Again

Mostly it's to do with my own lack of fitness and mobility, an increasing problem over the last year. So I've tried to explore the more remote areas but again and again had to limit myself to parts that are easier to access. That's frustrating but only what many others have to cope with. So it's many months since I saw this pair despite searching whenever and wherever I could.

I had been scouring Blacka for weeks even before I saw them in July, the first and only view of a hind with young. Since then I've continued to look but this is the only time I've met them since then. It's hard to shake off fears that they may have come to harm. There are so many bad people about on the fringe of Blacka; and they have access to guns. It may be easier to see the deer in other parts of the Eastern Moors but here we have the chance to see them in a more natural setting, more wooded and hence more enchanting. The autumn beauty is an equal partner in the experience. Wildlife plus autumn colours plus natural vegetation: what could be better?

Here is the young calf rubbing against a birch. How does that manage to be so touching?