This past weekend I decided to head out early, before sunrise, in an attempt to set up to photograph a fox. I headed to a local park where I have seen a fox more times than not. It was almost a mile hike to where I wanted to set up my gear and it took longer than expected to get there. I got there just after sunrise, broke out the 400mm lens and monopod and sat down in a spot I thought would be appropriate. I sat there quietly, coffee in hand, for about 30-40 minutes. Other than a very loud squirrel behind me, I wasn’t seeing much.
The sun was shining bright by now, so i decided to walk around looking for various bird life on the way back to my car. Nothing presented itself for a good photograph, so I left empty handed.
Once I arrived back home, I took a quick walk down our local nature path to see if there was any activity. I found many robins eating the berries from the bushes along the trail. They made for some good pictures.
I was not using my monopod, carrying the lens on my should strap. I had the camera resting high up against my chest in between pictures of the robins. I caught something out of the corner of my eye and slowly turned my head. It was a Fox! Apparently it decided to find me since I couldn’t find one on my own. I slowly transitioned the camera from the resting position and lined up my shot. As I snapped a few pictures, the fox came a bit closer, cresting the hill making for a great photo despite the low light in the dense canopy of the path.
Just goes to show you, always be ready for anything and have a camera ready to go!