2015. szeptember 26., szombat

Matley Heath, New Forest Eng

Having been excited about last week's fallow deer this weekend found us in New Forest once again. The same way we were outdoors from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. On Saturday I picked wooded areas for the hike like Matley Wood, Denny Inclosure and Parkhill Inclosure, while the following day we wandered the heathland across Whitemoor Heath and Longwater Lawn.

New Forest's boundary at Foxhills



the first night completely clear sky and very strong moonlight surrounded us falling to sleep


in the morning the usual fog welcomed us well before sunrise


finally the sun managed to rise at 8 am

steaming bracken heaps by Matley Wood

crabapple

unmatched eyes of a pony

camera sniffing and lens fogging


in Matley Wood

Matley Heath looking towards Lyndhurst





the first pair of fallow deer

robberfly chewing on a midge

some creature's been really keen on dung beetle





heather bales

anthills

today's first fallow buck that took the hassle to wait a couple of seconds for a picture


boggy clearing in the woods









Shatter Bottom bog

fallow deer herd at dusk





We made camp on a higher hill south of Matley Bog. At night a bemused pony visited us not knowing what we were up to, then at dawn a cow substituted the alarm clock by its loud pounding while watching us with a studying stare.

heathland and oil refinery at dawn

sunrise almost a minute later than yesterday











sleeping pitch


donkies at Matley camp site


White Moor & Lyndhurst

Matley Heath

hovering kestrel



 horn




someone had a serious nap












Finally we managed to sneak up upon a larger fallow deer herd with a km of detour and about 50 metres of crawling at Longwater Lawn. Here I was quite busy taking pictures obscured by bracken.














A video has been recorded too:






beautiful Beaulieu river






lesser stag beetle got rescued after failing at its swimming lesson

deer trails

It has been an exciting experience watching fallow deer for a longer time. Next time it'll be time for deer rutting and we'll visit an area where red deer can bee seen too.