Fallow Deer

Some Fallow Deer shots form my trip to Margam Park on Wednesday:-

On arrival, I saw this family group in front of the castle:

A close-up of the stag:

There was no sign of any rutting, and lounging about seemed to be the order of the day:

I followed this stag with a broken antler about for a while:

 I would have liked a sunset sky in the background for this silhouettte, but, as the park closed at 4.30 p.m., there wasn't much chance of that:

 He wandered into this small wooded area:

 As I began heading for the exit, I came upon this group peering curiously at me:

The over-the-shoulder look:

There's one more species of deer in the park, which I'll post later.

Margam Park Deer

This afternoon, I made a trip to Margam Park, a large country park near Port Talbot. The most prominent building in the park is Margam Castle:



I was hoping to spot a few rutting deer, and hopefully capture some of the action. However, four hours of wandering the fields revealed no sign of rutting at all. Either I was in the wrong place, or I was too late. Oh well! Anyway, I managed a few pics. The most unusual of the three species of deer in the park is the Chinese native, Pere David's Deer. Here are a couple of shots of stags:

And one of a female:

In their native land, they are said to prefer marshland, and they certainly seem to favour the damper areas of the park. Here are a couple wallowing in the mud:

And a youngster of the same species:

There were large numbers of Fallow Deer roaming the grassland:

The third species present is the native Red Deer. Here is a young stag:

And two young chaps looking curiously in my direction:

And a group of nervous-looking hinds, some watching me, and others watching a man with a dog to my left:

Finally, one of the larger stags I saw today - peeing in the rain:

So, not the action shots I was hoping for, but - there's always next year!