The Muntjac and Me

I must admit I was a little disappointed at the dragonfly activity at Broaks wood, or should I say lack of it, especially since I’d taken the day off to beat the weekend fine-weather dog walkers.

There were quite a few azures, most of them ovipositing and I managed to get a picture of this frog…

… but that was about it around the ponds. Despite the temperature touching 30C at 12 o’clock, the larger dragonflies were nowhere to be seen.

I walked further into the wood to escape the heat and sat down half way up a shady hill overlooking a small valley. If there was going to be any deer activity, this would be as good a place as any. No sooner had I said that then I saw small figure of a muntjac doe peeking through the trees.

I was a bit exposed and to take the photo I had to move quite a bit so she spotted me and jumped into the bracken which lines the bottom of the valley.

As she started barking, I walked quickly down the hill to see if I could work my way around to get close enough for another picture. The bracken was taller than head height, and it extended too far to the left and right to work my way around. I would just have to wade through it.

I battled through the bracken. It was impossible to go fast and I tried to avoid making too much noise. The barking got louder as I closed in. I wasn’t too sure if I would actually see her. A deer the size of a dog in amongst the high bracken. I wondered why I had adopted this strategy in the first place!

The barking stopped. I stood still wondering what to do next. I glanced down to see some fresh droppings and the faintest of trails through the bracken. Going even slower now, I followed the trail as best I could while still fighting with the tangled mess at head and chest height. I couldn't look down all the time, but when I did, I could still just see the faint trail. Cool! I was tracking muntjac through bracken! Now that’s a first!

But it had to end. I found a bit of high ground and looked around. No barking. No sign. No trail. No muntjac! I went a little further down a slope to get to a main track. Once on the main track, I clambered on to a fallen low branch and scanned the bracken for any movement. Suddenly, the barking started up again. She was barking from the cover of a tree right in the middle of the bracken. I worked out she had sneaked away to the left while I battling away to the right.

Now I had the advantage. If I walked quickly enough along the main track and up the hill, I could get on the high ground and look down on the tree where she was barking from. I walked quickly up the track about 50 yards with the tall bracken covering me to the left.

I cut back into the wood to the left only to be confronted with a fresh deer trail. It could only have been the doe, who, while I was going hell for leather up the track, must somehow sensed what I was about and decided to break cover and make a run for it.

To confirm my suspicions (and probably to let me know she’d won) I heard a shrieking bark about 200 yards away to my right.

Determined not to be beaten, I followed the tracks. She was following a well worn deer trail, which made it easy for me, although I only saw an occasional fresh print.

Needless to say after about 100 yards or so, the trail ran out and, despite searching the ground, I couldn’t find any evidence of where she went.

Game set and match to the muntjac. Well, it is Wimbledon fortnight.

Thanks for the visit.

The Muntjac and Me

I must admit I was a little disappointed at the dragonfly activity at Broaks wood, or should I say lack of it, especially since I’d taken the day off to beat the weekend fine-weather dog walkers.

There were quite a few azures, most of them ovipositing and I managed to get a picture of this frog…

… but that was about it around the ponds. Despite the temperature touching 30C at 12 o’clock, the larger dragonflies were nowhere to be seen.

I walked further into the wood to escape the heat and sat down half way up a shady hill overlooking a small valley. If there was going to be any deer activity, this would be as good a place as any. No sooner had I said that then I saw small figure of a muntjac doe peeking through the trees.

I was a bit exposed and to take the photo I had to move quite a bit so she spotted me and jumped into the bracken which lines the bottom of the valley.

As she started barking, I walked quickly down the hill to see if I could work my way around to get close enough for another picture. The bracken was taller than head height, and it extended too far to the left and right to work my way around. I would just have to wade through it.

I battled through the bracken. It was impossible to go fast and I tried to avoid making too much noise. The barking got louder as I closed in. I wasn’t too sure if I would actually see her. A deer the size of a dog in amongst the high bracken. I wondered why I had adopted this strategy in the first place!

The barking stopped. I stood still wondering what to do next. I glanced down to see some fresh droppings and the faintest of trails through the bracken. Going even slower now, I followed the trail as best I could while still fighting with the tangled mess at head and chest height. I couldn't look down all the time, but when I did, I could still just see the faint trail. Cool! I was tracking muntjac through bracken! Now that’s a first!

But it had to end. I found a bit of high ground and looked around. No barking. No sign. No trail. No muntjac! I went a little further down a slope to get to a main track. Once on the main track, I clambered on to a fallen low branch and scanned the bracken for any movement. Suddenly, the barking started up again. She was barking from the cover of a tree right in the middle of the bracken. I worked out she had sneaked away to the left while I battling away to the right.

Now I had the advantage. If I walked quickly enough along the main track and up the hill, I could get on the high ground and look down on the tree where she was barking from. I walked quickly up the track about 50 yards with the tall bracken covering me to the left.

I cut back into the wood to the left only to be confronted with a fresh deer trail. It could only have been the doe, who, while I was going hell for leather up the track, must somehow sensed what I was about and decided to break cover and make a run for it.

To confirm my suspicions (and probably to let me know she’d won) I heard a shrieking bark about 200 yards away to my right.

Determined not to be beaten, I followed the tracks. She was following a well worn deer trail, which made it easy for me, although I only saw an occasional fresh print.

Needless to say after about 100 yards or so, the trail ran out and, despite searching the ground, I couldn’t find any evidence of where she went.

Game set and match to the muntjac. Well, it is Wimbledon fortnight.

Thanks for the visit.

Botany Bay

Every other Wednesday evening for the past couple of months I’ve been wandering the field and hedgerows of  our village with a group of hard-core botanists led by Dr Ken Adams, the Essex Botanical recorder.

I say hard-core, because these guys don’t just know the names of a couple of virtually all the plants we come across, they will tell you just about everything to do with the plant including, of course, the Latin name. In fact they would rather talk Latin names, which is a bit frustrating for the likes of me.

Although it’s hard to keep up, I’ve been enjoying myself immensely and it’s rekindled an interest in botany that I started just after I began serious bird-watching many, many years ago.

Today, I took out the big camera and went to the woods and the local fields to capture a couple of June flowering plants. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on some of these. Unfortunately, Ken wasn't with me today!

Red Dead-Nettle

Red campion

Slender or Hairy St John’s wort (not perforate)

Self-heal

Arum lily berries

Don’t forget to look up now and again – Buzzard.

Field of Rape

Poppy

Redshank

Common mallow

Agrimony

Field scabious with 5-spot burnet moths

Bladder campion

Oxeye daisy

Rosebay willowherb

Cinqufoil (with cut-leaved cranesbill)

Ragwort

Cardinal beetle

Tall melitot

Bugloss

Black hoarhound

White bryony

Thanks for the visit.

Botany Bay

Every other Wednesday evening for the past couple of months I’ve been wandering the field and hedgerows of  our village with a group of hard-core botanists led by Dr Ken Adams, the Essex Botanical recorder.

I say hard-core, because these guys don’t just know the names of a couple of virtually all the plants we come across, they will tell you just about everything to do with the plant including, of course, the Latin name. In fact they would rather talk Latin names, which is a bit frustrating for the likes of me.

Although it’s hard to keep up, I’ve been enjoying myself immensely and it’s rekindled an interest in botany that I started just after I began serious bird-watching many, many years ago.

Today, I took out the big camera and went to the woods and the local fields to capture a couple of June flowering plants. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on some of these. Unfortunately, Ken wasn't with me today!

Red Dead-Nettle

Red campion

Slender or Hairy St John’s wort (not perforate)

Self-heal

Arum lily berries

Don’t forget to look up now and again – Buzzard.

Field of Rape

Poppy

Redshank

Common mallow

Agrimony

Field scabious with 5-spot burnet moths

Bladder campion

Oxeye daisy

Rosebay willowherb

Cinqufoil (with cut-leaved cranesbill)

Ragwort

Cardinal beetle

Tall melitot

Bugloss

Black hoarhound

White bryony

Thanks for the visit.