Last week Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin showed a film by Lizzie Guntrip on their Wild Mornings with Chris live stream, who gave some fantastic tips on how to cope during these strange and difficult times and how to keep connected with nature even when you can’t get outside. It is worth remembering that there are many people with chronic illness, mobility issues etc who have been dealing with ‘lockdown’ for long periods of their life. It’s easy to take for granted that we will be ‘out of this’ soon but for lots of people this may continue for the rest of their lives.
On the live stream, Lizzie spoke about how much joy #WildlifeFromMyWindow has given people who are housebound – for the short or long term – so when I was revisiting my archives this weekend and came across this image I knew I had to share it.
I captured this image back in March 2011 when I was living in south London. After walking past my bedroom window, and glancing out, I spotted this fox snoozing on the roof of a neighbour’s shed. The shed was some distance away, so I ran and grabbed my camera and zoomed in to see if I could capture the fox and have it be large enough in the frame. I only managed to take a few quick shots as it sensed it had been spotted – not helped by the fact that I had to lift our rattling old sash window to be able to poke my lens out, which wasn’t something I could do quietly. However, it didn’t seem too phased and while it was sitting watching me, I took this. It’s not my best work, but it arose from a fleeting opportunity to see wildlife outside my window that I’m still grateful for.
So, did I see my local foxes again? Yes, when walking back from the tube station or pub late at night I would occasionally glimpse them mid-scarper and I was always tempted to try to do a photography project with them. However, to be completely honest, I didn’t feel comfortable walking around with my camera on my own after dark where I was living. Maybe when the lockdown is lifted I’ll try to find my local fox family and see if they will let me have an insight into their world. I’ll keep you posted.