Location: Meet at Puttles Bridge car park, on the Rhinefield road west of Brockenhurst, at SU 270,029. To find this leave Brockenhurst on the road to Rhinefield. After leaving the edge of town you will drive past heathland on both sides of the road. As you get back into woods you go over a small bridge and the car park is on your right.
Date and time: 3pm-6pm Thursday 2 October.
This really is one of the great wildlife spectacles of the New Forest, yet not many people come out to see it. In the late afternoon and early evening the majestic Red Deer stags proclaim ownership of their harem of does.
In the cooling early evening air the stags make various belching and grunting noises. If one stag dares to challenge another then a dramatic fight of interlocked antlers ensues with silent, almost graceful, twisting and shoving with muscles heaving. At times the action can be very exciting and at other times there appears to be very little happening. It is just luck as to what action is seen.
This really is a sight worth seeing. We may hear Tawny Owls calling at the end of these evening jaunts and we have seen Raven and Crossbill flying over.
There are toilets in a car park close to Puttles Bridge.
How to book: Please book in advance by contacting Project Fred on 01425 673321 or by emailing project.fred@virgin.net.
Cost: £6.
Length of walk: Short, 3 km on fairly level ground. Please note that Red Deer can be a little unpredictable at rutting times and so we shall not get too close to them or disturb them.
What to bring: Binoculars if you have them.
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