Bradgate: Red Deer Crossing

The Red Deer often make the river crossing from the wooded area of Bradgate up onto the grazing hillsides in the evening. When I was there on Monday, I saw a large herd approaching out of the trees and start to cross the river just as my phone rang with a call I had to answer - so I missed much of the action. However, one of the stags stayed on the woodland side watching the last hinds scamper up onto the hillside before he crossed. He got as far as the Mute Swan who attacked anything that came near, took fright and reversed  a bit before bravely rushing past him to join the rest.

 

Red Deer in Autumn sunshine

 We were lucky to have a couple of hours of beautiful autumn sunshine to enjoy the Red Deer at Bushy on Monday. The herd had two stags - the largest seemed very relaxed and did not seem to object to the presence of a somewhat smaller stag that was still interested in the Hines. A young buck just showing knobs where the antlers will form spent time digging in the bracken and had been wallowing in a mud hole. The oak trees obviously offer tasty morsels for those that can reach up.

Misty Morning Bushy Park

Bushy Park was not open till 8am so we wondered if we would be too late for good atmospheric images but luck was on our side as very soon after parking the car we located a large group of deer ideally placed to take advantage of the mist and the early sunlight showing up the breath. The large group included Red Deer and a few Fallow hines. There were a couple of mature stags, one of which roared a few times for us, and several young males on the periphery. I did not know a lot about the social interactions and breeding cycle of Red Deer so read up the following article which is full of fascinating facts such as it is the hines that choose the group to associate with rather than the stags rounding and protecting the group though this also occurs. 

 Red Deer Breeding Biology | Wildlife Online

Bradgate Final Day

Just a few final images from Monday's visit to Bradgate. I was looking for different behaviour images and was intrigued by this Fallow Stag that repeatedly reached up to try and get at the foliage. The Jackdaws busy removing ticks etc from the Fallow deer were tolerated until they tried into the ears. The light was awful so Red Deer images not best quality but enjoyed watching the sparring etc.

Red Deer at Bradgate Park

I spent yesterday reacquainting myself with Bradgate ready for an RPS Nature Group outing on Saturday. Mostly it was cloudy with occasional showers but later in the afternoon the sun broke through just as the Red Deer congregated close enough to get some images of the stag bellowing and the delicate hinds.

Bedfords Park Essex

Bedfords Park, a former mansion, is run as a nature reserve by Essex Naturalists Trust. A new reserve for me, it had an abundance of wildlife including these grumpy Red Deer, lots of butterflies including White-letter Hairstreak, Small Copper, Small Heath and Comma. Also lots of Hoverflies for me to identify! It commands superb views over much of east London and into Kent. The last photo looks towards Woolwich with Shooters Hill on the skyline - where I learnt all my wildlife as a child!!