I consider myself to be very lucky that I was not badly affected by the onset of the Covid virus, especially during the first lockdown, as I know how much of a dramatic change it made to so many people’s lives.

At the time, I had been helping to manage a community wildlife garden in London for around ten years, after having had a year of unpleasant treatment for health conditions, I have found that photographing its residents and documenting its progress has contributed so much to my mental and physical health recovery and sense of well-being, that wildlife photography has become my life-line.

The community garden had to be closed to the public and human residents during lockdown, but the birds, squirrels and foxes, insects and plants needed feeding, care and attention, and so I combined this with my daily exercise routine, which provided the motivation to take advantage of the sudden peace that had enveloped us…

Our Nature Garden sits in the middle of blocks of flats in Deptford, not far from the A2/A20, near a railway line and on the flight path to Heathrow, so the change in noise levels was dramatic. The sound of birdsong and the wind rustling in the trees became the dominant sound, which provided a soothing background for the inhabitants of the 80 flats that overlook the garden. It gave me a great sense of peace and belonging, and of tranquility.

The local foxes pass through our garden, but they find their own boundaries between gardens, railway lines and roads, but as I have become increasingly fascinated by the ones which I have seen passing through, I decided to use some of my exercise time to see if I could exercise my growing interest in fieldcraft, and see if I could find out more about them, to help to protect them and see that they were healthy.

I had seen a dog fox and vixen in our garden on a lovely Autumn day the previous year, and had got the best foxy images yet because it was still sunny, so I decided I would need to get up really early and look around as the sun came up and before they went to sleep. Not a pleasant thought for a night owl, but I was shielding three vulnerable people as well as myself, so going out when it was deserted made sense, so I had no excuse! Any fox photos in good light would be a good result, because it helps me keep a record of the markings of individual foxes, and to check for injuries or mange. However, my ultimate hope was that I might be able to see a cub and perhaps even get a photo, but I thought it unlikely because they would be somewhere safe and well-hidden.

My hard work and regular daily feeding of the birds in the garden had given me a head start, because some of the foxes had got used to me putting down peanuts for the squirrels, and were helping themselves, so they got to know that I wasn’t a threat. So early one May morning after having spent the night on the computer editing photos, having noticed that a lovely sunrise was happening outside my front door, I hurredly togged up and ventured out into the cold…

Would you like to know how I got on?

Please leave a comment, and let me know.