It's Rutting Time

I wouldn't normally post so many images for one post so you're really getting your monies worth today...

I had left it a bit late to go to witness the Fallow Deer rut at Dunham Massey, last week the weather was pretty poor so I didn't go but the forecast for today was much better so I set off early to get there in time for the sunrise and to beat the crowds.

It was a very cold start to the day and the hard frost adds something to some of the images above.

If I was to try and sum up the morning I would say there was a lot of noise but not much action. The main battles for dominance have all been fought and so all of the stags seemed to know their respective place, some of the stags were carrying scars and bloody wounds evidence that they fought hard. The noise today was from the stags as they tried to round up the does and keep them close as you can see in the final shot.

I have included a couple of pictures of young bucks which I think are really nice, the one in picture number 8 looks like he is wearing a toupee and it made me smile.

Buzzin'

Whenever I am outdoors I seem to get more than my fair share of mosquito bites and it really bugs me (pun intended). So when I was watching these deer at Dunham Massey I could really empathise with their plight. Look at how they must suffer with the swarms of evil bitey flies.

The young stag in the final two images seems to be suffering much more than the others and at first I couldn't think why. However I think the first image might just give us a clue.

When I saw the deer in the first shot I thought he had some fabric or an old boot lace twisted around his antlers but if you look closely you will see that that is not the case. The stag in the last two shots has the downy velvet coating still covering his antlers whereas the first one has antlers which have been scraped "clean" of the velvet and the tassles are the remnants of the soft outer layer. I think that the velvet has a fresh supply of blood and so that will be why it is so attractive to the flies and why this poor creature has such an annoying following while the other have less of a problem.

One other thing that I noticed during my walk around the park was that the young female deer were really quite skittish and shy whereas the young bucks were more relaxed. In just a few weeks however there will be a major change in the behaviour as the rut begins and the bucks will become more aggressive in an attempt to achieve dominance within the herd, it won't be quite so easy to get up close to these marvellous creatures then.

Smiling Buck

Tamron 150mm - 600mm f/5:6.3

ISO 100   600mm  f/6.3   1/160 sec

At Dunham Massey I had spent most of the time in the gardens photographing the spring flowers but before going home I wanted to wander into the deer park and see whether I could get some nice shots.

At this time of year the herd of deer is spread out around the park in small groups and unlike the autumn months when there is a lot of activity in early May the deer seem much more relaxed and were contentedly feeding as the many visitors walked by. 

It wasn't really the best time of day to get really interesting shots but I do like this one of a young buck who was gently munching on some grass. He was completely at ease as I approached and seemed to pose for me. You can see that his cheeks are full of food but with his lips parted slightly I think it looks very much like he is smiling.

Young Buck

About ten days ago I got up at 3am and headed off to Brockholes in Lancashire for a dawn photo shoot in the hope of capturing some shots of the deer and hares that are known to visit the area in the early hours before visitors arrive.

Unfortunately it was a really cloudy morning so I didn't see the sunrise just a slow transition from dark grey to a lighter shade of grey and for much of the morning it rained heavily some from a photography perspective it was a bit of a washout.

From a nature watching viewpoint it was anything but. There were a few  Roe deer like this handsome young buck  which was foraging on the far bank of the river Ribble and several beautiful brown hares. There were also lots of birds around so I actually had a great time. The early morning birdsong was wonderful and because of the bad weather I practically had the whole place to myself. There were a couple of hides where I was able to make the most of the quiet time and I think there is a good chance I would go back and do it all again.