Tag Archives: Bushy Park

People and the Deer in Close Proximity

The rutting deer I posted about previously were in amongst the large herds of deer in Bushy Park. The park gives guidance on keeping out of the way of the deer and specifically keeping dogs on leads. However, that didn’t seem to have any impact. People seemed to be close to the deer on a regular basis. Even dogs were running free. Strangely, none of this seemed to cause any trouble. Perhaps the dogs and the deer are just used to each other.

At the time I was more focused on getting photos of the deer and not having people interrupting the shots. Afterwards, I wished I had taken more photos to show how the two groups were interacting (sort of) in such a regular way. These shots hopefully give some impression of how close they were to each other. I am not getting that close to a stag, however relaxed it might seem!

Rutting Stags in Action(ish)

Part of the reason for our visit to Bushy Park was because the rut was underway and I thought it might be possible to see the stags at their best. I hadn’t anticipated just how prevalent the deer herds would be. One herd was right in the middle of the trails and, while there was a dominant male that was overseeing things, there were a couple of younger stags within the herd.

These two were trying out their jousting skills. They would engage their antlers and push each other around for a bit before getting distracted by something nearby. They would look at that for a while and then get back into training. It felt like they weren’t really trying to prove anything to each other but were just getting in practice for the days when they might be genuine contenders for dominance.

Initially, I was on the side away from the sun and thought I would have to make do with that. However, it proved easier than I thought to walk around them and get shots from the other side. They seemed uninterested in the people that were watching them. After grabbing a bunch of images, I thought that video might be a better way to record their action – even if it makes it clear that they weren’t really going for it.

Bushy Park

As has become apparent in a bunch of my more recent posts, the rut season for the deer has been catching my attention. I was pondering a visit to Richmond Park to see what images I could get but, while looking into it, saw some information about the deer in Bushy Park. With a sunny Sunday coming up, we decided to pay it a visit. Aside from the deer, it was a large park area so this would be worth a walk irrespective of the deer encounters. No spoilers but we saw a ton of deer!

The park is located very close to Hampton Court Palace and, I imagine, it would have been hunting grounds for the palace long ago. The park is sufficiently large that we didn’t explore the eastern half of it on this visit. The western half provided more than enough for us to check out, and we had a lovely time walking the grounds.

The open parklands dominate the space but there also some woodlands that have been created over the years. These have a variety of plants and water features so you can get a very different experience depending on where you are and what you are looking for. The woodlands are fenced off, and the gates don’t immediately make it obvious you are free to enter but you are, and you should! We got there early and still found the parking busy. By the time we finished our walk, cars were circling the car park looking for a space. Obviously, a popular place to be and we will be back.