I have been having something of a poor spell with the local wildlife. The deer especially seem to have all but disappeared. This in turn affected how often I was going out. Yes, the weather has been somewhat awful, but that is a pretty lame excuse really. In the past, whenever people said I was ‘lucky’ to see and photograph what I have done, my usual response would be that by my perseverance and patience, I bought my own luck. So, I needed to get back to thinking and acting that way. And yesterday I did just that and got a splendid slice of ‘luck’.
I’d been out early in the morning for a couple of hours; most of the time spent in the local woodland. But nothing to be seen. Not even one deer. I left a couple of trail cameras out, which I’ll leave for several days to see if they pick up anything. The idea being that if there is nothing, then I should start looking elsewhere for my wildlife fix, rather than just not bother!
After lunch I had an urge to go out again. Go for a walk with my camera. If I don’t see anything, that’s fine. I just need to start getting out more, like I used to, and boy, did I get ‘lucky’!
Not just deer – but a barn owl too!
I first spotted two deer, in a location where I’ve seen deer before ( see the blog post here). I couldn’t get that close to them as they had spotted me and were keeping a watchful eye on where I was and going. I decided I’d take a track that should lead behind them. I found a spot on a bank and I lay down to keep out of sight. As I did so I saw, what I was sure of, was a glimpse of a barn owl. If only it would appear again, and closer. A couple of minutes later it did come into sight again. It initially turned away from where I was, but then swiftly turned again and to my surprise was heading straight for me!
It came closer and closer. I just lay on the bank and had to turn on my back to keep watching it. It must have flew past no more than twenty feet from me. It turned it’s head and looked straight at me. I could clearly see it’s eye’s, with an expression of, ‘who are you and where did you come from’! I struggled to get any photos as it was so unexpected, and I didn’t have my camera settings for birds in flight. But to a great extent the quality of any photos didn’t matter so much. It was such a marvelous, unexpected experience. This stunning wild bird, giving me a personal fly-past!
So back to the heading of this post – ‘Never Give Up’!
I wasn’t going to give up on my nature photography, but I had become a little despondent with the lack of sightings. But I was guilty of not going out enough. My little effort was getting what it deserved; little reward. The deer, but more so, the fantastic barn owl experience has given me the impetus to get back on track.
We often see the deer on that mound ! And the barn owl in daylight if it’s been poor weather for hunting … we love seeing the owl drifting over those fields
Thanks for the comment Louise.
Yes, the deer are a regular visitor to that area. I came across the owl in that spot for the first time around last November. Since then I’ve seen it a few times.