Roe Encounter

Roe Corner is the point where the path we usually follow down to the village leaves the Scots pine plantation and passes between an area of more recently planted deciduous trees and a large, open field. From their hoof prints left in the path's mud we've known all winter that deer have been using the gap in the wall to get from the field into the woodland probably in the early morning, when they've finished grazing and wish to return to the cover of the woodland for the day.

A couple of weeks back we saw three roe deer moving up through the bracken under the trees but they were in too much of a hurry for a photograph but I was thrilled today when....

....this roe deer seemed in no hurry to hide, giving me plenty of opportunity to capture the first pictures of one of these delicate animals since August last year.

When we first came to Golspie we used to see red deer on the moorland above the forestry but they were culled when the estate fenced the area and planted trees, so the roe deer are now the largest mammal in these woodlands and a symbol of Scotland's shrinking wilderness.