Sunday 27 September 2009

Autumnal Deer

Having had beautiful light all week I've been itching to get out and take some photos. Yesterday I made it into Bushy Park and immediately spotted a group of red deer feeding in the fallen leaves near the entrance. I approached them quietly via wide dogleg so as get the best angle whilst not frightening them into the shade.



I managed about ten shots - of which this is the best - before a young girl cycled directly towards the group to take a photo with a camera-phone. This forced them under the trees and out of the light. I don't want to be a grumpy old man about this kind of thing - she had as much right to be there as me - but it is very frustrating when you've put in the effort to get a decent position without startling the animals and someone else blunders in and scares them off.

After this a thin layer of cloud came in and took the edge off the light, which was a shame. I was hoping to see some action between the stags - but they all seemed to be resting. Perhaps I'm a little early for the rut this year.

7 comments:

  1. Give it a week or so and you should see some action. I shall be visiting Bushy every few days to check up on the rut :D

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  2. Those are beautiful photographs - hard to believe it Autumn already, it feels like it was only just spring!

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  3. HI Ian,
    Yeh I know it is sometime frustrating to have a nice bird or animla close by and not getting any descent position to shot it. But the picture of the stag is just awesome man.. A pure beauty! Well done!

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  4. These are fabulous; and the Butterflies.

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  5. Great capture of the stag Ian. I can sympathise with your frustration as I had a similar experience this weekend.
    Cheers Frank.

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  6. Beautiful shots and I agree with Tricia you will need to time the Rut just right...and I look forward to see if you do. :)

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  7. Thanks for the comments everyone. I hope I can get back for the rut - but free weekends a bit scarce for a while!

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