Fox

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Dear All,
Just returned from a delightful trip to Kakragad at the confluence of the rivers Mandankini and the Akashkamini in the Garwhal region of Uttarakhand. Primary objective was birding in and around the river pools and aTrek to Tunganath (12,140 ft AMSL) to photograph the Monal Pheasant and snow pheasant.

Starting of with a fox which ensured I did not get any Monal pictures. Unknown to us this gent was stalking the Monals that we had spotted. Before we could reach a suitable location to set up the tripod and Anu's 500, the fox made the charge, the Monal flew past me and neither me nor the fox could get what we wanted.

Once unsuccessful, he sleepishly strolled across the meadow, looked back once at me before embarking on another venture for a breakfast. Though he spoiled it for me, I enjoyed photographing him in his gorgeous winter coat laced with silver and black. I wish i could get the details on his white tail tip but the light was rather poor.

EOS 50D + 500f4 IS L + 1.4x II @ 1/320, f5.6, ISO 1600.

Look forward to comments.
Cheers
Dipankar

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice to see this rare species. The head turn and eye contact looks good. The winter coat look nice. Wish the light was better. Look forward to more in the trip. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Dipankar,
This is a great sighting. It doesn't matter that you didn't get the Monal pheasant as you saw this beautiful fellow.

The tail is not covered by the depth of field. Wish you had got him in a more side on composition as that would have been easier from the depth of field. Overall, I am very happy watching this image. May these beautiful predators continue to stalk the gorgeous Monal pheasants. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

I think this is the endangered Red Fox (I haven't seen anyone mention the name in this discussion). It is indeed rare to see this animal, specially in Uttarakhand. From the little I have heard from friends, this animal is more commonly seen near Ladakh.

Good that you got some time with the fox and were lucky enough to get some head turn. Thanks so much for sharing this.

[Mrudul Godbole]

I think this is the endangered Red Fox (I haven't seen anyone mention the name in this discussion).

Yes this is a Red Fox. We didn't mention the name thinking everyone knows, but it is always good to mention in case someone is not aware. Thanks for explicitly pointing it out :).

[Dipankar Mazumdar]

Indeed Bhargava, this is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) as against the Indian fox or the Bengal Fox (Vulpes bengalensis) that we see in the plains.

This was at an altitude of about 12,000 feet, a cold habitat suitable for the red fox.

Regards

Dipankar