Surfing foxes, disappearing otters and a bonus muntjac

This week has been great (photographically at least!). One of those weeks when your stock of images - ones you know you are going to keep - suddenly gets bigger.

Firstly, I visited a site where we had seen fox cubs last year. We have been keeping track of this site over the winter, observing the small signs of fox inhabitation, gradually becoming convinced that another litter was in the disused section of a large badger sett. So we set up at the bottom of the wood, overlooking a deep, narrow valley of the type that we call a 'coombe' here in the southern chalkland. After about 40 minutes, we heard a pair of magpies start to chatter and scold in the woodland. A predator was on the move. Sure enough, an adult fox appeared at the top of the slope. He stretched and then started to slide down the hill. This grass-surfing down the steep slope of the coombe was obviously hugely enjoyable. He rubbed himself in the grass, stretching cramped limbs and enjoying the evening sunshine.

It was a great view for us. The Canon 5D, stuck on the back of the f2.8 300mm and x2 converter, did me proud as usual. We lost sight of him for a while as he checked out some of the local rabbit buries, then he cam over to us and stood for a while at about 20 metres while I got some great images (you'll have to wait to see those ones!). He moved off eventually, having had his fill of a bush that makes odd clicking noises.

One the way back to the car we came across two muntjac, a doe and a buck, strolling towards us in the last of the sunshine. They were almost hand in hand as they tripped through the cowslips. I'm sure that there will be a little muntjac along soon! On a more serious note, muntjac are becoming much more common in South Wiltshire. They live quite happily in the thorn scrub and long grass of the downlands.  Their highly selective foraging habits pose a clear and present danger to the plant communities of the downs - sedges, orchids and Primulas are all targeted.

On Sunday, I visited a restored section of the Upper Avon system. An old carrier (the man-made channels that carried water into and out of the water meadows) has been made into a delightful side stream. The female otter who raised three strapping cubs here in the last six months now seems to be on her own. They will have dispersed, probably downstream, and she will be preparing to breed again. Otter breeding is notoriously hard to predict. But the owners of this property have a real interest in the wildlife of their stream and have set up a trail camera; so I hope that in the next 12 months this blog will be bringing you more exciting news of otter breeding!