Close Encounters of the Second Kind

[Humakt]

I was out for a walk today and had two great wildlife encounters.
The first was, well, a first for me - a firecrest! I saw out of the corner of my eye a flash in the hedgerow beside me. I stopped and looked. I saw a small dumpy bird in the shadows and thought it was a wren. Then it hopped into the light and I could see the bright yellow colour. Unfortunately it didn't last long enough for me to get my camera out. Or it was a goldcrest. It was one or the other and I've never seen either before.

Second enounter was with a fallow deer stag. I came through some woods and up a grassy slope that occasionally has deer grazing on it. As I came out of the woods I couldn't see any deer so started the haul up slope. Then, as I came over the top of a dip, I could see ahead a dark shape, some 300 - 400 yards away. I decided to see how close I could get, using the dip to hide me, and then use the odd scattered trees for cover. Being downwind helped.
I got to the last of the trees, the stag still some 20 yards away. Hiding behind the tree I slowly took my camera out so I could get a picture. Then, as I peered around the tree, I saw the stag had obviously heard me - he was standing there looking straight at me! Then, as I lifted my camera to get a shot, he fled.
Nevertheless I managed to get this one quick picture:

[bopdude]

Great shot, thanks for sharing it.

[saxonaxe]

Good photo capture..He's got one ear tuned in to your camera click...

[rawfish111]

[palerider]

Awesome picture!!

[f0rm4t]

What a day! Fantastic!!
Where were you?

[rosseveritt]

[Bushwhacker]

[Bushwhacker]

Thinking about it, that shot of the back end actually shows a really good feature for folk to look at in order to ID a fallow - the black horseshoe around the white rump and the tail with its stripe.

[Ivycledus]

Great capture.