Prior to breaking my ankle, I borrowed a friends 600mm telescopic lens and went on a trip to the New Forest. I decided that the best way to make good use of the lens would be to try and photograph some deer. Where does one have a high chance of seeing deer in the New Forest? Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary, of course! This is a location at which wild deer are fed daily (albeit at varying times). As a result, there tends to be a few deer milling around at any given time. I’d never been to Bolderwood prior to this visit, and so assumed that the deer would be quite far away. As it turns out, I was wrong!
With the 600mm lens, I had absolutely zero problems seeing the deer. They seemed quite nonplussed by the presence of humans! The rain experienced on that day probably helped to dampen the cries of rampant small children, but I suppose the deer visiting Bolderwood must be quite used to humans at this point.
There was quite long grass in the field, hampering the view of the deer slightly. I was very interested to see that there was a white deer milling around in the field, too! Unfortunately it did not stick around long, and so I cannot say if it was albino, leucistic, or just plain pale. It can be seen running away in the background of this picture:
I quite enjoyed getting to see the deer at Bolderwood, and it felt a bit more “real” than seeing them somewhere such as a zoo. Considering how close the deer come to the people though, I’ll likely return with my regular 300mm lens and still be able to get photos!
Hopefully then the weather will be a bit better. Even the deer didn’t seem to be having much fun!
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