Looked into a neighbour’s yard from our front porch at 06:15 this morning just as the day was becoming reasonably light and saw a fully grown dog fox standing on its hind legs and tearing at something in the branches of an exotic shrub. I was certain the object of its attention was a Common Blackbird’s nest.
The shrubs were planted 40 years ago and form a 30-metre long hedge. Blackbirds have nested here virtually every season except during the decade-long drought. I watched for 30 seconds and saw the fox throw its head back suddenly as it appeared to wolf something down, probably a nestling or two. I’ve seen blackbirds nest-building here during July, so I suppose they could have young by the end of August.
The victim, of course, might have been a sitting adult. I’ve reached out and gently touched a brooding female blackbird as she stays put and hunkers down in the nest, but whether she’d stay as her world was being torn apart by a fox is another question.
I inspected the site later but found only nesting material. So, it looks like anything edible was snaffled by the fox. I was surprised I didn’t notice the male blackbird kicking up merry heck during the fox’s attack.
John K. Layton
Holt.
