Two early mornings, two types of deer.

After my foray for the Chinese Water Deer last September, I thought it was time for another go. I also wanted to get back to see if the severe winter had had any impact on them. I always look forward to getting out after the deer at this time of year but it has got a slight drawback in the fact that you have to get up so early, very early. However, when I am getting up to go out after the deer, I always really look forward to it and I end up not sleeping great the night before anyway!

I had gone out on the 5th of April but the weather had turned against me, though I had seen a good number of deer. On the morning of the 8th the weather was a lot better with a fantastic sunrise that promised a good sunny morning. And so it was. The weather was perfect and I was seeing good numbers of deer and it was evident that they had come through the winter just fine. The one thing with Chinese Water Deer though is the evidence on the bucks of the fighting during the rut. Because they do not possess antlers but instead use their canine tusks to fight, some of them do look very battle scarred, especially on the ears. One buck I saw looked as though a hand grenade had gone off in one of its ear's as it was so torn!

I took my best shots to date of Water Deer that morning, but I think I could do even better in the early part of the summer and so I will try to get back at the end of May or the begining of June. There may also be some young about by then as well which are known as kitts with Chinese Water Deer as they give birth to litters and can have up to five or more young, though this is the exception rather than the rule. A usual number is two or three.

So after a successful morning with the Water Deer, I turned my attention to the Roe Deer of Thetford Forest once again, and found myself in a very frosty forest at first light on the morning of the 13th. Right from the word go I was seeing deer. In fact I had such a good morning, I had taken more than enough photo's by about lunch time and called it a day! I tried to keep a count of the deer I did see and ended up seeing over 120. This wasn't just Roe though as I also see a good number of Fallow and several Muntjac and Red Deer too.

As with the Chinese Water Deer, I got my best shots of Roe to date, having some very good stalks and with a family group of four in particular, getting to within thirty metres of them. I had a great time not just taking shots but also just sitting and watching too. As it was such a sunny day, there were also several Butterflies about and I got some shots of Brimstone and Comma Butterflies and some great shots of a Skylark on a mound of earth singing. I also see a Buzzard and had the good fortune to see three Stone Curlew as well. So I had two very early, but very successful mornings and I knew it wouldn't be too long before I was out before first light trying for something else.