One of our family traditions is to have a good walk on Christmas morning to make us really hungry for a late afternoon dinner. This year our son John was at home and wanted to visit his old haunts and so we went through Scatterdells Wood  and into my bit of wood, The Wing. We looked at the old buzzards nest, and Ted, our dog, had a dip in the pond, then we carefully looked out of the corner of the wood to see what was about. On nice sunny days foxes often sunbathe on that side of the wood, one particular Ash tree makes a very good leaning post. Christmas day was very overcast and dull, so nothing doing there. A favourite spot for the Roe deer is under an Oak tree in the hedge a hundred yards or so from the wood, and our John’s keen eyes thought there was movement from that spot. Ted was busy with rabbit holes in the wood so we stayed still. Then two large white discs were visible through the leafless hedge going away from us. Fortunately someone must have been in their garden in Chipperfield Road and the Roe went through another hedge and then came back towards the wood. We stayed very still and were rewarded with the wonderful sight of two Roe deer in their grey winter coats. They were very uncertain of which way to go. They knew we were there somewhere, but they could not see our silhouettes as we stood on the wood edge and the wind was taking our scent away from them. The best way of recognising Roe in thick woodland is by their movements.  When running they go in wonderful bounding leaps, but, unless chased, they never go far without stopping to listen and scent the air. This is exactly what they did in an open field not a hundred yards from us! We could see their shining wet noses and, when they finally turned down hill and away from us, we saw their wonderful white rump patches, all fluffed out as a warning of danger. We could not see any antlers, but these are cast between November and January so they could have been male or female. Males are larger, but I have not seen enough Roe to compare and, foolishly, we did not take  binoculars as it was such a dull day. It was just like old times, the three of us quietly sharing a few special moments. Not all the best Christmas presents need wrapping!
Wendy Bathurst