A young male fox, known as Hazel for the colour of his eyes, is standing beneath a huge sweet chestnut tree, surrounded by a carpet of purple autumn crocus flowers, fallen leaves, and what chestnut husks on the ground. In the background, there is a large, gnarled tree trunk of this amazing sweet chestnut tree which has to be around three metres in diameter! Hazel has a coat of reddish-brown fur with a white chest and abdomen and bushy grey-black tail with a white tip, is the central subject and is looking directly at the viewer with his head lowered. I’ve noticed that he uses this pose when he’s really studying his surroundings in case of a threat. There were a number of other visitors to the gardens standing not far from me on the path and I was talking to them about the role that the foxes play in their ecosystem. Hazel studied everyone and decided they weren’t threatening before returning to forage in the leaf litter. I think he was actually eating some of the sweet chestnuts although I couldn’t see definitively exactly what was being snuffled down rapidly every now and then.
Chestnuts, Crocus & Hazel #fsprintmonday #FoxOfTheDay
It must be #autumn! It’s a #mast year for many trees including the #SweetChestnut. The husks of the nuts are littering the ground at @rbgkew.bsky.social 🌰🍂 #nature #wildlife #trees @ldnwildlifetrust.bsky.social @chrisgpackham.bsky.social