Twelve Eyes a Watching!

Out for a walk this morning, didn't spot too much, a small group of around 4-5 goldfinches [just too fast to shoot] a Buzzard and a few deer.....these were easier to get on the camera



Never out and about without the two dogs!!


Buzzard

On Lookout!

There are the others....

12 eyes a watching....still now or they'll be off in a flash!!

great pictures, never see anything like that out with my dogs....hate living in a town :|

Elaine, go back over the threads and look out some of Tonys older posts and you'll really get a sense of what your missing, nothing short of fantastic. Garden and Environs for one.

Just look at that bird, amazing (kinda looks like he's a damaged primary in the second shot??)

Tony do you ever come across fawn in hiding on your walks? The deer furthest left in both photos looks some what confused don't you think, great expression!

and as always loving the dogs

I think I know exactly where you got those shots Tony Great shots as always! You gotta love the gorse in flower too, it looks like the background is on FIRE! My better half lives just next door to that spot and a few nights ago a deer ran across the road in front of me.....as it was the small hours I was quite tired and nearly soiled myself LOL!

Tanpira wrote:Tony do you ever come across fawn in hiding on your walks?

Normally the does of this wandering group will disappear late May and June to give birth to fawns, I've stumbled upon quite a few does with young over the years, normally in the protection of almost impenetrable gorse....Karl you may be able to shed more light on the group...now I don't think these boys are any of our regular and pedigree deer, i.e Red, Fallow, Roe...Is this a Fallow/Muntjac cross?? What do you reckon? You may well have the answer if your folks live so close....

They are Fallow deer, the group in the photos seems to be a small herd of does which are still moulting into their summer coat (you can just about see some faint whitish spots on the sides and back) hence their tatty appearance. Their smallish size, bicoloured appearance and long tail are the give-aways.

I have heard that there are Roe deer in the area too, and have seen a glimpse of a small deer dashing into thick scrub a few years ago but not for long enough to confirm what it was.

I think there's definitely Fallow there...no question, however, I don't think they're pedigree animals...how about a Fallow / Sika cross? I understand the estate from whence they escaped so many years ago cross bred animals...I see these deer up close and personal, really, as close as my back garden and I really do know a pure New Forest type Fallow when I see one....again I think you're right..Fallow yes, but I still think there's something else in the mix!!!


Fallow Stag

Fallow Doe

Sika Stag

Sika Doe


Our Deer...still need to be totally convinced!!

Oh I didn't know about the hybridising bit.....now that makes it interesting! A good Sika feature is the small black smudge in the bottom edge of each ear, which you can see on the Sika hind photo....would you have any close-up photos of the question able deer?

People who hybridise animals are a pain for the rest of us who love to observe and identify!

To get those beasties so close to your house would be AMAZING, Tony you lucky sod! Out of interest, do you have any bats around?

I'll have to check my photo archive for deer shots, bats we have, last year we think one fell out of our roof space...I wasn't here at the time...it was brought to the doorstep by one of the cats...I only hope it was young, lost it's perch and died on impact...type of bat unsure...in fact I'm going outside right now, I don't know if it's warm enough for these little fellas right now, but if you don't look you don't see, right?

I'm just in from doing the same Tony as we have a few around our house - it seems their emergence is related to that of insects which, not surprisingly, is dependent on air temperature. Lately its been too ruddy cold for there to be much insect and bat activity, grrrr, and they were only out very briefly after sunset each night. However there is better cloud cover tonight and so air temps are around 9C where I am - just borderline for good insect and bat activity.

Did you see any bats?

I managed to pick up two species, a Leisler's and then 2 Pipistrelles, and they were active for longer tonight. I never knew we had Leisler's near the house so thats rather nice :)

Nothing Karl, if it's 9 degrees at yours it's less here!! Normally when a few are flying around you can hear the high pitched squeaks....if they've any sense they'll be in bed at mine tonight!!

Speaking to Emma..my far better half...there were a couple of bats flitting around in front of our garage a couple of weeks ago....now I've been outside and there's been a significant hatch of flies/mozzies....Raymond's around in a little bit so we'll take a look and report back later....

With the weather the way it is at the mo, they only have a small window of opportunity to feed each evening before it gets too cold and insects become inactive.....here the window of opportunity is not ong after sunset, for about half an hour, then thats it. They may come out as air temps increase towards dawn again though.

We need warmer weather

Got it...thanks Karl!

Tony W wrote:I'll have to check my photo archive for deer shots, bats we have, last year we think one fell out of our roof space...I wasn't here at the time...it was brought to the doorstep by one of the cats...I only hope it was young, lost it's perch and died on impact...type of bat unsure...in fact I'm going outside right now, I don't know if it's warm enough for these little fellas right now, but if you don't look you don't see, right?

OK Karl, I managed to get back up to our spot this morning and took the following two shots....I have a few more photos, however, take a look at these to start with...


This is the same group of guys that I shot last week, and that may have been subject to cross breeding somewhere down the line...as a point of note this group has no significant colour change after moulting...I'd certainly like to know more about these chaps!


Fortunately and fairly close by, although not in the same group...I shot this pair of beauties, now these are far more likely Fallow, they're losing their winter coats, you can easily make out the spotted flanks and very light hide, however,.....that white throat patch????

Perhaps some white tail in the second shot...Fallow/Whitetail cross???...what do you reckon....this is puzzling the heck out of me

The first lot certainly look like Sika to me, a group of hinds. They are all dark, have the tell-tale pale ear spots and have almost antelope-shaped faces.

The second photo looks mostly Fallow but as you say the white throat patches are unusual. They are far more graceful and dainty than the Sika so I think if they are hybrids its not with Sika.....I'm not sure what other deer species they've kept in the estate. I'm not too well up on deer but I'm gonna dig a little deeper and see if I can find out

Karl, I think we're agreed on the first group

To resurrect an old thread.....FAO Tony W.....I've been doing a bit of deer work recently and the reason for some of the above deer 'not quite' fitting the descriptions of their species is because its very likely that no pure Sika exist in north or east Ireland outside of collections with traceable ancestry. So basically, if you see a Sika-like deer in the wild here, they will be hybrids to some degree.

Sika and Red deer are closely related (both in the genus Cervus) and actually the first ever reports of Sika hybridising was noticed in Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow, within 15 years of Sika being introduced into the estate. A young stag Red bred a Sika hind and from there, hybrids of varying percentage of both species have been spread / produced over most of Ireland.

Its likely the only 'wild' Sika that are pure exist in the Killarney area of Co. Kerry....anything outside of this area is a Sika x Red hybrid. This explains the very domed rostrum on the 'Sika' above - pure Sika have a concave rostrum but Red deer have a domed one, so there is a hint of Red in there alright. I think I remember you mentioning that a Red stag used to travel to this herd during rutting season Tony? If so that would explain the hybrid features.

The tail pattern on those hinds is also wrong for pure Sika - they would have a white uppertail with a thin black stripe down the centre, whereas these guys have all-black uppertails.

Regarding the Fallow, there are FIVE colour forms in Ireland - black, brown, menil, white, and the wild type. These all have different summer and winter coats just to confuse things further LOL. A key identifier for Fallow is the belly being lighter than the flanks - which is easily seen on the 2 above. Note how in the Sika hybrids the belly and flanks are the same colour.