Oh, Deer

I was standing in pretty much the same place as this image from a few weeks ago, trying to make sense of the light when who should pop out in front of me but this young stag. It's not surprising to see red deer around Chasewater but rarely in this area as it is a small island of heathland surrounded by the dam wall, canal feeder and M6 Toll motorway. At 8 am in the morning he (and his mate and fawn) would struggle to move into the wider expanses of heathland.

It was only as he moved that I sensed that he was in this area for a reason. While I only got a clear view of his hind legs on a couple of occasions, his limp suggested a problem. It was confirmed when I saw that he was missing his left hind leg from ankle joint down. I chatted with a couple of local dog walkers who said he had been in this small area for a few weeks. We assume he had been driven out from the main herd because of his disability.

This is about as close as you get to deer in our area, they are nowhere near as used to humans as the Richmond Park herd. In some ways I prefer their wariness of humans here. Less chance of someone treating them badly.

ps. A shot taken with the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 lens but, when factored in with the body being the Nikon V2 this is a 540mm equivalent lens. I'm chuffed that I have the equivalent of a 540mm f2.8 lens in my bag for these kinds of situations. I don't think I would have been lugging around a normal 500mm lens, just in case.

**I uploaded a revised version after seeing just how green it looked on the journal. Used Curves to correct, which is a first for me.**