fox in the background which is probably the other one we saw a few days ago.
Again, sorry for the odd crackling on the footage but it’s yet another Bushnell Camera to be returned, I’m now on the 4th camera since March and still getting issues. I also don’t think the quality is as good as the other 3 I’ve had to return.
Once this current bad weather passes, I’m going to attempt to get some colour video from my D7100 from within my hide.
{Remember to watch in HD if possible}