1. The Easter Weekend passed by so quickly. The weather was good, we managed a walk each morning in the bright sunshine and blustery winds. The snowy, sleety weather forecast for Monday actually came to us on Tuesday but didn't stay long.
2. It's
so good to have open spaces within walking distance of home and between
us and the city centre where we can take a breath of fresh air.
On
one of our walks, down the lane and across the fields we spotted two wrens,
a dunnock, a robin, many crows, magpies and gulls, a kestrel and a skylark. Paul took the photo of the skylark.
3. On Monday evening around 6.30p.m. I was looking out of the kitchen window whilst washing the pots and a fox ran across the lawn carrying in her mouth what I at first thought was a cat but quickly realised it was a fox cub.
I shouted Paul to bring his camera as I had a feeling she was moving dens and that there may be more cubs to retrieve. She carried three more across the garden so we now know there are four cubs. One more than last year.
I don't know what happened to make her move her cubs across two or three gardens but she must have felt threatened or in danger to be out in the light of day. It took her about a quarter of an hour to rescue them all, rushing backwards and forwards at full pelt. They now seem to be back in the old den across the hedge in a wild area at the back of the school.
4. Just down in the town at the Gladstone Pottery Museum, which recently featured on channel four's 'The Great Pottery Throwdown', more filming is happening. This time it is a Sky original film about Clarice Cliff. Called 'The Colour Room.' It is about her early years and her rise to fame in the 1930s with her colourful 'Bizarre' ware. Apparently the two lead roles have gone to actors from Downton Abbey and Bridgerton. I don't know if I'll ever see it as we don't have Sky, perhaps it will become available on other sources eventually.
The photos below were taken in August 2009
5. In a rainy garden plants are coming to life
Your fox looks as though it has mange, loss of fur. If you go to https://www.national-fox-welfare.com/ you can get free drops that I guarantee will put this right. I have used this many times on our foxes. If it is left untreated it will kill the fox and she may pass the mites onto the cubs. I usually put a few drops on to a jam or honey sandwich each night and it will cure them.
ReplyDeleteHope you don't think I'm pushy about this but the poor thing will suffer if not treated.
Love
Briony
x
Not at all Briony, we bought co-op iced buns to put mange treatment on - we have some left from last year so I hope it is okay - we put the wildlife camera out last night and have film of her devouring the iced bun so hopefully she has started treatment:)
DeleteI've seen foxes doing that when their first den gets flooded out. Great set of pictures and collages.
ReplyDeleteThank you John, it was great to take photos of her - she was so quick and efficient at rescuing the cubs. Great to see the skylark too:)
DeleteAmazing you have so many flowers/plants up already. My Daffodils are just about at the end of their bloom, rushed closer to the end by yesterday's rain. WOW on your pictures of the Fox. You really captured the movement so nicely. How cool you were able to watch the progress. Sounds like you had a lovely Easter!
ReplyDeleteSandy's Space
Thank you Sandy, the fox was rushing about and intent on rescuing those cubs. I'm afraid the wind and rain will dash the flowers and blossoms just as they appear, such a shame:)
DeleteMy condolences, on the death of Prince Philip.
ReplyDeleteHe had a wonderful life:)
DeleteHow amazing to see and photograph the fox, moving her babies!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to have filming, going on near by! -smile-
Beautiful photos all... Per usual... Thank you for sharing.
Thank you. Lots of films are made around here because of the industrial landscape, it's always interesting to see them. I hope those fox cubs are safe now:)
DeleteIndustrial landscape??? I thought everything was beautiful, around you. Needless to say, I do not think "industrial" is beautiful.
Delete🌷🌸🎀🌸🌷
The city we live in at the moment is noted for its industrial past especially the china and pottery industry where Joshiah Wedgwood, Josiah Spode, Henry Doulton, Thomas Minton and many other world famous names set up their businesses. The area is criss-crossed by canal networks which used to be hives of industry with barges taking clay and coal to the potteries and china to worldwide destinations. All these are now used for pleasure and leisure, pit tips and quarries have been turned into country parks and wildlife abounds. There are still areas where Victorian housing and factories remain. Some of the factories are empty and are sought out by 'urban explorers'. These areas are wonderful for film makers too when trying to depict both past and future landscapes. Most famous icons of the city and the pottery industry are the bottle kilns or pot banks as they call them around here. There used to be hundreds but now just a handful as you see in the photo of the museum. We are very close, where we live, to some beautiful countryside too so have the best of both worlds - when we can drive further than local again post covid:)
DeleteAmazing photos of the fox! We saw one when we moved here almost 9 years ago, but our wooded area is being cut down and homes built, so we're seeing less wildlife now.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jan, it is a shame when woodland is cut down to build homes as they were homes for wildlife. The fox was a joy to watch:)
DeleteMoving dens is pretty typical behaviour for a fox.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm sure it happens when dens become unsafe in some way. It's the first time we've seen it happen in our garden and was great to see:)
DeleteWonderful photos of the fox moving her babies. Gardens coming to life is such a hopeful and encouraging sign. Ours is, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lorrie. Thank goodness she moved her cubs to safety and also thank goodness we have only lost one plant over the winter although it was quite a large one and the space now needs to be filled:)
DeleteYou were lucky to be in the right place at the right time to see the fox moving its cubs and to get the photo of the skylark, there's such a drama going on out there right under our noses. I don't have Sky either, let's hope it's shown on Sky Arts which has joined the Free view channels. 😊
ReplyDeleteIt was hard to capture the skylark, Paul managed with his camera, mine was like a duck on a mill pond as was my photo of the kestrel. Yes, let's hope the film eventually reaches Sky arts which we can now watch on Freeview, I always enjoy the Book Club on there:)
DeleteAmazing photos of the fox moving her cubs - so glad you saw her. Easter celebrations look good and you are fortunate to have such a large open space close to home to walk.
ReplyDeleteThe Clarice Cliff programme sounds interesting but we don't have Sky either although we do buy day passes to watch the Villa matches. Not sure if I could view it that way as it may just be the sports channels we can access.
It was quite special to watch the fox in action. I don't know what we would have done without that space within walking distance, I feel for those people who live in blocks of flats with hardly any park nearby. I didn't know you could buy day passes to access Sky perhaps it is just for sport and live events. I never watch any sport although having said that we did catch the Boat Race last week as it went down the Ouse instead of the Thames. I always loved Wimbledon but have lost touch with tennis over the last decade or more so I don't recognise many of the players:)
DeleteWonderful photos Rosie! The one with the fox with the cub in its mouth was excellent timing! The Simnel cake looks very good! Hope you have a lovely weekend. Cold and dull here! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone. We still have a lot of Simnel cake left as it is quite rich so only small slices eaten each time. I hope the cubs are safe now and I hope we see them in the garden. We had snow, hail and sleet yesterday and there is a light covering of snow today. Take care:)
DeleteAmazing photos of the fox and her cubs. In fact all of the photos are a delight to see. You certainly appear to be getting the best of the weather.
ReplyDeleteThank you, the vixen was very determined to save her cubs and didn't care that we were watching through the window, she knew we were there. Weather was wintry yesterday and a light covering of snow this morning but the sun is shining bravely too:)
DeleteThe fox pictures are incredible! That must have been quite the thrill watching the fox move her babies.
ReplyDeleteThank you Hannah Jane. It was great to see the vixen saving her cubs, I hope that we eventually see some of them visit the garden:)
DeleteFabulous five, Rosie. I love the photos of the garden coming to life, spring is here.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia, still a bit wintry today but Spring is definitely on the way:)
DeleteOh my, what an incredible fox story with pictures. You are so lucky Rosie. I read that you have some treatment for mange so the iced bun idea sounds good. I read a blog called Walmer Meadows and the keepers of the meadows are presently treating a female fox with jam sandwiches laced with the medicine. X
ReplyDeleteYes, we sometimes give jam or honey sandwiches to the foxes with mange treatment on as only foxes like sweet food, cats and badgers will ignore it so the foxes do get the treatment. I will look for the blog you mentioned:)
DeleteI love that you were able to see the Fox and cubs, though of course a shame she felt she had to move them!
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam, my neighbour said she heard a huge bang at the back of her garden on the edge of another garden at the same time as we saw the fox, perhaps something fell and startled the fox enough to want to move her cubs:)
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