Roe Deer are sometimes seen in these trees in the early hours and they were there this morning their presence given away by their white patches bobbing and dancing. Later on we find footprints.
Small prints usually mean Roe rather than Red but you have to consider that there's not much difference between a full sized doe and a small hind. Catkins are nearby fallen to the ground as a seasonal reminder ....
.. and in the Alders alongside the stream.
The land in the top picture is all part of Blacka and called persistently by SWT its 'nature reserve'; a symptom of their nervousness is the regularity with which the word 'reserve' gets used in relation to Blacka. This is stretching the truth to the point that the Trades Description regulations might be invoked. The strip where the trees are and where the Roe Deer were seen is closest to being 'natural' and nature is even there under threat with trees gradually being felled to provide employment to SWT's chain saws. Obviously the treeless field at the top is rigidly under management control being kept simply as farmland where recreational activity and nature itself get precious little look-in. In the foreground leggy heather is protected from natural succession by managerial 'scrub bashing' laughably organised as a recreational leisure activity for a small posse of volunteers; and of course paths are trashed by cows outside the winter months. Nature Reserve? Current vogue phrases might be invoked, but no word or phrase these days is proof against redefinition.
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