Unrelenting

Each day feels hard work. The duration and the timing are extreme. After heavy snow from Friday there have been constant bitter east winds. Several of the morning walks have been with snow falling. Relentless is not an expected description of our weather.

This feels like one imagines winter in remoter regions of northern Europe.  The impact on wildlife can only be guessed. And it’s March. On the first of March last year I photographed the first spring flowers at 1000 feet.

Footprints have been few, not helped by the early morning snow covering anything made in the night. Fox prints are seen when there is no overnight snow.

 No chance of seeing deer for many days - they will have been keeping to their more sheltered refuges. This morning though deer prints were to be seen in the woods.

A group of stags were running in the trees possibly disturbed by an early walker further down.

One was without antlers and it’s likely he’s the senior 

Briefly he was challenged by another still antlered but retaliated by getting up on his hind legs before they ran off along with several more.