Underfoot

In the woods the ground is pretty dry, the trees doing their best to soak up the rainwater and their roots to aid soil structure and retention. Unlike the bare squelchy slopes of the sheep infested pasture land, where trees would be an advantage, something we've been saying for too long. How they ever came to think these hillsides had to stay treeless is, like everything to do with land , a story of power, privilege and exploitation. A more wooded look would also add to the attractiveness and the range of wildlife around. And the compaction is caused as much by the farm vehicles driving all over the site contributing to water run-off and the risk of flooding further down. How you square a more environmentally and wildlife friendly approach with farming subsidies of course depends on the attitude of the wealthy landowners at the top of Natural England, DEFRA and the NFU not to mention their friends in high positions in the conservation industry. What's irksome is when they help propagandise ordinary folk by courting celebrities.

In the woods you may also see roe deer, less often than the red but very welcome. This morning's group was the first for some time and included a buck. They quickly ran off to be followed by a young stag as if he was chasing them. But more likely they were all alarmed by the same thing.

As well as the distinctive white rump they have quite different colouring to the red deer. It's been a feature of this winter that red deer have kept something of their reddish colouring. During seriously cold spells they have the ability to quickly put on layers of insulating material that is much duller than their autumn coats.