Dire play on words in the title there but it had to be done!
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, the two main animals that I’ll be focusing on in this post are the deer and the swan. I mentioned before that I travel daily up to University in Lincoln, through fields that are full of life. Sometimes I don’t understand how people can nap around me when there are such wonders to be seen so close to home!
Yesterday evening had a lovely suprise in store for me – amongst a thicket beside a neatly harvested field, I caught a glimpse of the regal brown head of a roe Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) peering up at the train followed by a startled dash into the undergrowth. Her white hind made her relatively easy to identify whilst researching, although I’m not all that familiar with deer breeds. I couldn’t stop thinking about what a graceful sight she had been as she bounced elegantly across the field. In the past few months I’ve seen a few Red Deer, one early morning as I was sluggishly slumped into my cold train seat, I saw three grazing females in a field of almost untouched snow. They were oblivious in their eating and only one of the females looked up to investigate the train as it rattled past. Although deer are relatively common in England, I think that most people (including myself) find a sense of amazement when they see the beautiful creatures in the wild. I’ve always thought of the deer as a mysterious beast as usually, I only catch a fleeting glance of them as they blend so well into the woods. So far, I haven’t been lucky enough to see the proud antlers of a stag – I’m still on the lookout! Althought I’ve possibly missed my best chance of catching them, during rutting season.. I hope my luck will soon change.
The Brayford river that runs alongside the University is teaming with life.. Mainly water fowl and fish but if you’re into wildlife – it’s a great relaxing place to be with a lot going on. Watching the large bevy..(apparently).. of Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) I saw a few take to the air, in what has to be the most unelegant way possible! With a furious flustering of their wings and a loud patter of feet, in the air they looked so graceful. I was told as a child that a swan can break your arm if you get close enough to it, and I’ve heard from a presenter who was almost knocked out by the ‘fist’ from a swan hitting him over the head. As ungainly as the Mute swan takes flight, during the mating season – I become transfixed as I watch a pair copy each other in almost a slow but beautifully rehearsed dance. I beleive the courting is all the more special to watch, knowing that the pair are likely to mate for life – and yet each year the cob goes out on a limb to woo the pen for another year of faithfulness. Awww, who said chivalry was dead??
