Richmond Park: Thursday October 19th 2023

Since my last visit to Richmond Park I had seen lots of images of the rut and I feared (correctly as it turned out) that the rut was over. I had had a late start for from home and had hit a lot of traffic along the A316. This as it turned out was a good thing as the gates to Richmond Park did not open until after 07:09 am. I was tenth or eleventh in the queue waiting to enter.

I parked at Pen Ponds and there only two other cars there. Everyone else was either avoiding the promised rain or had decided that was not much to see.

Into the Park

I decided to head across the open area and head for the far trees. I remembered seeing images of deer under there in other photographer’s posts. This squirrel was busy on the fallen tree trunk as I left the car park.

This stag was all alone in the middle of the open area.

Under the trees I first spotted this young stag

and after the does ran across the path in front of me, this stag crossed the path and went down to the water’s edge.

I walked past the pond and turned and walked along the side of the pond. I was able to keep up with the deer as they walked along the water’s edge.

As I turned to walk between the ponds I felt the first drops of rain. Below me heron watched the pond.

I headed up the path towards the car park and sought shelter under the trees on my right. In front of me a small group crossed the path and took refuge in the bracken.

I wondered if the stag in the middle of the open area was the one that I had seen earlier.

Behind me a fallow deer crossed the path and went deeper into the trees.

I was getting soaked despite being under the trees and breakfast beckoned.

Breakfast at Pen Ponds

By now the rain was quite heavy. I dumped my camera in the car and sheltered under the cafe’s roof while I waited for my bacon roll. My car was parked under a small tree that gave me shelter while I had breakfast.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. Rather than leave after breakfast I headed towards the sound of a stag baying somewhere behind the café.

Another harem

Behind the café is a large open space that slopes away from the car park. In the distance I could see a stag pacing backwards and forwards. I had to walk quite a way up the wide path to get myself parallel to the stag.

What3Words Challenge in Richmond Park

On the recent World Wide Photography Walk in Oxford our leader, Brian Worley, suggested using What3Words to plot a square meter than take images from that square. After watching the deer I decided to give it a try.