My blog is mostly about wildlife, particularly birds, walking, days out, all growing things and anything else that comes to mind.
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Friday 9 October 2009

Deer Hunting

If you've been watching Autumn Watch you may well be bored rigid by all the deer activity again - so you may not be that interested in this edition of my own "Autumn Watch - Deer Rut Watch".

I've had a couple of trips into Bushy and Richmond Parks during last week with varying success in finding the "stands" of the rut. The numbers of deer to be seen have varied and generally they are easier to find in Bushy Park as it's smaller. But it's more dramatic to witness in Richmond Park as there's more open ground. However, a selection of deer pictures taken over a few days in both parks.

In Bushy Park this stag was crossing the pond.

Now into Richmond Park where this stag had been successful in his pursuit of a hind..

a Fallow Deer (one of many) galloped by as the Red Stag roared






and a group of Fallow Deer were being chased by a dog...!!!!!

Later on these were resting by the Rugby posts!!


Then on Friday another trip into Bushy with Malcolm. We found the stags by listening to their "roaring".

as sometimes it's very difficulty to see them amongst the bracken!



A bit of birding as this Mute Swan flew along the pond


whilst a Grey Heron posed unconcerned!

These two young Stages were practising but it was very weak willed!


On our way back to the car we heard a wren singing! It briefly posed but was really too far away for any sort of picture!



A female Pochard swam her lonely swim. Wonder if they'll be others to join her


And, most unusually, this Ring-necked Parakeet ( a male) was on the ground. The other (the female) was the other side of the tree. I've only seen them on the ground on two occasions before and that was to drink from puddles!


As we entered Richmond Park our first sighting was of a Green Woodpecker who let us get reasonably close for a picture or two


and finally, lunch in the cafe and then back to avoid the Friday afternoon rush hour.

I shall be back to visit the rut again.

16 comments:

Jan said...

Hope you don't get to see a stag being killed like last night then. I'm glad Simon warned us before, because I left the room and hummed loudly whilst it was on. I didn't want to see it. Alan then gave me a blow by blow account of how it happened, but not as bad as witnessing it. I can't believe these animals can't come to an arrangement and have their own harems, it's very sad. :(

John said...

Hi Tricia,

Will never tire of Deers, they are stunning creatures. And at this time of year the Rut is something to see. I really miss the Deers at Richmond Park from my years living near there.

Great photographs Tricia.

John

holdingmoments said...

Great set of the stags and deers Tricia. They really are magnificent to watch.

Wilma said...

What a great post, Tricia! As if the deer wern't stunning enough, you got some wonderful bird shots. The green woodpecker is a treat to see. We don't have anything close to it in the states, or to the parakeet for that matter.

cheers,
Wilma

oldcrow61 said...

Fabulous photos of the deer. The stags are so handsome. It must be exciting to see them up close.

Glo said...

Amazing photography ~ I could nearly hear the roars from here, and that's saying something. Very impressive looking stags. A good variety of bird photos ~ so nice to see the little wren and the others that are not familiar over here.

Midmarsh John said...

Fabulous photos of the deer Tricia.

Janine said...

How amazing to see these deer so close and hear their roars. Great photos.

ShySongbird said...

They really are impressive looking animals Tricia and you have captured them beautifully. I'm with Jan on the Autumnwatch thing, I couldn't watch that either, I know it is all part of Nature but I am not keen on the way Autumnwatch cover it in a jokey wrestling match sort of way.

What a fantastic photo of the Heron and what a tongue! Loved the Wren and the Woodpecker too.

Sharodindu said...

Wow! WOW!!!
An Array of great wildlife photography!
I really dont have many words to appraise your work!
Itz simply a great job done!!!

Keep it up :)

Anonymous said...

Stunning deer shots Tricia, a good time was had by all apart from the idiot that couldn't control the dog.

Tricia Ryder said...

To all my blogging friends; I do appreciate your visits and comments and apologise that I've not been commenting on your blogs recently. I hope to be back to normal soon.

Jan - it's a sad fact of life but a shame that it happened the way it did.

John - I can understand why you miss them; didn't realise you'd lived around my patch!

Keith - They provide great entertainment don't they. Especially when they suddenly appear from the bracken when you didn't know they were there.

Wilma - thank you. I've just had the Green Woodpecker visit my garden again just now - very rare visit

OC - thank you. Yes it's wonderful to see them up close - and sometimes when they're hidden your nose can tell you they're around before your eyes do - particularly at this time of the year

Glo - Glad you enjoyed "our" birds. It's great that blogging can allow us to see birds from all over the world isn't it!

John (M) - thank you :)

Janine - Thank you; they're amazing to watch.

Jan (SS) - I would agree about the attitude shown. I'm not really enjoying Autumn Watch this time round; too much chat and presenters and not enough wildlife!

Sharodindu - thank you for visiting my blog and for your lovely comments. I shall be visiting you shortly :)

Roy - thank you. I couldn't believe how long and for how far the dog chased the deer. It went on for a good 15 minutes and several people watching were extremely annoyed about it too!!

Neil said...

great photos. I went to Richmond Park on Tuesday. I didnt get a green woodpecker or jay despite frequent attempts (they kept hiding in the long grass) so well done on capturing them!

An well done for getting a parakeet on the ground - Ive only seen it once!

karen said...

A stunning set of pics Tricia, just love the deer, some amazing shots of them, and the parakeet is great! Another lovely post, thankyou for sharing it with us x

Yoke, said...

Great photos of the Deer, Tricia.
I do miss them since moving here, 26 years ago. before I lived in a forest where we had deer all around us.

Lovely pictures of the Birds too , of course.

Thanks.
Agree that Autumnwatch is on its way down for me too. such a pity, if you think of what is happening all around where they are.

Hunting said...
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