Hiding in the reeds.

/ Andy Finnegan / 9 Comments

I quote the RSPB website “the water rail is a fairly common but highly secretive inhabitant of freshwater wetlands.” Look hard at my 1st picture; this is often the best view of this rail you get!

This afternoon I was lucky that the bird at Titchfield Haven broke cover and ran for the next clump of Reeds.

Red Deer.

/ Andy Finnegan / 7 Comments

Today our walk in the New Forest yielded the UK’s largest Deer the Red Deer. In the forest, numbers are maintained around 90 animals.

Size: Up to 1.37 metres at the shoulder, length from nose to tail is 2.01m in males.

Muntjac in the New Forest.

/ Andy Finnegan / 7 Comments

Having recorded some of these small deer on our trail cameras in the past year today we were lucky enough to bump into this lone Muntjac while looking for fallow deer in the New Forest this morning. These shy deer are small and are only about the size of a small dog.

Muntjac is mainly a solitary deer. They use scent to communicate their territories. Individuals do this by rubbing the long v-shaped slits on their foreheads where their frontal glands are onto the ground or branches. They also have two large glands located just in front of the eyes, called the pre-orbital glands. Muntjac frequently lick these with their long tongues, this is thought to help them recognise their own scent.

Video film of Muntjac spotted today repeated in slow motion.

Vole.

/ Andy Finnegan / 6 Comments

A Field Vole is also known as a short-tailed vole. I was lucky to spot this common but hard to see cute little animal. They have grey-brown fur above and creamy-grey belly, with a short tail. Weighing just 20 to 40 grams this small mammal has a life span of just a year. They are about the size of a golf ball!