Croydon Ducks - Garden Wildlife 2015

Croydon Ducks - Garden Wildlife and Foxes 2015

Latest update: 3rd May 2016

Photos from the garden in 2015 of toads, frogs, foxes, fox cubs, birds and other wildlife. This winter there were two fox cubs from last
year coming into the garden each day with their mother and sometimes grandmother. One baby fox cub arrived in the garden in early May..

Older Photos of Garden Wildlife - 2014

January 2015, all four regular foxes, grandmother, mother and two cubs from last spring.

Grand mother watching the back door waiting for dinner.

Mother sleeping at the end of the garden.

All four foxes again, illuminated by the green LED garden flood lights. The lawn is very muddy, the plastic path makes it easier to feed them.

Waiting for seconds.

Lucy the dog rarely chases the foxes, but they are very curious about her and stalk her around the garden. Lucy is smelling their food.

If the foxes get too close, Lucy will mock charge them so they move away.

February 2015, three foxes waiting in different corners of the garden for dinner.

And now got their dinner.

Getting a little to close to Lucy.

And again, the foxes have never tried to attack the dog, or my cats.

3rd February 2015, 10am, only real snow this winter in Croydon and it had mostly melted by lunch time. But it proved fascinating to the
foxes who spent over an hour running around the garden, including jumping over the fence protected the tulips. Mother on the left is
always the most adventurous, watched by her cub with the bushy tail.

Both foxes were leaping over the wire fence.

Now playing with each other, this gets very noisy.

Looks vicious, but they are just playing.

The second cub joins the games.

Sniffing around for more food.

Evening the same day, only a little snow left, grandmother on the left.

Two foxes head off in different directions when they see Lucy arrive in the garden.

But again they don't take much notice of each other.

Still stalking Lucy.

A few days later, all four foxes waiting for dinner.

Mother wants to play with her cub again.

Mother being submissive.

Finally all four foxes get to eat.

Don't often get three or four foxes in the morning.

Lucy can see two foxes, last year she would chased them out of the garden, but arthritis means she's more reluctant now.

But the foxes are still curious about Lucy.

Grandmother often seems to tilt her head to one side.

Another submissive move by mother.

Mother and cub being noisy again.

Still playing with each other.

Late February 2015, all four foxes for dinner again.

A fox cub stalking Lucy.

March 2015, all four foxes for dinner again.

The two cubs laying down and their mother, waiting for food.

As the days get longer, the foxes are coming in day light while the birds are still around.

I've started feeding the foxes on the patio, to avoid getting muddy on the lawn.

Not often all four are here together now.

Only three foxes tonight.

3rd April 2015, sometimes while waiting for food, the foxes groom each other.

Mother being groomed by her two fully grown cubs from last year.

Still grooming.

17th April 2015, mother often sits on the patio wall, waiting for dinner.

Mother and her two old cubs eating.

Grandmother still enjoys sleeping at the end of the garden in the mornings, although other foxes and cats also sit there.

Waiting for dinner again.

12th May 2015, it's unusual for the cats to interact with the foxes. But for about half an hour this morning, Molly the ginger cat was playing
with this fox, chasing her around the flower beds and generally stalking her.

Molly still stalking the fox.

18th May 2015, I first saw this baby fox cub two weeks earlier and a couple of times since, but this was the first time baby cub stayed long
enough to get photos. Mother appears to be one of last year's cubs, so is now called Cub Mother. Only seen one baby cub so far.

Baby cub is quite adventurous, and seems happy eating on it's own, if food is available, although does keep chasing cub mother into the
next garden. No idea where the den is, but must be close.

Baby cub found some dog food.

Baby cub and cub mother again, these photos were taken about 8:30pm.

19th May 2015, baby cub is back next morning at 7:30am for breakfast, sunlight so better photos.

Watched by cub mother.

The other foxes have eaten the food already, baby cub wonders where it's gone.

Two adults, last year's cubs get more food.

Meanwhile baby cub moves to the far end of the garden and eats bird seed.

Watched carefully by cub mother.

Both sniffing around for food.

11th May 2015, one of the bird boxes with a family of Blue Tits, the parents keep flying to seed feeders in the garden and bringing food
back to the noisy chicks. Another bird box at the end of the garden also has a family of Blue Tits.

The Blue Tit flying off again.

27th May 2015, found this fledgling Blue Tit sitting on the lawn, probably stunned from flying into the fence, lifted it onto a garden chair
so it less obvious to the cats, and it flew often a little later. Probably from one of the garden nest boxes, several other fledglings singing
on the Purple Ash tree.

1st June 2015, the Starling mothers are now bringing their fledglings back to the garden feeders, no idea where they nest. The fledglings
are still brown and don't have spots yet, unfortunately they drop a lot of the bread which the pigeons wait for under the feeder.

Some eat the peanut fat bar, some bread, about two loaves a day at the moment.

21st May 2015, baby fox cub is happy to eat food off the ground, but it still too scared to eat from the bowl.

24th May 2015, 7pm, baby cub fox at the end of my neighbour's garden where it's very quiet, there is a hole under the fence to the left
of this photo leading under a large shed in the next garden, which is almost certainly the fox den.

Baby cub again, cub mother has just gone into the next garden.

25th May 2015, baby fox cub having dinner.

29th May 2015, baby fox cub hiding behind the lilies.

30th May 2015, 8:30pm, great grand mother, cub mother and baby cub eating together, although great grand mother is greedy and
usually hover up most of the food,

Playing while waiting for more food.

1st June 2015, 7am, getting into a routine now of several foxes waiting on the lawn for breakfast when I come downstairs in the morning,
although baby cub is still too frightened to eat from the cat dish.

2nd June 2015, 8pm, baby cub again with cub mother.

Wondering if there is more food to come.

3rd June 2015, 8am, baby cub sitting on the raised bed watching cub mother.

While great grand mother sits in the sun waiting for more food, they've been here for an hour already.

Baby cub gets bored and comes to play with mother.

Then back up onto the raised bed, baby cub does not yet have the patience to sit still.

About to pester mother again.

And finally they get more food. Rarely, great grand mother lets baby cub eat.

6th June 2015, 7:30pm, baby cub playing with mother.

Both now patiently waiting for dinner.

8th June 2015, 7am, baby cub and two adults waiting for breakfast.

The fence around the flower beds is supposed to stop the foxes trampling over the new plants, does not always work.

9th July 2015, 7:30am, two grandmothers near the shed, cub mother at the end of the garden.

1th June 2015, 8am, today they are all waiting in the sun at the end of the garden.

Now four foxes, baby cub has joined mother at the end of the garden, grand mother is on the patio wall,.

15th June 20915, baby cub and mother on the patio wall.

And now eating together.

19th June 2015, a lot of grooming goes on while they wait for food, two sisters, the cubs from last year, one now cub mother.

Joined by grand mother.

Baby cub rarely sits still for more than a few moments, and unfortunately does not have a sibling to play with, so has to torment the
adults.

The weather is getting better so the patio door is now usually open in the evening, baby cub used to run away when she saw me, now
comes running toward me expecting food, and is happy for me to a few feet away in the open door taking photos.

23rd June 2015, 8am, playtime again at the end of the garden. The flower bed fence has now gone since the plants are getting established.

Resting for a moment.

Grand mother tries to avoid playing, just patiently waiting for food.

25th June 2015, 9pm, baby cub eating again.

Baby cub is becoming more tolerant of Lucy the dog, and no longer runs when barked at, but with open doors it's a balance between
letting the foxes eat and stopping Lucy chasing them, as she's just started to do here.

2nd July 2014, 7:40am, two grand mothers and baby cub, both will 'fight' her for food, but baby cub is holding her own here.

Often the foxes wait around for an hour or more hoping for extra food, baby cub and mother found something.

Baby cub does not have the patience to sit still, just jumped up onto the bank in front of the ivy to play.

And now decides to pester grand mother.

Three mothers eating together.

June is when all the Starling fledglings arrive looking for food.

Which they find in the two hanging feeders. By July, very few of them here, lots of natural food becoming available.

3rd July 2015, Lucy the dog being stalked by Baby Cub.

Dog and foxes do not chase each other as often as in the past, mainly because Lucy has arthritis.

10th July 2015, three foxes waiting for breakfast. Great grand mother, on the left, is larger than the others and seems to tile her head.

Joined by a fourth fox a few minutes later.

17th July 2015, only three foxes for breakfast.

But after their first helping, a fourth fox arrives and they all stare into the kitchen window until I give them more food.

21st July 2015, today they are sunbathing at the end of the garden as they wait for breakfast.

Baby cub is almost fully grown.

22nd July 2015, Lucy spends another evening in the garden with the foxes. The poly tunnel is to protect new grass seed from the birds.

Next morning the usual suspects for breakfast, three mothers and cub.

Once they've had a peaceful breakfast, Lucy goes out to chase the foxes away, not always successfully.

26th July 2015, play time for cub and mother.

But then back to watching the kitchen window waiting for more food.

28th July 2015, baby cub is getting larger and larger.

31st July 2015, waiting for breakfast in the sun.

1st August 2015, it's getting harder to tell the foxes apart, it's possible there is a second cub the same age as the regular visitor,
because the extended family do not usually get aggressive with each other.

The cub also sometimes wary of coming close, while other times is friendly to dog and myself, so maybe two lookalike cubs from
different mothers.

Two foxes watching Lucy.

4th August 2015, getting tired waiting for dinner.

6th August 2015, only two for breakfast today.

7th August 2015, baby cub has made herself comfortable waiting for breakfast.

Later that day, Lucy gets her evening chase.

Two days later, baby cub is sleeping at the end of the garden in the morning sun instead.

12th August 2015, 9:30pm late dinner for baby cub and great grand mother who has hurt her front paw and can not put any weight on
it, so runs around the garden on three legs.

15th August 2015, great grand mother's paw is still causing her problems, today eating with cub mother.

16th August 2015, baby cub waiting for dinner this time, but watching the lawn rather than the kitchen.

20th August 2015, Tipsy, a small 22 year old cat, also like dog food, and the foxes leave her alone.

Great grand mother's paw seems better, she is putting weight on it again.

Having had their first evening meal, the foxes are waiting for more.

22nd August 2015, great grand mother waiting for breakfast.

Her paw is better, but paw is causing her trouble again.

28th August 2015, a cub watching Lucy from a distance, possibly the new cub.

4th September 2015, great grand mother's pay is now healed.

5th September 2015, looks like two cubs waiting for dinner, but might be cub and mother, now hard to tell them apart.

Same two now eating.

7th September 2015, another evening, three foxes watching the kitchen.

And getting dinner, great grand mother, cub mother and cub..

November 2015 - often see Parakeets (parrots) flying past the garden, but rarely do they stop long enough to be photographed,
mainly because they can not access any food in the feeders, untlike the Starlings.

The Parakeets again.

The more usual view of hungry Starlings on the peanut fat and bread feeders.

More Starlings.

December 2015, Sqirrels often neeed to wait their turn for access to the peanut feeder on the shed.

A pond is covered with a large net during late autumn to try and keep leafs was polluting the water.

17th September 2015 one of foxes waiting for dinner, while the collared doves and wood pigeon eat their dinner.

Lucy the dog stalking the fox behind the flower bed.

8th October 2015, cub and mother eating dinner.

11th October 2015, Lucy playing with a fox again.

Lucy is now bored, fix is still waiting for dinner.

14th October 2015 Grand mother waiting for breakfast, one of the last photos of her, stopped visiting the garden during the winter.

That evening, probably cub and mother waiting for dinner.

19th October 2015, Lucy keeping watch, but she's now 15 years old unable to chase the foxes with the vigour of the past.

4th December 2015, sometimes the cats decide to eat dog food.