Deer back in woodlands, after weeks away.

Up and out early today in the hopeful search of the deer that had lived all last year in the woodland fields, over the last week i had been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of two new stragglers that had been wondering around the field, these two were very nervous as soon as you caught sight of them from a distance and were gone as quick as lightening, giving me the proof i needed that they were not linked to the family that had lived throughout the previous year quite happily with myself and tilly-miss.

The morning started well as can be expected, in to the woods and i am looking for tell tale signs of where the deer had been laying, hoof marks, and any sign of poo !

On walking through the path my first sighting was the dad Thomas as i have named him, a wonderful creature that has been friendly for a couple of years, remember i saw Thomas born in the woods and left in the undergrowth while mother rested, and so my friendship began.

Sadly the pictures are not that great as i was caught out and couldn’t focus properly, as time was against me should they decide to bolt, but i managed the best i could.

I was delighted to see them all back safe and started calling them, mum started walking towards me followed by the other three, i knew then it was time to head back home to get apples and pears, as they adore either and they wolf them down very quickly.

It is evident that they remember me and tilly and when we returned later with dinner for them they had there eyes firmly fixed on us and they were watching as the bag was shaken, they knew feeding time was close.

Open the picture for better view !

Tomorrow will be more apples and hopefully a few dozen golf balls, just like today !

Under the leaves brings nearly 600 golf balls.

Well just by chance i kicked up a few leaves and scattered them which in turn showed a couple of pearly white balls buried in some mud, i walked further and noticed the green keepers cutting back tree branches which made it easy for me to get near the fence line, i couldn’t believe what started to appear right in front of my eyes, golf balls of all colours many that had probably laid there for a very long time, but quite warm and not as cold as i expected they would be considering the weather.

This is just a few of what we had, it certainly kept us warm, in the first day 127 recovered, 249 on the second day and today over 2 visits just short of 296 not bad going from a 12 metred area of leaves, i have to sort them as i have people waiting for ProV and Nike along with Srixon.

Couldn’t believe my luck to see this huge fella sneaking around the fields, and what a bonus on Wednesday to look out my window and watch 3 deer eating veg on the allotments.

As i sit here typing i can hear  the young foxes calling, it wont be long before Scraggy arrives for her daily feast, she arrives every night and her arrival time now is usually around 22:00 i am seeing them more in the woodland now than ever before in morning time, they must be quite hungry to be scouting at that time, so i must go and fix scraggy some porridge….it will fill him up for the night hopefully

Back soon bye bye !

Found The Deer at Long Last.

After a dam good soaking this morning and tilly looking as thou she had been dropped in a swimming pool we headed home to get some warmth and for me a good cup of tea, for tilly it was snuggle up in front of the fire with a treat.

As soon as the weather showed a sign of easing we took a different approach and headed through another route to the woods one that involved climbing barbed wire fencing for me but easy for tilly to slope under to get in where we wanted to be, the route was indeed a hard walk with lashings of rain soaked fields and some muddy paths, at this point we were more or less on the surrounds of the golf course but a long way from where we would usually be and at this stage i was only concerned of finding golf balls.

I was walking in the middle of the course at this time in to a large waste area of quite long grass that bye now has become soaked and lifeless when out of the grass a few feet from tilly the two young deer emerged and took of across the course swerving at one point towards me, then with a lightening swerve changed course and headed to the woodland, it was all over within about 12 seconds and so fast and unexpected that i never had time to think of getting my camera out of my pocket, i was just so shocked to see them, but the view of them striding out of there resting place was great, they both looked an absolute picture of health and in perfect shape as they bolted to the quiet of the woods.

This is where i found them resting

We never bothered to go and find them as i did not want to cause any upset just in case so we took a walk through the grass area and found all them golf balls above which was an added bonus and having those pro v balls made the day.

We walked towards home and through a route i wouldn’t usually take and came across these poor horses who looked starving hungry and were soaked to the skin, they were eating anything they could get at including some sharp prickle bushes, will have to find out who owns them as they look in distress to me and if they are not being looked after properly i will call the RSPCA to have a look

Foxy arrived to his feast last night joined by a cat in the early hours and the food was cooked to perfection by my good self and presented on the lawn steaming hot, the cat was first to have a taste and the sight of the dog fox was enough to leave pussin cat a little bit scared and he was gone, got to do it all again later and this time it is sausages which i defrosted earlier……So thank you all for stopping bye and i will be back with another update on the deer soon hopefully.

Wild Deer Stampede The Woodlands.

I was shocked to see so much ground reduced to divots on the walk i take each day, it looks as thou there has been a mammoth orgy staged during the hour’s of darkness on just one stretch of our long walk

As i walked i took the time to count the droppings or poo and was surprised to end my count at 27 heaps, what has been going on in the hour’s of darkness? is it time for me to get the thick winter thermals on and my night lamp that would light the ground area far better than Wembley stadium? I am going to take my chances one of these nights in the hope of just catching a glimpse of who is responsible and would i be lucky enough to spot the young one’s that seem to have vanished out of sight.

Would this little lot make good manure for the tomatoes i wonder? would you believe that much is possible from a couple roaming, each pile was varying in size and hoof marks had churned the normally flat ground in to a rugby pitch, i have never witnessed this before and i am convinced this was a orgy on a mass scale with a very tired stag or stags at the end of it all.

We walked around late this afternoon to keep a check on things and the area is quiet and no sign of a deer, but another pile of poo was laying in wait very close to where my 2 young rest often, but sadly on further inspection there hiding place was empty without any sign of a recent visitor, so i have to keep walking until i can find them, they are very close and laying low and it is i hope only a matter of time before i see them again.

I keep busy picking up the golf balls as tilly heads away to try and climb a tree hoping to get her paws on the squirrel, these golf balls just keep dropping and we keep finding them and taking them back to the yard to be washed and cleaned before we send them to destination anywhere, we have been sending them to Albania….Dublin..Latvia and Scotland and all over the country, here are a few

Every make of ball you can think of in them sacks.

Make your choice and buy with confidence, we do not sell any rubbish or damaged golf ball, we have walked golf courses and woodlands far to long and we know a good ball when we see one, we take care and wash the old fashioned way by hand, yes every ball passes through my hands and is inspected far better than Morse would ever do, but my hands and fingers do take a beating.

Right have to go as it is time to sort out dinner for Scraggy Fox, not sure what i will put out tonight but something warm will do him good on this cold night, i will do him chicken and potatoes and cabbage and this will be warmed through about 01:30 as he has started arriving at this time in the last week and i will wait up until he has arrived then i will go to bed, but not before i feed him, he is a huge beast of a dog fox and you could saddle him and he has been coming for a couple of years at various times, but he is arriving in the early hour’s more now so he is obviously doing his rounds….Until next time take care and thanks for your visit…!

Early morning walk in woodlands.

Got up early this morning despite the weather conditions in search of the wild deer, the fog had formed across the woodland and golf course making viewing quite hard from my eyes, obviously a much different case for tilly who as always finds a new lease of life as soon as she gets in the woods.

I was expecting the morning to be very cold and made sure i was well wrapped for my visit with a couple of good layers of clothing, but strange as it seems the morning was walk was lovely and i soon had regret for adding the extra layers of clothes.

I was as happy as could be walking and watching the red kite sitting in the tree hoping that from somewhere a mighty feast would arrive, but this time i had to watch as i had taken no food for them this time around.

If you look carefully at the third picture you will see the 2 red kite sitting perched high in the tree, they will not let you get to close, the other pictures are of the visibility that was on offer and tilly scanning the field in the hopeful event a rabbit or squirrel will provide a little entertainment before we head home.

Where else can you enjoy the peace and quiet away from it all, i can hear the traffic in the distance of people chasing fast and furious to get to work, putting up with the daily ritual and routine and then arriving late and having to do it all again when it is time to go home.

Tilly loves her freedom and i wouldn’t change it for the world…!

Another day in the woodlands.

Despite the miserable weather I always make time for Tilly to go to the woods and this morning was no exception.

The rain lashed down and the wind was blowing like crazy which is always a worry as the woodland is dense with very old rotting trees that have lost there strength in the last few years and are ready to topple at any given time, so keeping my pooch close at hand is very important to me, to be there in case anything was to happen.

Tilly has never been on a lead and wouldn’t know how to walk with one she has always had the run of the woods and fields and people we meet whilst walking are always grateful with polite comments on her behaviour, here she is in the woods collecting golf balls.

Trained from her first ever walk nearly 9 years now and can she find a golf ball in some unusual places….bless her !

Yesterday was a beautiful day and with the sun shining over and around us i took some pictures deep in the woodland.

Can you imagine trying to find a ball in this overgrown fern

Back to today and a couple of tilly on the golf course

And  another visitor who made me very happy…!

The walk in the woods is a lonely one.

Apologies for the lack of recent postings, i spent a lot of time away touring and lots of time walking the woodlands with tilly-miss hunting out golf balls and trying my best to keep an eye on my Deer.

Whilst i was away it become apparent that the beautiful mum had been killed in a savage attack by poachers it seems, it was either shot and savaged by dogs and left over night before the carcass was removed for food for some horrible family and i just hope they choke and suffer a very painful end to life as the poor mum.

I arrived back home 2 days after the incident and you can imagine how upset i was to be told the news, the mum has left 2 young in the fields and they go missing now for days on end, i have covered the entire land and woodlands just to catch a glimpse and to make sure they are ok, my last sighting was 4 days ago and although nervous they knew who i was but kept a good distance.

Going back to mum who i have watched over the years and had gained her trust in many ways, watched her new-born and seen them grow and leave the woodlands on there new venture in life when they have found there own mate, it really saddens me and i keep thinking how things might have been different had i been there that fateful night?

Here are some pictures of mum, i hope you like them

Such a beauty and sadly missed…….

 

Tilly still bringing in golf balls, and we were there on xmas day collecting as we always do 130 Pro V Balls are waiting for a good home once the weather turns in the new year.

I have been busy out on the road and had a nasty fall in Paris last month and here is a picture of my injured foot

As you can see my foot is black and blue and i have an infection under the skin and despite 4000 mgs of tablets per day the bruising is still there and painful, but have had x ray today at last after nearly a month wait…..so wait and see if i will loose my foot ???? hahaha

Anyway i want to wish you all happiness in 2014 and hope it is better than this last horrible year, take care and stay safe.

Deer watch and dog watch…what a week !

What a week of walking as usual and how nice to have company for tilly whilst i am left to search out golf balls whilst tilly has fun with her new best friend Riley.

Riley has become part of the walking gang and each day i shout him at the gate or if i am lucky riley is there waiting, but what is peculiar on Thursday /Friday at around 03:00am i was woken to the sound of barking and this was followed by even louder barking which got me out of my bed and to the window, there outside was riley on my garden and on the road the biggest dog fox yapping away and getting ready to no doubt fight, i shouted and they both scampered away in very different  directions and i went back to my bed. I could not believe riley had walked to my home from his home which has to be navigated on a very busy dark road that has lots of fast night traffic and it is also a cut through to motorway and other hiding places for the local pond life that live in the outer areas, but he made it home safe and sound and joined us the next day.

Now then do you people know if these mushrooms are edible or are they poison? we have lots growing in the woods and the fields and they look lovely and make me think of a couple of slices of bacon and a couple of eggs, but very weary to poison myself at this moment in time

Whilst walking through the leaves on the other side of the course i thought i would move some leaf mould from a small area and see what was there? goodness me i could believe that a near total of 40 balls were laid under the pile, how long had they been there? they were not really cold either, so i rescued them and got them home for a sort out

which resulted in some very good pro v balls and a nice Ryder Cup ball

What a week chasing round after the deer, they are running me mad, but could not imagine a day without them as the young get bigger and bolder and mum is also becoming a mischief chasing to one side of the fields to the other, but i caught her on the road this morning and she played me hell as i tried to coax her back in to the field.

Up and down the road mum was jumping road to hedge then back, i had to stop two cars and warn them, then she comes trotting towards me and stands still and tilly-miss arrives and you then think who is going to chase who? but it was nothing to worry about and it passed peaceful thank goodness

I could spend forever watching them they are all so pretty

I hope you enjoy my pictures and my love of wildlife as much as i do, i will add more as and when something of interest catches my eye, until then stay safe and enjoy the woodlands and walkways wherever you are.

It has all been happening in the woods.

My apologies for not updating the pages for a while, I have been to my computer many times with the intention of adding new updates only to be called away for something else.

Anyway….we are talking golf balls….we are talking progress of the young deer…..and we are talking about the low life scum that think it is acceptable to break in to peoples property, and to round it of we have to also deal with someone shooting young foxes and leaving them on view very close to the golf course.

Nothing infuriates me  more than people killing wildlife just for the sake of it, the woodland close to me has been my trusted hunting ground since a child, i know the woodland inside out, i know the favourite places for the deer and the badgers and the foxes that creep quietly throughout the day and night in search of food, they are always a pleasure to watch and it can be amazing if you get close up, but we have a problem at present with someone who thinks it is fun to blow away our delightful foxes for no reason at all, this idiot also has no respect for people as he is firing in to the golf course which is yards away from where i witnessed two baby cubs blasted and left on view, the pictures are to graphic to put online and i was so angry to think why has he done this?

I have made online attempts to get the police wildlife inspector to visit me and look for himself, but sadly nothing, so i have been stopping in the woods until near dark in the hope of confronting the person responsible, my view is he will no doubt be looking to cull the young deer before long.

The family of 3 are doing fantastic but they are wearing me out as i look daily for them, i end up doing the fields and there hiding places just to know they are safe and by that time i am rather tired and in need of substance, still nervous of me is the young and they are away like lightening from one corner in the field to the other, but i realised they are not that switched on when they bounded away i then went round the opposite way and they were not expecting that, we walked straight in to each other and it was quite a shock for them.

Tonight i spent time coaxing them round the entire perimeter fence by calling them, it was the first real time they never bolted so lets hope that this could be the start of us getting to know each other better as one would say and with more calling they will understand i am here to not harm them….they are all so beautiful.

Golf Ball Crazy….it has been non stop collecting and selling, people turning up at the door, orders from film studios and more people arriving tomorrow, then i have a meeting with a few souvenir outlets in Windsor who will hopefully take an interest for our ball in a pot which features the star of the show tilly-miss in her glory in the woods we have a variety of poses that will hopefully capture the imagination of the many visitors who visit Windsor.

Thieves and Burglars i have no time for, i believe in a form of punishment such as a birching or flogging with salt rubbed in to the wound afterwards to let them know it is not the way to lead your life, it is not the way to feed your drug habit or is it the way for you to go to a pub and sell someone else’s property for the price of a drink.

This morning we walked through the grounds of the big house and i noticed a bike laying in the grass, strange i thought and carried on walking then i find a large padlock that had been cut in half strewn in the grass, then i find the shed door open which i thought was unusual as this hardly ever opens, the next thing this spotty faced man comes walking out and see’s me and he is holding items and he is on his toes sadly to quick for me, but he left his bike behind and i snapped a few pictures and they are available for the police when they arrive, hopefully someone will recognise the bike and that might just lead to the scumbag responsible.

Let me see what pictures i have to end tonight

Dam i have them on my phone….

Back to the woods.

It was so lovely to be back home with my wife and my best friend tilly, the welcome was amazing from tilly and the pooch has not left my side since walking through the door.

After a good nights sleep and endless cups of tea,we headed out in the sun to the woods with one purpose and that was to check on the young deer, hoping they were still in and around the woodland, it was only a few minutes before i caught my first glimpse of the young that were at full speed at the top of the field, the pace and speed is very frightening and they are still unsure of my presence but given time and patience they will get used to me.

Quite happy in the knowledge that the young deer were ok we soon started to collect the golf balls and it was not long before my arms were aching through the sheer weight of our findings.

On the right of the pictures are some lovely Titleist Pro V Balls that will no doubt end up in our vending machines, they have to be great value at £1 compared to golf outlets charging anything up to £4 per ball, once i get them in the wash those Pro V Balls will look as good as new.

The top field was not as good as i thought things would be, we were lucky to have counted double figures which is strange? also the main field again hardly returned anything exceptional, so i put this down to either golfers running low on money? on holiday? or we have someone helping themselves to our stock? usually after a 2 week absence the field would return anything from 500 balls, so something has to be done and maybe it is time to turn on the electric fences ?

Here are some logo balls we found yesterday, there were quite a few and i have more to add.

I done my good deed yesterday when i found an injured pheasant with a bad leg, the poor bird was first seen by tilly and the pheasant was wedged in thorns against a wired fence, so in i go and pick him up then let him down on grass and he managed 4 or 5 steps then collapsed so in the pouring rain i walk him to an animal sanctuary for them to check him out, hopefully everything is good and he makes a full recovery, when we walked back home and walked through the door we were soaked to the skin and my coat was still soaked this morning, i woke with a stinking cold and more aches and pains that i can think about….ooh happy days…..