Many apologies – recently I have been somewhat lax in keeping this blog up-to-date with my walks.
On Monday afternoon (27th October 2008), I did a short walk up to Dunstable Downs, returning home via Whipsnade and Whipsnade Heath. The highlight was seeing a Stonechat in the valley north of Kensworth, the first time I’ve seen this bird in my home village. I also saw a Red Kite and buzzard from near the same spot.
On Friday morning (31st October 2008) I repeated the walk I did two weeks ago around Ashridge. I spotted some Fallow deer as soon as I turned off the drive to the monument, but after that I saw far fewer deer than I had a fortnight ago. There were none in either of the two large pastures where I frequently see them. I didn’t get any decent photos of them this time. Nor did I hear any bucks roaring – perhaps the rut is over for the Fallow deer of Ashridge this year.