A guided wander with this week's wildlife (13 June 2025)
Foxes, bees and be-taloned bird
It’s kinda funny that the headquarters of the RSPB is… not a great reserve. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a stunning walk through old woodland, sandy heath and fern-lined paths. I just never see much bird life there!
The fox and the egg
A few miles down the road, my parents’ house is nestled into a hillside. They’re at the ‘top’ of the village, with only two houses above them. The fields and woods at the top of the hill are connected to the village pub by a little footpath that runs behind my parents’ garden. Across this footpath lives a family of Foxes.
I can’t remember how we discovered they were visiting the garden – perhaps one of the (many) night-vision trail cameras we put out. Or maybe we heard them, chittering away to each other over who gets to eat the last egg.
Yes, my parents put a couple of hard-boiled eggs out for them every evening. And a small amount of high-quality dog food. And an apple. (The neighbours leave a heap of table scraps the size of a small dog, but fortunately the Foxes still grace our meagre offerings with their presence).
Over the years we’ve seen a few shy cubs, and we’re never sure how many adults. It’s fascinating to watch a Fox approach the food, then detect the presence of another more ‘dominant’ fox and switch to submissive mode.
They crouch or bow down, making that shrill, chittering sound and swooshing their tails. Eventually, an agreement is reached and the victor takes the egg (sometimes burying it in my dad’s vegetable patch for later).
This Fox is the female – her cubs are hidden away somewhere safe. She has shown in up an awful state on more than one occasion, with an injured face and cut on her hind leg, thorny leaves stuck deep in her fur. Recently, she almost entirely lost the use of her hind leg for a few weeks. They’re resilient, though. She’s on the mend now, and still seems to be ‘top dog’.
Note: I’ll always say it’s not good to ‘tame’ wildlife. These Foxes are not habituated to humans – if they see or hear anything from the house, they will run. I took these photos using a 600m lens (and they’re heavily cropped). The camera and myself were hidden inside the house, with just the lens sticking through the curtains/window. It was a ridiculous set-up in all honesty.
Tiny little vandals
I’ve been feeding the Foxes while my parents are away, but today I headed home to discover something has been cutting little holes in my plants!
The rose and Japanese rose seem to be the most popular ‘victims’. But these little holes won’t cause them any harm. They’re made by a Leaf-Cutter Bee – a small, solitary bee.
The female collects little circles of leaf, which she uses to line her nest hole. Much like the mining bees of last week, each little cell is provided with enough pollen and nectar for one larva. She lays her egg on top of the provisions, then puts a little leafy cap on that cell and starts another one.
Spectacular feats (and feet)
Another lovely spectacle at this time of year is the Meadow Pipits. Their courtship dance (I believe) involves them flying high into the air, singing, then fluttering downwards making a descending call.
At RSPB Bempton Cliffs, you can see them do this from the fence posts that line some of the paths. They are relatively used to humans, so you can watch from a few metres away.
They bear a striking resemblance to skylarks, but they have longer orange legs and an absolutely enormous claw on their hind toe! And they don’t have a crest – although skylarks often wear their crest flat, so it’s not a definitive ‘tell’.
It’s a short one, this week, as I have had to step up my job/freelance gig search. I want to thank you all for being here, though – seeing the number of subscribers climb a little higher each week brings me so much joy.
Puffin away
I’ll leave you with one of my favourite little birds, the Puffin. I think next week will be an RSPB Bempton Cliffs special, as I visited in June last year and it’s a remarkable place for seabirds.
As ever, I’d love to hear what you’ve spotted out and about on your walks this week. And if you’re enjoying this Substack and would like to support me, there are a range of buttons for your perusal below.
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