The Norman Invasion

Fallow Deer come in several notable colour morphs here we can see common (left), leucistic (pale) and dark. Also the notable M on the rear, which is distinctive in the intermediate morphs and often the only sight you get of these shy deer as they run into the trees. 

When Duke William II of Normandy defeated King Harold II of England on the 14th October 1066 at the battle of Hastings, certain aspects of Britain's fauna would change forever. The Normans were hugely passionate huntsmen who continued the Anglo-Saxon tradition of hunting venison (a term which originally referred to all game rather than just deer) in specially designated hunting forests. Their main quarry was red deer, roe deer, wild boar and one of the animals which they introduced the fallow deer. Remains of fallow deer started to appear across much of England, at castles and manors, during the Norman Period (1066-1135). The Doomsday Book 1086 recorded no fewer than 31 hunting enclosures in Southern England alone. By the 13th Century vast tracts of woodland had been set aside for hunting fallow deer, which was highly popular with the nobles. The maintenance of these deer parks continued in one way or another up until the two world wars, in which the breakup of many of these parks and subsequent escape of many of the deer occurred.

In present day populations are found throughout Britain in woodland, especially where it occurs close to deer parks or former deer parks. The British population shows a low degree of genetic diversity and has passed through a genetic bottle neck , although they have not been domesticated they have occurred largely in isolate parks throughout their history. Only within the past few years have I started to see them in the wild locally, a further sign that the British population is spreading. Fallow deer are essentially a species of mature deciduous woodlands, with an established understory. They are also occasionally found in open coniferous woodland. Locally this herd appears in mixed woodland. I have yet to track down a stag, but the presence of yearlings is suggestive that they are breeding, as is the evident damage to certain trees in the area by the males antlers as they look to remove velvet, prior to the autumn rut.

The majority of rabbits were introduced to Britain during the reign of the Plantagenet Kings Henry II and Richard 1.

Early records of pheasants date back to the Saxon King Edward the Confessor. From the 12th century the species began to be mentioned far more frequently, than in the Norman period (despite their existence in Britain at that time).  

As with the fallow deer the Normans also contributed to the introduction of rabbits and brown hares, however there is still much debate as to if these introductions were the first of their kind or if these species were already established from the Romans. However in the case of rabbits they did not become fully established on the mainland (with the help of further introductions) until sometime between the reigns of the Plantagenet Kings Henry II (1154-89)and Richard 1 (1189-99).  

Female Kestrel, a native species which is abundant throughout the region. 

The sunny weather has even inspired me to look for some early reptiles with little luck. Invertebrates are starting to become active again though after recent cold weather. Also plants including lesser celandine, ground ivy, creeping cinquefoil, red dead nettle, cow parsley and cuckoo pint are starting to sprout up all over the place. Could this finally be where the fun starts?  

After the last two days of sunshine some of the local bluebottles Calliphora vicina have come out to bask again. Having been just about the most reliably seen invertebrate over the winter, I think I have a shot from every single angle of this species now.