br'er fox

...as a small child, the Uncle Remus books were among my favourite and always come back to me when I see a fox or a briar patch.

Today's weather was almost a repeat of yesterday's - freezing cold wind, but sunny, in the morning, and increasingly showery after lunch. All of which meant the tide was still too high when I took advantage of the sunshine in search of a blip. I decided it was time to visit the bird hides at Middlebere to see if the short-eared owls have arrived yet. The less popular hide overlooks Wych Lake, which is the channel that the Corfe River flows into. It is interesting that the name of channel is spelt Wych when the adjacent moor, heath and farm are all spelt Wytch.

As I emerged from the trees, I was delighted to find it was sheltered from the wind and really warm so, rather than sit in the hide, I sat and enjoyed the view with the sun on my face. I wasn't at all surprised to see a patch of red moving through the tussock grass on the marsh as we have seen this fox many times before. I was hoping he would continue moving in my direction but he slinked off just after I took this shot. As with yesterday, he was too far away for any great detail but I am more than happy because it shows him very much in the context of his surroundings. He is in excellent condition and looks as though he has just grown his winter coat.

Tomorrow's forecast does not look reassuring...