Tuesday 16 May 2017

Deer Identification

I've been seeing a lot more Deers recently (in Oxfordshire) so needed to do a bit of deer identification learning (thanks to facebook friends for the help) . Apparently there are six species of Deer in the UK  SEE HERE. Without knowing turns out I've seen and photographed them all while on the birding road. Here they are with a few id notes below: 

RED DEER
 Male Red Deer (London, Richmond Park): Majestic looking, large, red/brown hue to coat with large branching antlers in the stags
 Female Red Deer (London, Richmond Park)- large, red/brown coats, restricted dark on nose, long faced

FALLOW DEER
 Male Fallow Deer (London, Richmond Park). Variable but often chestnut and spotted. Distinctive bum pattern of white framed in black borders
 A dark morph 
 There's those distinctive bums (Oxfordshire). 

ROE DEER
Female Roe Deer (Oxfordshire). Black nose band and all white bum. Males have simple, minimal branching antlers

CHINESE WATER DEER
 Female Chinese Water Deer (Oxfordshire). A female. A small plain faced deer. Males have fangs.

REEVE'S MUNTJAC
 Female Reeve's Muntjac (Oxfordshire). A small deer- dark markings on the head are the best way to distinguish from Chinese Water Deer.

SIKA DEER
 Male Sika Deer (Dorset). Males in winter in plain reddish brown but in summer have distinctive spots. 
 On the bum front, a bit like fallow but looks like a stronger upper black border. 

REINDEER? 
I remember seeing Reindeer in Scotland (presumably introduced) so not sure why they are not included? 

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