Vacation

Well, I'm off to Florida for a week so I won't be posting any more kit shots until I return.  Hope to see some nice wildlife down there - and perhaps I'll post a few photos!

Enjoy these shots from the past two days. . .

Another Fox Den

As luck would have it - I recently found a second fox den (about 15 miles by way of the flying bird away from the other den).  This particular fox home has 4 kits (versus 3 at the other location) and is extremely accessible with no tall grasses in the way like at the other site.  The first time I spotted them I was able to get quite close (certainly closer than I was at the other den) and repeated this today.  I also took a venture into the woods behind this den to see what other activities there were and there is another major den (from the same family) with several small escape hatches in a really cool (photographable) setting.  Perhaps one day I'll be able to setup in the morning and capture them as they venture from den to den.

One of the kits is certainly braver than the others. . . as you can see in the images it has no problem lounging outside the entrance, sleeping, scratching, stretching - whatever while I'm around.  The others poke there heads out and may appear for a little but either return to the den or go to the other one in the woods.  The father fox (seen below) returned from a hunting trip the first afternoon I was there and had 3 mice in his mouth (you can see 3 tails hanging out).  When I saw this I knew it was time to leave.

Red Fox Kits

Two fox kits rough-house while their sibling looks on

It's been a long time since I've posted something on this blog (most of my time/attention has been spent photographing birds which can be seen on my sister blog Birds of Long Island) but I finally have been able to photograph something of interest that doesn't have wings and before long insects, frogs and turtles will once again be abundant.

Soaking up the evening sun

Last week a co-worker of mine found out about a fox den at an offshoot of Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge.  The area of the refuge where the den is was donated to the Federal Government some time ago by the Puleston family - longtime stewards of our natural lands along the South Shore.  Dennis Puleston was a co-founder of the Environmental Defense Fund which was instrumental in the ban of DDT and so it seems fitting that a few hundred yards from his former home lies an active fox den, an Osprey nest, nest boxes filled with several species of birds anda small herd of deer.

After waking up from it's nap, the Fox kit stretches and yawns

The first day that I visited the Den I only briefly saw an adult that then trotted off into the tall surrounding grasses - but the next visit yielded a fox pup seen above and below.  A trip there the following evening was much better with all 3 fox kits play fighting and trying to eat the remaining scraps off a duck carcass.  I must admit my girlfriend is a much better spotter than I as she had to continually point out that the Fox had come out from the Den while I fiddled with my camera or got distracted by birds. . . We tried again this morning but only 1 fox kit popped it's head up and it quickly disappeared.  It appears the best and most reliable time to see these guys in evening starting an hour before sunset.  I would assume the same is true around sunrise but have not made it there that early.  The photo below is one of the kits walking around while the other two played out of frame.

Sly Fox

And here is one last shot of the 3 of them. . . there are more to come from the first two shoots and hopefully a lot more from future visits.  Stay tuned!