The early bird...

...catches the fox, today.
Intending to try for some swift nest photos during morning feeding runs, I plodded off up the road in the 5 a.m. sunshine. Not much of a hardship, given a lovely summer's morning.
As I passed the row of shops near the turning towards Cath's house,  I spotted a fox having a nose around the bins. He/she was very close, and quite unperturbed by my presence. I took a few rather hasty shots, including the one by the wall (second extra). Then a little while later, while I was waiting for swifts that didn't appear, a second fox ran towards me across the road - what luck. This time I was better prepared.
There was quite a brisk north-west wind blowing. I could hear the swift chicks in the nest, but I think that the parents had gone elsewhere to hunt.  Swift chicks can last quite a long time between feeds, even going into a torpor to preserve energy while their parents gather insects miles away.
In other news, we finally installed CCTV on the house this week, following the burglary 6 weeks ago. When I got home from fox-watching, Richard showed me a video clip. Just after I left the house at 5 a.m., a skinny young man walked up to our side gate and rattled the padlock (not a smart move, as Richard could clearly hear it from the front bedroom). Giving up on the gate, he glanced into the car, which is secured with a crook lock. And then he walked off, probably only a few dozen yards behind me on the street.
It's quite weird, being able to watch this kind of thing. I'm grateful for it, since it may prove to be a bit of a deterrent. I don't  much like the thought that the young man almost certainly watched me leave the house before trying the gate. There was, however, something very forlorn in his demeanour as he walked away and as a bonus, he didn't run after me, which he might have done.  But by then I was passing a row of terraced houses that open directly onto the street, and any noise I made would have woken many neighbours instantly.