Boxing Match

Since its been very cold, frosty and with the recent snow I was itching to get out to see what photos I could get with the dramatic snow capped landscape. So I took a trip to Bushy Park to see if I could get any nice photos of the Red and Fallow Deer in the snow. I haven’t had many opportunities of wildlife photography in the snow so far since starting so this was going to a fun new experience for me.

I walked around the cold park for a while and eventually spotted a small group of Deer in the frozen frost tipped ferns. As I stood and watched them for a while two of the females reared up on their hind legs and had a boxing match! I hadn’t seen anything like this before but I knew I had to get a photo of it.

So I walked round to get a better view and angle of the aggressive pair and waited. I started to think the boxing match was already over, quickest KO I’ve ever seen, when they both suddenly reared up and started brawling with each other.

I’m very happy with the shots I got below as it’s a first of many for me, first time seeing this behaviour and first time photographing in the snow. I think the cold scenery of the photos make the image and the subjects stand out. Next time it snows there I’ll definitely be back! I also like the backdrop of the buildings surrounding Bushy Park and highlights the little oasis of wildlife that exists in this part of the UK.

I’m not sure how often the Deer do this behaviour but it’s a lot more interesting than them standing in the freezing cold! One of the other Deer looked on in either amazement or confusion, I can’t decide! I stayed for a while however they seemed to get bored of the boxing and stopped, must have called it a draw! So I called it a day and made my way home for a nice coffee to warm me up.