Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Birds and Deer


We walked the dogs at Pigbush this morning, it was cold and frosty. Several birdwatchers were out looking for the grey backed Shrike that has been see around for much of the winter We then drove up to Hatchetts Pond. There are two pairs of Mute swans , so hopefully we will have some cygnets to watch later on . We saw a Crested Grebe, but every time I got him in the view finder he dived! Lots of Black headed gulls as usual and in the distance a cormorant.
At about 3pm we decided to go back to see the Hawfinches. Some one said there were about 15 today . They are so elusive and I was surprised to find I had taken a photo with four in. They seem to love to perch so high in the tallest trees and you have to crane your neck to see them.
We drove home via the deer viewing platform at Bolderwood. They feed the deer here for the tourists to see and we decided to stop off and take a look. Three white bucks were among the deer grazing. The White Bucks are supposed to be lucky. They are not albinos just a very light coloured variation in the coat colour. In parts of the UK they can be almost black. Because they are used to people they just stayed munching away despite the fact that we were so close and not being particularly quiet. Normally they would have quickly dispersed before we had a chance totake photos!

1 comment:

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

It sounds like you've been taking advantage of some lovely weather and enjoying it. The picture of the grazing deer is beautiful.