Are you looking at me?

[Jannyfox]

Up on the local hills, more renowned for red deer. I was having my lunch by a pond when a head popped over the bank. A lovely roe buck. He didn't know I was there as I was dressed in dark clothing and standing with my back against a tree. He couldn't wind me where I was. He just ambled very slowly along the bank very close and presenting a perfect photo but to get to my camera I had first to put my lunch box down on the ground, and had I moved he'd have been off, so I had to wait till he moved on so that intermittently we were hidden from each other by trees. Fortunately he moved down a path that took him past my side of the pond, though with a rubbish background and a bit far for the 18 - 135mm lens, but we take what we're given.
Oddly he was the second roe I'd seen, though I did see reds as well. I'm in awe of the way they can clear a wire fence from a standstill
There were cuckoos, stone chats, chiff chaffs and skylarks all giving voice - and a thunderstorm that fortunately didn't come my way

 

[Stuart Philpott]

Hey jan ya good mate? TFS cool little fella is he a 4 pointer ? So cool seeing it on Dartmoor I presume Dartmoor?

Janny I know you struggle a bit with weight is the 135 your longest lens? Sorry for all the Q's...some of my reasoning for them all:

first up the more i larn about them ( roe) the more I realize how habitual they are,so personally I think you can find him again without too much trouble,if fella isn't too far from you and you have time of course. Hence longer lens Q
Second well the rut is just around the corner so there is no better time to latch on to a buck for me.......which folds back into the Q about no of points IE how mature he is,tis difficult to tell from pic mature buck usually has 6 points............................The more mature the more likely he will be starting to look at holdiing a territory right now...............and hence the great the chance of you seeing a scrap. Jan this one for me isn't just about images.......roe rutting is hard hard to see it's also preddy astounding to watch you'll not forget it that's for sure. I've only clocked it once full bore and got images.

The reason so hard to see , simply, is that if the two bucks are not fairly evenly matched it usually becomes a chase.which sure is impressive but not like watching 2 males really clash.

so I guess that's me sign off Jan wanting someone else to see roe rut and in many ways that isn't image driven............seeing it Jan OMG seeing it

Cheers for sharing I love every image of this little ruffian I see here.....soon they'll be orange each an every year just that coat change amazes me

stu

 

[Jannyfox]

Thanks for your insights Stu. They're always valuable. Not Dartmoor but the Quantocks, and I can't remember having seen roe there before. Roe are just everywhere though. I've seen one right out in the middle of Dartmoor. This was an area of the Quantocks I don't normally go to. It's away from the deep combes where you'll find reds (huge number of them up there, I've counted over 70 in one combe and that's just the ones I could see) but large areas of woodland where a roe will vanish. The one I'd seen earlier was lurking in the woods, but several miles from here . So my chances of finding him again are non existant though I'd be tempted to try. The hill further along is a huge dog walking area but most of them don't get this far from the car park. I was out walking and never take anything other than my older 550D and 18-135 lens. Just under 10 miles. Not fully fit after the op on my leg yet. I don't know how mature he is. He looks pretty hefty from the photo but I can't count the points. I should have looked when he was closer to me. I'll know next time. I couldn't get to my monocular either. I must try to catch the red rut (from a very safe distance). I've seen the way they churn up the ground pushing at each other. That tells quite a story