This morning we arrived at Richmond Park just as the gates were opened. The early morning promised to be misty in the park if the amount of mist along the M3 was an indication.
The roads within the Park are being repaired. This meant our journey to the Spankers Hill Car Park, by the Pen Ponds, was longer than expected.
As we drove around the Park we passed lots of deer. But there was nowhere to park nearby so we had to keep going. The Kingston Gate had not yet opened as we passed on our way round from the Richmond Gate. The car park at Spankers Hill was nearly empty as we parked and walked towards the Pen Ponds.
Pen Ponds
Overhead the planes were coming into land at Heathrow.
The ponds were covered in mist and we could just about see the water.
We walked to the East of the ponds as we could hear deer barking away to our right.
Our first deer
We caught up to the stag making all the noise. We then followed him as he walked across open ground and then up into a wood.
From our left as we walked three hinds broke across in front of us disturbed by a dog off the leash.
The stag was by now some way away.
We followed the stag up into more woods.
Breakfast
By now we had come full circle and we could see the car park . The Pen Ponds Cafe was open so it was time for breakfast. On our way down the hill we passed a tree full of parrots.
The cafe was busy as we dumped our cameras and bags on one of the nearby benches and ordered our food.
The bacon rolls were cooked to order and we enjoyed them with a warming cup of tea. The cafe was clearly a meeting place for dog walkers, cyclists and other photographers alike.
By now the mist had been burnt away and we could see some deer back where we had walked.
Stag walking by us
We followed the paths through the grass back the way we had come. There a stag came towards us, passing within 20 or 30 feet of us . We waited by a small fence as it passed by.
Chatting to a fellow photographer, we learnt that there were still lots of hinds wandering alone around the Park. This indicated that the rut had yet to begin. He estimated this would be in about 10 days time. He left us following the stag back towards the Pen Ponds.
The herd
We turned and watched a small herd of deer cross the road in front of us. This stopped all the cyclists and walkers for some time. Behind the deer came a large male stag that bellowed and barked as he walked.
As we watched the old male stag chased off another stag with not quite so big a spread of antlers and then turned his attention to the young males following and pushed them away too. They came close to our position and settled down.
We cautiously walked past the young males to get closer to the stag and the hinds.
Resting stag
Back towards the Pen Ponds we could see a couple of photographers watching the stag that had walked so close to us. We followed one of the many paths towards the ponds and watched the stag peering up through the grass.
As we came closer he stopped looking up and was clearly sleeping in the warm sun. We did try and get closer in case he put his head up.
But he just slept on.
Leaving the Park
The car park was now filling up and all the tables of the café were full. Time to go. As we drove down the road from the car park a stag and hinds came right up to the road and came the close to the car as we passed. Here’s my grab shot as we passed.
