hinds – BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking

October 15th – Terrible photos and video taken hurriedly and in poor light, but something remarkable. I was heading back to Brownhills from an errand in Walsall Wood, and cut through by the new pond at Clayhanger. Dusk was falling and in the gathering gloom, a herd of maybe 12 red deer, split into two groups; three hinds with a stag by the treeline near the pond and the rest of the hinds 20 yards away, browsing the meadow.

I think there was some mating behaviour going on, as the male was standing his ground, and calling constantly. I’ve never seen this in person before, and it was a fascinating, mournful noise he was making (the video clip should be played with the sound up).

I wished I caught it earlier in better light, and made a better fist of the video, but who ever would have thought this ind of thing would be on our doorsteps?

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)

April 23rd – First time my deer magnet has been switched on for weeks. Just over Jockey Meadows, 200 metres or so from the site of the flytipping in the last post, two red deer hinds. One older than the other, both wathced me nervously from right at the bottom of the field, near the brook. These are very long-range photos, so apologies for the poor quality.

Both ladies were in the moult, so looked a bit threadbare, but otherwise appeared healthy enough. I think they’re part of a larger herd that loafs in the scrub there.

Nice to see them, and a sign as to why we need to look after our vital green spaces like Jockey Meadows and work against the kind of environmental damage caused by the flytipping shown in the previous post.