buck shot

...the local schools must have taken the decision to close last night, as we were woken to the sound of children playing in the 5mm of wet snow that had fallen in the early hours of this morning. By the time we were properly up, it had turned mostly to rain, but it was lovely to see it looking a bit more like winter.

This afternoon, we initially ventured in the direction of the coast, however, even though we were gaining height, there was less and less snow. Abandoning that idea, we headed over to Arne where there was a bit more snow but it was so dark in the woods. There were no issues with any of the roads yet there were no wardens today and there was only one other visitor. The bullfinches, redwings and a buzzard all refused to have their portraits taken. Even the usually plentiful deer were in short supply. I came across this buck in a clearing and managed to get a couple of frames before he turned and bounced off into deeper cover. To get this shot I still needed to increase the ISO to 640 and use my lens fully open!

* Update - I looked again... it's a boy! All gender references altered accordingly :-)

Tomorrow, we have a Dorset Branch Butterfly Conservation members' afternoon, so this evening I must throw a presentation together...