I made it a point yesterday to walk through the valley, I went on my own at about midday. The main reason for me walking the valley was to see if I could see or hear the Buzzards, I would usually have taken Tass and Kye with me, but being that we have recently seen a number of Deer on the webcams, there would be more of a chance of seeing them , if I were on my own, if there were any. Tass will come to heel immediately she is called, or when we need to be very quite, I only need to click my fingers. Kye is very good, but she does hesitate, and has not yet got use to coming to heel as Tass, when I click my fingers.
Although the whole Denbury is in a valley, I call the part where the valley camera is, the start. To get to where the valley starts you need to pass through the orchard on the track that also passes the Bird and Squirrel feeders. Once into the valley I crossed the stream making my way up the hill to the wood, that you can see on the right hand side. I walked along that wood first, as it is the wood that I believe that the Buzzards nest. Every year I try to find the nest, but I have never managed to find it. You can also usually see the Adult Buzzard fly close to the side of the wood.
There was no sign of any of the Buzzards. I turned left at the end of the wood making my way down the hill, crossing the stream at the far end, then turning right into the little paddock that I described as my favorite spot on the farm. The small bales of hay that we had made last week were still lying where they had been made. Seeing them reminded me that the contractor had not brought them in. They need to be in before any rain, being small bales they would spoil, if rained on.
There were a number of the bales of hay under the old Ash tree. I pulled a few of them together so that I could lay out for few minutes to listen to the quietness. I must have dozed off for a few seconds, only to be woken by a distant shotgun being discharged, At the same time a movement to my right, made me look into that direction of the wood, just as a Red Deer Calf came out of the wood. With the paddock being small, the wood is only at the most ten metres from where I was laying. I didn’t move a muscle as it made its way to my direction, grazing the new grass that was shooting up after being mowed to make the hay. Within a minute the Hind followed into the paddock, after jumping over an low barbed wire, that was once part of an old fence.
I was surprised that the Hind had not noticed me, especially as a light breeze would have been blowing my scent into her direction, obviously she hadn’t, for both the Calf and Hind carried on grazing, at times within three metres of me, for at least twenty minutes. Keeping still in the position I was in was making me ache and stiffen up, giving me little alternative but to sit up. I moved very slowly so as not to frighten the Deer to much. The Hind looked at me then carried on grazing. It was not until I stood up did she slowly make her way back into the wood, with her calf following close behind. later that evening I managed to catch them on the webcam.