Today I returned to Richmond Park in London.  I haven’t been there for a couple of years - mainly because of ULEZ (London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone) which has deterred me from driving our old diesel Land Rover Discovery into the zone and incurring a hefty daily charge. Well, now we drive a nice EV, I can do so for free and with a clear conscience.  I decided to go today, mainly to reconnoitre; to see if the rut was underway, where the animals were and how busy the roads are now during the week.  

So, yes the rut is underway but not so frantic as in the past, so it didn’t seem to be in full force and yes, the road traffic during the week was properly bad so I’ll probably try Saturday as the outlook is better than today!

Weather aside,  I netted 300 photos in a couple of hours just after dawn.  Although not great light, the damp day with a few gaps for the sun to break through gave me this image of an 18 point stag (a true Monarch) defending his territory by seeing off a challenger with his roar and stature.

Gear: Nikon D500, 500mm PF lens and settings of 1/1250, f5/6 and ISO 1600.