A Short Trip to Fowlmere

25th February 2025

Time for a short trip to Fowlmere, primarily to see how the harriers are getting on. Settled down in the Reed Bed Hide waiting for the harrier action to begin, but very quiet. Luckily the resident tame Kestrel was on hand to provide the supporting act. The brown wash on the head and the barring on the tail and some of the coverts show this is a 2CY male.

I had a quick look at the owl box in the trees and was taken aback by what I saw. It would appear the wrong sort of box has been provided!!!

Well I waited for two and a half hours and still no sign of either of the harriers so time to move on.

Usually as you approach the entrance track to the reserve there is a large herd of Fallow Deer in the field opposite the track, right over by the large haystack. Throughout the spring and summer these are a permanent feature but disappear when the crop is taken and the field is ploughed, and have been absent all winter. They were still absent when I arrived this morning but had re-appeared as I drove back up the track. The first two photos are scans of the whole herd numbering 31 deer of which there are 4 white individuals.

In my experience four out of thirty one is a slightly higher percentage of white variants than normal.

And here are some shots of some smaller groups. It is also worth noting all of the brown deer are of the dark form as opposed to the spotted form which is more commonly found in private collections such as deer parks. Fallow Deer in the wild are normally of the dark form although there can be exceptions.

The herd was 400 yards away (measured on Google Earth) yet at one point they were all aware of my presence. Amazing animals.