Week 27 25/06/14 - Up on the Roof and New Life

Photo Blog Week 27 - Wed 25 June 2014

Life is moving on apace at Lyme Park, trees beginning to be loaded with seeds and the Red Deer babies are arriving! Ranger Craig tells me there are now about 20 calves down in the Red Deer sanctuary in the Park. At the moment you are unlikely to see any as they will be hidden away in the dip but, up on Park Moor, I did see at least one calf with it's mother albeit with binoculars and telephoto lens.

Fewer shots than usual this week as my camera battery went flat! ("Thank Goodness", do I hear you say?) Embarrassing and annoying as late in the day I was among Skylarks and then closer than I have ever been to a group of mature Stags and would have got some wonderful photo's.
Later pictures are on my old phone with its tiny lens.

In the afternoon I picked up again on my developing Park Circular walk completing the final section from Bowstones Entrance back to East Lodge Drive.

route: Car Park; North face of Hall; Green Drive; up to The Cage; [lift with Ranger Craig to The Stables]; Timber Yard (for lunch)

Green Drive living up to it's name 

Seeds on a Sycamore tree

Looking back along Green Drive toward Hall

 Manchester from Green Drive

The Cage - Roof and Interior

The morning brought an unexpected opportunity to go onto the roof of The Cage which felt something of a privilege though it could have been a clearer day for it.

Display of Red and Fallow Deer antlers.

A deer's antlers are a good indicator of health and genetic consistency. When culling has to be carried out to maintain the herd at a size that the habitat can support, the antlers are one of the indicators used to decide which animals are to be shot. The small set at front right show a clearly unhealthy animal with one antler under-developed and severely deformed. Less obvious on the photo, the large set behind it has a spur pointing down in front of the animal's face.

Roof view across Cheshire toward Wales

Roof view over Lyme Hall and Park Moor

Roof view - red deer by Coalpit Wood

One of the four towers and balustrades. 

The bar going across is one of four supports for the central flag pole.

Now that's a Key!

Staircase 1st floor to roof

First Floor

Ground Floor from the staircase

Ground Floor and door to staircase

route: Timber Yard; Main Car Park; Drinkwater Meadow; Knightslow Wood; Park Moor; to Bowstonegate Farm entrance

Grass on Drinkwater Meadow is thick and long after the wet and warm weather

These apex frames make a great base for young den builders

The sun above a Beech Wood lights up the canopy with a vivid green over the barren floor and imposing trunks which are staved of sunlight by the leaf cover. 

This clearing in the wood shows how when sunlight can reach the floor seedlings flourish

Heading up the track to Bowstonegate Farm

Passing the winter deer feeding station which looks cleaner at this time of year

Red Deer Moor Herd - next Generation

Too far away to clearly see with the naked eye and even difficult with zoom on camera but watching carefully I saw at least one Mother and Calf.

First sight of the Moor Red Deer Herd

Mother and Calf close by (1 of 3)

 Mother and Calf close by (2 of 3) 

Mother and Calf close by (3 of 3) 

Young Deer are known by a variety of names but generally, offspring of larger varieties are 'Calves' and smaller varieties 'Fawns'. The Fallow Deer would definitely be a Fawn but for the Red Deer I have opted for 'Calf'.

Bush (Purple) Vetch (Vicia sepium)

Ridge to Sponds Hill

Centre through grasses, I think I got a Skylark.

At this point my camera battery failed. Appropriately, the next few minutes were full of Skylarks and Butterflies but I retain no proof of that :(

Remaining photo's taken on phone.

route: North along Boundary Wall; High View Point; Lantern Wood; Caters Slack; East Lodge Drive; Stables; Hall North Face; Main Car Park

360 degree from High View Point

or view in YouTube

Delightful woodland path through edge of Lantern Wood

Difficult to believe that I was on the roof of that this morning.

Stags - Park herd

With my camera unusable, I encountered this group of Red Stags closer than I have ever been. It was a fantastic photo opportunity which I've done my best with an old low spec' HTC phone camera.

Taken as video in error. May delete

These mature stags are growing spectacular antlers

End of day as I return to the Estate Office in the Hall to sign off and return kit

Deer Protection

You will see trees around the Park with pailing fence tight around them. These are not as some people think fences left from when the tree was a sapling but protection from the Red Deer.

The Stags currently have a coat of velvet on their developing antlers. When fully developed and hardening the process of losing the velvet is irritating to the deer and they will scrape their antlers on trees scarring the bark, sometimes to the point where the tree will die if the damage is to enough of the circumference. These skirts of fencing protect vulnerable trees.

  

5hr 15min  5.5 miles