Foxes from summer 2015

After going through some of my unpublished blog posts I came upon one from the summer. High up in the Conwy mountains we enjoyed many long and warm sunny days watching a family of Foxes living on a ledge which looks out to the Irish sea. We watched them playing, sunbathing and hunting below is a few photographs I took of the family members coming and going.

In this photograph one of the Foxes watched us from below as we ended up sitting on the top of a hill so we could see the Foxes below and the sea behind us. This meant we could enjoy the sun, watch the Foxes and keep an eye out for Dolphins on the sea.

We did not see any Dolphins on our June trip but on our September trip while heading to a local shop with no cameras. We decided to take the scenic route up the Little Orme and down to Angel bay to see if we could have any wild encounters as well as soak up the sun and views I love so much. A few meters out we spotted 30+ Bottlenose Dolphin breaching which was an amazing site. Seeing a beautiful creature off our coasts means more to me than seeing them in tropical waters in other places where there more commonly found.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike

Cuckoos on Conwy mountain

While walking up one of the hills on Conwy mountain I heard a Cuckoo and after listening to it's cuckoo call we managed to pinpoint it's location. We found the male bird in an area of trees close to a farm and after 5 minutes of waiting the bird flew out and headed up to higher ground. It returned 10 minutes later being mobbed by another male bird.
I managed to get 2 flight shots and this one seemed to be the best one

 Mobbed

Only the male Cuckoo calls with the Cuckoo call and the female uses a bubbling call so it was quite interesting to see them competing for any females in the area. The 2 males kept getting mobbed by pipits that did not want them any where near there nests. It was great to hear my first Cuckoo and to see 2 on my second visit was a great result. Now I know there up there at this time of the year hopefully I can get back there next year or maybe in July before they leave as I would like to photograph one perched in a tree. 
I spotted this Pipit with food in it's mouth so it must have had a nest nearby

 Buzzard chased by a Crow

 This Fox was hunting in one of the fields near to where the cuckoo called

The views from Conwy mountain are beautiful as you can see by the photographs below

As this is my second and last visit on this trip it was nice to get a few photographs of a bird I've never photographed before and to find a new wild location to relax is a bonus for me. Since returning home I have heard my first Cuckoo on my local patch down by the river.

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe

Mike

An unexpected Fox encounter

One thing I have longed for in North Wales is a coastal Fox family and while we were up in the mountains sunbathing and joying the view over the Irish sea I finally got lucky when a Fox headed right towards me. While having dinner one afternoon I saw a Fox in one of the nearby fields at first I thought the Fox had spotted me but it seemed I was wrong as the Fox started to head right towards us scent marking as it came closer.

Coming closer and closer

The Fox ended up a few meters away but unfortunately it stopped right behind some nettles so i could not get a clear shot and once it spotted us it decided to find another way around behind some rocks below where we were laying. I am thinking the Fox was hunting so possibly it could have cubs nearby so we decided to wait and see if we could spot any other Foxes in the area.

Quick turn around

We watched the Fox head off into a larger field where there was small copse where it disappeared for a while. It enjoyed the fresh breeze and then left the area but it returned after an hour or so with a Rabbit!!!!!

Below is the Female returning with an adult Rabbit in its mouth which it took to an area of bushes near a small pond. After another hour the wait was worth as two quite large cubs came out from some gorse bushes to play in the sun. As the light began to fade we headed off with the idea of returning to the same place at the same time but next time we would get in a better position where we could get a clear shot of one of the adults before it spotted us and we were rumbled.

Two of the cubs running around, I was not sure if there was any more cubs hidden away possibly enjoying the Rabbit that there mother brought in.

We saw a few other Foxes hunting and scent marking in the same area so I'm hoping these are last years cubs helping there mother look after this years cubs.

You can find out what I photographed on the second day of Operation Coastal Fox in my next blog post

Thanks for reading my blog

Stay wild, be happy and be safe
 

Mike