Red Fox

Red Fox on January 31, 2021. We received a couple inches of snow by midday. Despite the cloudy conditions from snowing, I headed out with my camera towards Lake Elkhorn on foot around noon. It was a bit bitter outside so I took the shortest way down onto the trail. My camera was stowed away in my hiking bag as I did not think I would run into much until I was close to Elkhorn. Under Rt. 32, plenty of sparrows were fluttering about and feeding. I stopped and got my camera ready.

After several minutes, every bird flew off across the path and out of sight. I then noticed a Cooper's Hawk now sitting on the shore, disappointed in a missed meal. The hawk flew off and as I was watching it, I noted a medium-sized creature wandering through the bush on the opposite shore. My first guess was groundhog but I thought perhaps a fox. Fox turned out to be correct! I tried to get a better shot without having its eyes blocked by grass but it was hard. With the cold, breathing with my camera at my face was causing my viewfinder to fog up. It did know I was there, even with the water separating us. It parted ways for me after a short period and ran off further into the woods.

A pleasant surprise for the first significant snowfall of 2021. It was very cold outside and trekking in hiking boots with my camera is slightly unpleasant but I am glad I went out. The fox made the trip worth it!

Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 600mm on Nikon D500