Red Deer and Bearded Tits

Another visit to Leighton Moss, this time a real early start and i was in the Griesdale hide at sunrise in the hope of getting some shots of the Red Deer stags. It was a beautiful morning as the sun rose over the hills opposite, and the sound of the stags roaring in the cold still air made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but unfortunately the real big fellas stayed hidden away but there was still plenty of Deer movement early on. Also I wanted to try and get some shots of the Bearded Tits that were reported to regularly visiting the grit trays put out for them. First a selection of Red Deer shots. This is what the Stags are now intersted in herding up the hinds and fighting to keep their hareem. A younger stag with smaller antlers A youngster, possibly one of this years offspring This fella appeared out of the reeds and stood for ages watching what was going on before revealing himself, and then disappeared back into the reeds. This group of hinds and youngsters were quite relaxed lounging in the late morning sunshine. A youngster still with the characteristic spots This stag keeps a close watch on his ladies!! He relaxes but never too far away from the hinds When the deer watching quitened off I wandered around to the causeway to see if Bearded Tits were visiting the grit trays, and I was not disappointed. When this Heron wandered by I held my breath and got some great close up shots. Lastly, whilst watching the deer saw something move out the corner of my eye, by the time I had swung the camera around caught this stoat in mid air escape!