Deer, Deer and More Deer!

This year, unlike last, we have apples on the apples trees. This means that our garden is a choice destination for the deer who love to eat the windfalls. They are backwards and forwards all day (and probably all night) feasting on the apples.

The other evening there were four muntjacs under the trees and, interestingly, another muntjac fawn. It was definitely not the fawn I spotted last week. This one was much bigger and without its spots. However, it was still suckling and very demanding on its mother. So, there must be at least two families of muntjacs around this year.

Sadly, it was too dark for decent photographs.

However, Mrs Roe and the Twins have also been hanging around much of the time. The twins are getting big now, almost as big as their Mum and their spots are just fading. They are about 3-4 months old now. I did not manage any good shots of the three of them together, but the other evening as it was getting dark Mum and one of the twins were in the field at the front. I got the following photos.










The middle photo is quite amusing. The mother has an apple and some grass in her mouth and the little one is pulling at a piece of grass!

You need to click on the images to see larger versions.

Summer in Full Swing

I seem to have seriously neglected this blog for the last couple of months, for which I apologise. The reason is because I have been concentrating on a project which is taking much of my spare time. I am recording "A year in the life of an English Country Garden" in photographs. I started on 1st January this year and will continue until the end of the year. I am over half way now!

I plan to produce a book (coffee table style) which I think will be an interesting record of wildlife and nature in the UK throughout the seasons. Many of the photos that I plan to use in the book are already in this thread, with many more that I have not yet included. I will upload a gallery on my web site to showcase these images, as soon as I have time.

I also plan to use the best photos and produce a calendar at the end of the year - hopefully in time to use them as Christmas presents for relatives and friends!

The idea for the project came from a photography web site called Talk Photography, which I can thoroughly recommend. There are a lot of very knowledgeable and helpful people on the forum. They also run a challenge called a "52", where people take photos each week on a particular theme and upload them for comments and criticism. The idea is to practise and learn from the feedback.

Very soon after starting the 52, I decided that the photos I was taking would be a useful record to chart the whole year in the garden. Hence the book idea.

So, back to the current time. Summer is in full swing and it has been hotter and more humid than the last few years with very little rain, at least in the south and east of England. Northwest Scotland seems to have been bearing the brunt of any bad weather coming in from the Atlantic. Our front lawn is completely brown, even after a bit of rain in the last week.



The weather has made it an amazing year for butterflies and moths. I have seen more than ever before including several new species that I have never noticed in the garden before. The little chap above is a Common Blue, an exquisite little thing.

At the top of the page are some ripe Woody Nightshade berries. Poisonous, as the colour implies!

Finally, today I saw the roe deer buck closely following a doe. It must be that time of year again. Sadly, I have not seen any roe deer kids this year. I don't know if there were non born or whether Mum kept them well hidden?

I have kept a record of what has been goung on in the garden over the last couple of months and I will fill in the missing details of this blog as soon as I can.

A Very Slow Start to Spring

I don't remember the last time we had such a late spring.

Although there were signs a few weeks ago, the weather has not been good and things are progressing very slowly in the garden. Usually by this time in March, the trees are starting to show green, but not this year.

Nest building is, however, in full swing. This little blue tit has taken up residence in one of our nest boxes. The long-tailed tits have been picking cobwebs from around our windows to line their nests and last week I saw a little goldcrest picking fluff from one of the garden lamps.

The daffodils are now flowering, several weeks later than usual, but the weather is not being kind. Not too cold but lots of rain. We change the clocks tonight and will lose an hour, but the evenings will be much lighter. I hope that the weather will allow us to enjoy them.




The deer are still hanging around the garden most days. I think they can find more food here than in the woods, until everything starts growing again. They sit in the woods during the day, watching us from a safe distance, and come out in the evening to graze in the garden. It should not be too long until the babies are born.

A Quiet Month

February has been a quiet month with not much happening in the garden. Everyone is waiting for spring.

The weather has been awful - grey, dark snowy and rainy. I think the animals are as fed up as I am.

The only things flowering are the snowdrops. They seed themselves every year and have grown over a large area.

The only good thing about this weather is that it has driven the deer into the garden, even in daytime to search for food. They come right up to the house and it has been wonderful watching them. They are eating things that they would never normally eat, such as heather. I guess they are desperate.

It is now official that this has been the worst winter for more than 30 years in this area. In other parts of the UK, it has been even worse.

I hope that no damage has been done to the plants and that everything will spring into life when it warms up a bit.

Roe Deer Convention?

There have been so many roe deer in the garden over the last week, I am having trouble identifying them.

Last week I spotted this threesome and went outside to try to get a photo. They, of course, spotted me immediately and did not stay long. I must try to improve my deer stalking skills!

It is difficult to tell, but I think these were two males and one female.

Yesterday, I went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and spotted this roe buck cleaning up the seed under the bird feeders (just 3 metres from my kitchen window). I had the wrong lens on the camera but no time to change it, so all the photos were close-ups.

You can see his little antlers just pushing through!

I think the extreme weather this winter has been great for wildlife spotting. The creatures are more desperate than usual for food and are willing to venture out in daylight to find it.

Deer, Squirrels and Pheasants

Until this week we have not seen any deer in or around the garden for ages. I guess they are visiting at night rather than during the day. However, in the last couple of days I have spotted a couple in the field out front. I think these are the mother and the young male born this year. They are both wearing their darker winter coats.

The squirrels are hyperactive at the moment. Every time I look out of the window, I see one running across the lawn, probably with acorns to stash away.

I think there must be people locally who breed pheasants. I suspect that they have just released this year's brood, possibly because the pheasant shooting season in England started on 1st October. In the last two weeks, there have been at least a dozen pheasants in the garden - mostly males. We often hear shooting in the woods, so I hope the pheasants realise they are safe in our garden!

Just a Big Kid

Since one of the roe deer died in the garden a couple of weeks ago, the others seem to have been visiting less frequently, or perhaps only at night. Maybe they sense danger here?

However, the fallen apples are proving too much of a temptation and mother and kid were back again today. I have only just found out that a young roe deer is called a "kid". I thought they were fawns.

The kid is big now - almost as big as its mother. But, it's spots are still showing faintly. This kid is about 3 months old now. It was born in May.

His Lucky Day?

He thinks it may be his lucky day?

Roe Deer Mating Season

It's that time of year again - the roe deer buck has turned up and is staying very close to the doe. It is quite amusing to watch. He stays about 20-30 metres away from her. If she sits down, so does he.

Hopefully there will be some new little ones next May.

Sad Update :(

I mentioned in my post last weekend that I thought there may be something wrong with the roe deer that did not run away. Sadly, I found it dead in the garden this evening. Twice this week I found it sitting or lying in the garden and managed to get quite close to it before it noticed me. I thought this was most unusual.

I am now wondering what happened. I hope it was not poisoned.

Very sad.

Deer Surprise!

I had a nice surprise today. I was out in the garden photographing butterflies and I looked over the fence into the field next door. There, sat very quietly, was a roe deer who looked at me with interest but did not run away.They are normally very nervous creatures so it was lovely to get so close without scaring it. I rushed indoors to get my other camera and she was still there when I got back.

She sat quietly while I took some photos, but the problem was the long grass in which she was hiding. I am wondering why she did not run away? Maybe she was a youngster or perhaps she had a problem of some kind. She was not one of the regular roe deer that frequent the garden. I am getting the recognise them now!

Roe deer among the buttercups

Each year the field in front of our house is allowed to grow without grazing. There is always a wonderful display of buttercups. Roe deer love it. Each year I try to capture a photo of roe deer among the buttercups. This is this years effort.

After years of trying to take photos through the window, I have realised that I really need to get outside. Of course, there is not much time before they see me and run off. This is one of my better efforts.

The Terrible Twins?

Sitting at my computer this morning, two heads suddenly appeared at the window!

I slid down below the desk whilst trying to find my camera. I managed a few shots before they disappeared.

These roe deer are in the process of shedding their winter coats. Their fur seems very patchy with the ginger summer coat just showing through.

I have a feeling that these are the twins that were born last year. It is unusual to see a male and female together at this time of year.