Fox-Orange

Foxes, Fungi, Mammals, North Downs, United Kingdom, Watching Nature 1 Minute

While wondering why WordPress has enforced a change upon us of creating blog posts in ‘blocks’, I can also reflect on how nature simmers soft orange in the still days of late summer, colours daubed on a landscape of fading flowers and moulting birds.

Chicken-of-the-woods has a full sample of that orange.

Chicken of the Woods 18 Aug 20

This year has been a lesson in living without things that were taken for granted for so long, some trivial, some far less so. But could we live at all without fungi? They grow the trees that breathe oxygen – they form symbiotic relationships with so many plants that the world would be unrecognisable without them. Some species, including chicken-of-the-woods, tidy our landscapes through consuming deadwood. Some sprinkle orchids in meadows through bonding with seeds. 

Fungi are the gardeners we do not notice, growing a little, pruning a little. And in the world that they hold together, bigger liveforms wander. Roe deer, too, have assumed a fox-orange pelt which become grey when the nights draw in.

Roebuck 18 Aug 20

And the foxes themselves – they are growing, wandering, questioning what the land can provide for them.

Foxcub2 TH 18 Aug 20

This is a ‘teenager’ cub; it is nearly adult height, but its long limbs, smooth coat and small proportions give its youth away.

They stray into places heavily changed by people, but dressed in a nature fit for late summer. 

Fox urban 18 Aug 20

Soon they will disperse to pastures new, and many more fungi will brighten up the woods.

Published by Adele Brand

Wildlife researcher and writer. I let the animals tell their own stories.

Published

28 thoughts on “Fox-Orange”

  2. I just love these photos, Adele. The fox looks so tiny in front of the car. Gorgeous photos and what a great observation of how the colours of nature and animals blend in with the season. Also, I’m wondering why WordPress isn’t listening to its customers. I have yet to hear anyone say they love this new system, and many of us are having trouble with the connections now. I tried to reply to your comment on my blog and couldn’t. I had to try three times before the Like button would even work, and on some other people’s blogs they won’t upload at all. I know it’s not anything I’m doing differently because it works on some blogs and not on others. Anyway, I’ll keep trying. Meanwhile, I do love this post of yours!

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    1. And now Facebook’s doing the same thing! Enforced change to new settings. Mangling a long-established interface is never going to result in happy customers. I hope WordPress smooths out its issues, anyhow – sounds like you’ve been having quite a nightmare.

      Thank you! Definitely an orange theme to the wild world at present.

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  7. Foxes are my favorite animal, but they are not common where I live. I’ve never seen one around here. I love to see your beautiful pictures of them!
    Yeah, the blocks – what’s up with that?

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    1. Thanks Riley 🙂 They’re such fun characters to watch.

      Yeah, not liking the blocks. It’s kind of distracting when you’re trying to compose a post and the editor suddenly vanishes because you’ve clicked in the wrong place!

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  8. Adele, thanks for this post! I am enamoured by Fungi and snap them up ( with camera, of course!) They come is such varieties! I like your Hens! Never seen anything quite like them!

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    1. Thanks Robin! 🙂 Fungi are just the most amazing things. I hope we get plenty of colourful waxcaps in the meadows this autumn but it really depends on how much rain we have.

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  9. Stunning photography, Adele! Your Chicken-of-the-woods is a real fine specimen and looks fresh. The colours are so vibrant in all these images! I got used to the blocks in time, although I do find they can be frustrating from time to time. I found them easier for different layouts, especially the ‘column’ block, which is good for text and images.

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  10. A lovely post and photos Adele. Despite being so capable and aware those foxes look so vulnerable. That fungus sure is impressive and beautiful.

    I have been getting on okay with the block editor and find it much quicker than what I was doing before. (I write in Word and then copy into the Word Press editor.) I just wish though that when using the block editor I could use something like a style painter or be able to format blocks as a group. Perhaps there is a way but I have not found it yet.

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    1. There are many hazards for foxes out there, that’s for sure. I think the greatest is the subtle destruction of the countryside by intensification of land use. Fields that used to support wildlife as well as livestock / crops / golf are now been used too heavily, greedily one might say. No little corners for anything else to live.

      I think it would have been better if the blocks had been introduced as an additional option rather than made compulsory. Glad it’s easier for you though.

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      1. So awful that the countryside is in retreat in the face of this onslaught.
        Re the blocks – I have read that within the block editor there is a ‘classic editor’ that is similar to the old version. However, I gather that it is significantly different to what went before though?

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      2. I’m using that, but it is prone to disappearing if you click in the wrong place, and it’s also harder to distinguish the different options. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get used to it!

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