Tag: red

September 2nd – This was a pleasant surprise. Riding home along Green Lane in Shelfield, I glanced, as I always do, through the gate of the field opposite the Mob Lane junction. Loafing on the freshly-cut stubble on Jockey Meadows were two red deer. It appears to be a mother and child, and they seemed to be in fine condition. I’ve seen deer here before, but never at this time of year. There was no sign of a larger group, but they might have been in the scrub towards the stream.

A fine sight, and one I’m still shocked to see in Walsall Wood on a parcel of land surrounded by industry and housing.

August 11th – I’d planned a long ride, but my energy levels – and a grim, persistent wind – didn’t allow it. My speeds were poor, and there were too may distractions, like the deer I spotted along the way. I spotted the first group – 6 or so red deer, including some impressive stags – on Cuckoo Bank, just off the Cannock Road north of Chasewater. They showed well, until something spooked them and they disappeared back into the thicket. 

Further on, at Penkridge Bank on Cannock Chase, a few skittish hinds were loafing in the bracken. I had thought the red colouring meant the one was juvenile, but this is not apparently the case, and it’s just a different marking.

It’s always good to see the deer, even on a ride when the wind never really gets behind you.

June 26th – It had caught my eye the morning before – a late flowering crop of oilseed rape in a field also partially spread with crimson poppies, just in the lee of Pipe Hill as one descends down into Lichfield. Today I stopped and took pictures.

I’m not altogether sure what causes this – but it is beautiful, and quite rare. It seems many of the neighbouring fields are displaying a similar effect. Beautiful in the sunlight.

May 19th – A busy day at Chasewater. Linda Mason had posted some pictures of deer on the dam that morning, and I was surprised when I passed by late afternoon that they were still tree. Not at all nervous of their occasional audience, they browsed the scrub, nibbling the shoots off the birch saplings and generally got on with things. 

If anyone had told me 20 years ago there would be red deer here, and they’d be this fearless I’d never have believed them. Beautiful.

March 17th – I haven’t seen the local deer for a while. I know they’ve been about from the reports of others, but my path and theirs hasn’t crossed. This is unusual, and I’ve missed seeing them. I like the red deer a lot, and feel quite some attachment. I think it’s partially due to the fact that they wander so freely, and pretty much appeared unannounced. They’re like odd, brown, cervine ghosts; you see them often enough to know they’re there, but the movements they make from place to place are unseen and mysterious. Recently, they’ve been on Clayhanger Common. One has to wonder how they got there… you can’t enter clay hanger without crossing the canal. 

Today, they were on the fields of the former Highfields Farm, south of the M6 Toll near Chasewater. I spotted them first from near the Poole Crescent footbridge, and then got closer shots from the roadside near the old farm. The group of does – I think there were about 15 in total – were loafing and grazing, and were not disturbed by my presence.

I love these graceful, beautiful animals. It’s lovely that we have them here. Such unexpected, wild beauty in a postindustrial place.

February 17th – As the sunset moved on, the golds turned to crimson and purple, and the birdlife settled peacefully, watched over by silent, reverent spotters. I went mooching over the north heath, where the boardwalk over Fly Creek seems to have sunk a little since the last time Chasewater was full. It really was a bit Indiana Jones – but nice to see the boardwalk now extended over the heath. As I returned along the Causeway, Jeffreys Swag glowed in the evening. You don’t get many days like this. I’m glad I was alive to witness it. 

August 26th – The same ride, and my deer magnet was clearly functioning well. Late afternoon, four red deer on the north heath of Chasewater, two adult hinds and their two young fawns. These are the first of this year’s youngsters I’ve seen and they look fit and heathy. For the time of year, their coats, too, were in surprisingly good condition. 
I still can’t quite believe these animals roam free here; they always leave me in awe. We’d never have imagined as kids that seeing such fine creatures in Brownhills would be remotely possible. 

June 17th – My deer magnet is clearly functioning well right now. These two delightful yearling hinds were grazing on the scrub adjacent to the railway track at Chasewater Heaths. Note that they’re still very young, and have the traces of their juvenile whit spots still present in their summer coats. They happily browsed the vegetation whilst keeping an eye on me, eventually wandering into the thicket nearby. A lovely sight, and one I still pinch myself in disbelief, every time I see it.

June 10th – Grainy, and very long range, this is a red deer hind and her young fawn. The females should at the moment be with young, or preparing to give birth, for which they tend to split from the main herd and search out protective cover. This lone mother was on cuckoo bank in just such conditions, and was very nervous and twitchy for her offspring. A wonderful, summertime sight, with births occurring up until mid-July.

June 5th – It was another miserable day, but the wildlife at Chasewater was showing well. There were several deer on the north heath, but it was this stray hind that caught my eye. Hanging around the railway line, she seemed to be after food, but didn’t sam to quite trust me. Coming quite close at times, the scene was spoiled, as it usually is in summer, by an idiot with a dog off the lead.