Is This A Deer In Richmond Park?
Am I The Lady of the manor spotting a deer on my estate? I wish I was..
This is a red deer I photoed in Richmond Park, here in West London. It has a distinctive rusty red coloured coat in late summer turning to brown in winter.
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Hi @stef1, hope you are okay regardless your holiday came to an end and thank you so much for nominating my post for the "World Of Xpilar" Community Support Program! It is an original post which I haven't posted in any other community. Fingers crossed that the upvote will follow in due course.
I've always been warned about the deer in Richmond Park (especially in mating season) but have never seen one - you appear to be so close, lovely picture. When was it taken? (From the colour of the leaves, I'm guessing Autumn time)
Thank you ever so much @the-gorilla, I'm glad you like the photo. I took it on 23rd November 2019 with a Nikkor wide angle 18-55mm lens so yes, you can get really close to the deer at Richmond Park. If you enter the park from the gate on Robin Hood Lane near the stables and then walk straight, left of Priory Lane towards the hill you will normally find a herd of deer just grazing there. They often pose and seem to enjoy some attention. Then I turn left and go up the hill (the view is worth it) where I also usually find another herd of deer (very shy) which are normally sitting on the ground surrounded by tall greenery, so it's best if you walk slowly and keep quiet so you don't scare them and miss a photo opportunity. Then I carry on walking towards the sports ground and I treat myself to a drink at the Pembroke Lodge (stunning views). Last but not least I head to Isabella's Plantation near which I usually come across another herd of deer and that is exactly where I photoed the deer featured in the post here. Hope that helps and you also manage to take deer photos from so close.
🙂 I don't live in London any more so it will probably be a while before I get that opportunity (I'm also pretty useless at photography!) I wish I'd known this when I did live there though, you certainly know your way around the park and where the good spots are 📸
I 💁♀️do indeed @the-gorilla. I love nature, so the parks are my favourite places in the city. If you can, aim at exploring Richmond Park on a weekday as that’s when you will find just yourself, few dog walkers and gardeners there and of course the deer 🦌 I see you’re now based in Eastbourne. I love the south coast. I’ve been there few times as it’s a great starting point of walks in the South Downs National Park 🏞
I used to live in Wimbledon and Wimbledon Common was a short walk away - I remember seeing a little bunny rabbit on a frosty morning run. It wasn't afraid of me at all and I started to think it was a toy or statue before it hopped off. I once ran to Richmond Park from Wimbledon and then tried to do a lap of the Park too. That was a bit too far so I got the train home (from Barnes I think).
🙂 You may well know the part of the South Downs I live next to - The Seven Sisters is a short walk up the road (literally, UP the road) from us and Beachy Head isn't much further away - have these formed a part of your walks?
You are so lucky @the-gorilla to have lived so close to Richmond Park! I like the sound of your bunny encounter. I've not seen bunnies in Richmond Park but I've never been out there at dawn or dusk either as I have to take the underground to Westminster, then change to a Wimbledon train, get off at Putney and hop on bus number 85. The journey on a good day takes 2 hours door to door. But I was lucky to spot (every time I went!) many bunnies at East Hill in Hastings (which should be under an hour drive from yours!). Sunset with a sea view is not to miss over there in the company of bunnies (unfortunately difficult to photo as they are most active when there's not much light).
I do know the Seven Sisters quite well and I also did a Seven Sisters post here in the World Of Xpilar about a day out there. The photos featured in this post are from last year, 18th July. Maybe I even walked past your house? I remember I saw flocks of goldfinches just before the white cliffs. Maybe you even have a bird feeder (I do!) and they come to your place? I like the exotic looking goldfinches which really stand out form the brownish birds with their red faces and yellow feathers.
Maybe you walked past me 🤣 When you walked up the slope from the café, if you'd have taken a photo facing away from the sea, you might have seen my house 🙂
That's a good walk from the Café up to Birling Gap - I used to live in East Dean too (you'd have gone through it on the bus to Cuckmere Haven) and once walked from town (the train station) all of the way home. That was a long walk. That was another running route I'd take early in the morning, up to Birling Gap and back around the farm - quite flat considering how hilly it is around here.
We get quite a lot of birds here - we don't have a bird feeder yet but next door does and it attracts lots. We have a couple of woodpeckers that live in a tree in front of our house (that peck holes in our front lawn), lots of seagulls (squawking at 4:30am at the moment), blackbirds and magpies but my favourite visitors are the robins. When I'm in the garden 1(or sometimes 2) will come and sit very close next to me. I don't think we've had many goldfinches although I'll certainly look out for them now 👍
I've written a few posts about Eastbourne, this is the most recent in which I reference a few earlier ones. You might recognise a few places 📸
I took photos facing away from the sea 🌊 too @the-gorilla and I walked through East Dean once when I had to make my way back to Brighton for my train back to London but I missed the last coastal bus 🚌 which stops right by Birling Gap past the Café. I’ve also done the flat walk back saying hello to the cows and sheep 🐑 on the way. The last photos in your latest Seven Sisters post look like from that bit and I do like the thumbnail photo with the white cliffs. I like how you love sharing photos of the area and I do hope some people were inspired to go and check it out one day. Nearly every time I was in the area I met and spoke to even international tourists and students who came especially for the Seven Sisters having red about it online.
It’s truly awesome you’ve got resident woodpeckers! Great spotted or green woodpeckers?🤔 I saw a very hungry great spotted woodpecker the start of July this year around Darts Farm, Devon but I just managed to take two (not the greatest) photos of it.
Robins are quite used to humans and they’ve learned that when we work in the garden it’s very likely there will be worms for them. I’m also lucky to have a pair of resident robins which had little ones the past 2 years in a row. Last year in May, during lockdown I even managed to photo an Adult Robin Feeding A Baby on our brick patio garden wall. Thought you might enjoy the photo and maybe I should do more birds posts here in WOX.💁♀️
Beautifully Clicked 👍👌
Thank you 💁♀️ever so much @crafter! 🙌 I will keep up the good work and share more wildlife photos here in WOX 📸
You are welcome ☺️