My Visit to Ashridge

This should, perhaps, go in the "Where NOT to Watch Wildlife" section for this particular visit - except that there isn't one! On Sunday OH and I decided to visit Ashridge Estate, being a vast area of mature woodland and chalk downland. The purpose was to see autumn in all its glory with the added attractions of (amongst other things) fallow and muntjac deer, squirrels, edible dormice and, of course, birds.

Hmmm, it was HEAVING - which is really impressive for somewhere that large. Not only was there an Orienteering Competition, but there were sundry Scouts engaged on a practice hike in preparation for a half-term trip to Snowdon. And as for the dog-walkers.....

Add to that shotguns going off at regular intervals as folk were culling (deer, I assume - not Orienteerers or Scouts ☺☺☺) and you will begin to understand why the wildlife chose to keep a low profile. We saw no birds whatsoever - and only heard a few. The only squirrels I saw were one which OH nearly ran over and a second too far away to photograph which shot up a tree like a rat up a drainpipe when a shotgun went off. The deer were few and far between as well. At one point OH and I were walking a track obviously used by deer and I suddenly realised that several yards in front of us was a woman wearing a particularly vile and potent perfume. I could smell it long before I saw her so we gave up on that and drove to another section. This was a much better area, but only for muntjac deer - nearly all of whom managed to see us before we saw them.