Bolderwood Deer - 5th December

Highlights were Fallow Deer, Marsh Tit and Treecreeper.

We walked from the Canadian War memorial west towards Bratley Wood. We soon saw our first Fallow Deer on the edge of the Holly Copse and Carole spotted a white Fallow stag actually in the copse. The heathy valley was pretty quiet except for a Coal Tit in some Gorse and a few Stonechat, Meadow Pipit and Wren. The edge of Bratley Wood had a few Song Thrush, Blackbird and Robin and we saw both Heron and Buzzard fly over. Walking back towards Bolderwood there was lots of bird activity in the deciduous woods beside Bolderwood Farm. A Marsh Tit gave great views with some Blue and Great Tits and there were large flocks of Chaffinch feeding on the ground that were joined by a Nuthatch for a while. We got good views of a couple of Redwing feeding in a Holly bush. There were many Fallow Deer visible in the fields around the farm. We walked back through the woods to the south of the farm and had good views of both Treecreeper and Nuthatch. From the deer viewing platform we only saw 2 more Fallows, but a Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush were feeding next to each other allowing us to compare these two. One of the best things about the walk was that the sun shone for most of the time!
Simon Curson.