Deer Among the Bluebells

I was walking on Ley Hill Common today and had just stopped to admire the bluebells when I saw a deer walk onto the path ahead of me.

The photo doesn't really show the scale, it wasn't fully grown and for a second I had thought it a large muntjac. It stayed still without any interest in me for a long enough to allow me to get out the phone and take the picture. Still unaware of my presence in then walked into the woods across the path and I approached much closer but without the opportunity of a photo. Finally it realised that I was there and bounded away with some wonderfully balletic leaps.

With the Covid-19 lockdown I have been taking some longer walks. On a byway between Latimer and Flaunden I was lucky enough to see a yellowhammer on the hedgerow. While I have often seen these birds perched on the hedges while driving down the local lanes this was the first occasion when there hasn't been a sheet of glass in the way. The number of birds singing on that walk also made me realise how little bird song I actually recognise.

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Returning to the Garden

High summer and early autumn is always a quiet time for birds in my garden. I no longer feed after my summer holiday as I have ended up throwing away far to much mouldy fat or seed. Normally I would wait until November before putting the feeders back out but a party of long tailed tits appeared in the front garden today so I think that it might be worth while trying a single fat bar for the moment. For the past couple of weeks I have seen a lot of roadside signs saying "beware of deer" in places where I wouldn't normally see them. Last weekend I decided that they might be justified when I encountered a herd of roe deer in the road between Ley Hill and Latimer. While muntjac are seen often enough the roes tend to be shy and this was only the third time that I have had a good look at some in all the years that I have lived here.

A Little More Normal

After a couple of days of frost the garden looks more like a typical winter's day with birds visiting throughout the day. Blue tits are the main visitor plus one or two marsh (or possibly willow) tits and the occasional great tit. A flock of long tailed tits paid a fairly brief visit. Robins in the back garden have paired, seemingly a little later than the ones in the front. Due to ill health the ivy on my back fence hasn't been trimmed and has developed a good crop of berries. The only bird that I have seen showing interest has been a wood pigeon which spent some time yesterday feasting on them. In the front I put out a fat block yesterday afternoon which, so far, has attracted a grey squirrel. The pair of robins and the occasional blackbird are active on the hanging table.

More Starlings

At least one brood of starlings have been regular visitors to the feeder and today the fledglings got the hang of taking the food for themselves. Other broods must be less developed as adults were still taking away quantities of fat. The tits aren't so common at the moment, I don't know if this is because they have dispersed, if wild food is available or if pressure from the starlings has driven them off. Single blue tits are dropping in fairly regularly and a coal tit took fat away as well. The woodpecker seems to have become a regular visitor and still has a brood to feed. He definitely comes before the starlings in the pecking order and keeps them off the feeder until he has finished. The new feeder with perching rings is popular with the chaffinches and the goldfinches, the latter suddenly seem to prefer the high energy mix to the nyjer seed. With all this demand for feeding young ones the fat is going down very rapidly and I am putting larger quantities out on the ground t...

Chiltern Birder

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