Copyright 2008 Rupegroup Productions
October- Time of the Rutting Season!
Well after a long summer of filming I now have the chance to get out and get some more still shots, and with happy coincidence its also one of my favourite times of the year for it...Autumn!
During the summer red deer stags group together but as the Rut approaches towards the end of September the stags split up and go there separate ways in search of any hinds that are coming into season.
The awful summer weather suddenly gave way giving me a perfect chance to find the stags . It was very boggy and but after an hour of crawling through the reeds I managed to get close enough to grab a few pics. The sun stayed put for a changed and the white tips of the antlers gleamed at me, a wonderful sight, but I knew it would be the last time for a few months that these stags would be together.
Nothing beats the early morning starts of a misty September or October day and today Sep 26th was one of those. I headed over to a place where I had spotted the group of 7 red deer stags last week. With the sun just rising through the mist I set off over the dew covered fields towards a place I thought a stag might be. The ground was hard going and my boots were soon drenched but a couple of funny looking sheep took my eye..With the binos it was clear to see it was in fact a couple of this years deer calves happily grazing amongst a herd of sheep. That was a good sign, it meant there had to be more deer around somewhere, but where? I couldn't find any. More walking and bino-ing produced nothing but cattle and sheep. But then just as I was about to head back, a distant noise, a familiar noise, but was it? I waited, holding my breath to be absolutely silent, ...oh it was just a cow , no wait, yes it was a roar !
A roar from a red deer stag. I scanned the area where the noise came from and sure enough, tuck in a small cleave in the hillside was a stag. I had a long way to go to get there, but surely worth it.
Another 45 mins later I was in position and poked my head above the clump of reeds I was rapidly sinking into, ( why is it
I always seem to choose the route with the boggiest ground to crawl through!?)
Click click click, he hadn't seen me, beautiful, a fantastic big stag brow, tray 4 and four, click click click , the stag was staring at me, in full camo I knew he wouldn't be able to see me and with the wind in the right direction he couldn't smell me either...perfect. The mist was clearing quickly and now i could get some great shots, when your in the wild these moments don't come around every day, especially with the combination of the British weather and the shyness of the Exmoor deer!
The camera was red hot, the stag was a beauty, but it wasn't roaring, I couldn't know for sure that the Rut had started, maybe there were other stags out of sight. But just as that thought crossed my mind the sound of a vehicle wafted over the valley, a quick check revealed my fear, a tractor, the farmer was out checking his stock on the nearby fields. The stag heard him to and gently trotted away into the coombe, damn, I thought now I'll never know if it was him that was roaring and with that just as the stag disappeared down into the mist he gave a loud bellow!
Yes! I thought brilliant! Its finally here...Its the Rutting Season!
Rupert films an adder actually shedding its skin!!
After having spent 2 months solid study, filming a photographing a handful of Adders at a location deep in the heart of the wilds of Exmoor, I managed to capture the truly amazing moment when an adder sheds its skin. I have been trying for several years to film that special moment, the whole process takes only a matter of minutes and it is extremely hard to be in the right place at the right time. Having missed one snake by a matter of minutes and lost another one in the under growth a few days before I was beginning to think it was an impossible task but my patience was rewarded in the end.
Update - Rupert films adders mating!
As if filming Britains only venomous snake sloughing it skin wasn't enough I have also just witnessed and filmed a pair of adders mating! I was just about to give up for the day when I just caught I glimpse of one under the hedge row. Within seconds of setting up my camera they had started! The 2 snakes wriggled and writhed around and it was really hard to get a good view amongst the undergrowth, but after a few minutes I could see that they were joined together and were in the mating process! They took just over and hour before finally parting and curling up for a rest in the spring sunshine. Its something I have always wanted to film and its a great feeling to achieve something like that and I will be posting some clips here soon!
Well after a long summer of filming I now have the chance to get out and get some more still shots, and with happy coincidence its also one of my favourite times of the year for it...Autumn!
During the summer red deer stags group together but as the Rut approaches towards the end of September the stags split up and go there separate ways in search of any hinds that are coming into season.
The awful summer weather suddenly gave way giving me a perfect chance to find the stags . It was very boggy and but after an hour of crawling through the reeds I managed to get close enough to grab a few pics. The sun stayed put for a changed and the white tips of the antlers gleamed at me, a wonderful sight, but I knew it would be the last time for a few months that these stags would be together.
Nothing beats the early morning starts of a misty September or October day and today Sep 26th was one of those. I headed over to a place where I had spotted the group of 7 red deer stags last week. With the sun just rising through the mist I set off over the dew covered fields towards a place I thought a stag might be. The ground was hard going and my boots were soon drenched but a couple of funny looking sheep took my eye..With the binos it was clear to see it was in fact a couple of this years deer calves happily grazing amongst a herd of sheep. That was a good sign, it meant there had to be more deer around somewhere, but where? I couldn't find any. More walking and bino-ing produced nothing but cattle and sheep. But then just as I was about to head back, a distant noise, a familiar noise, but was it? I waited, holding my breath to be absolutely silent, ...oh it was just a cow , no wait, yes it was a roar !
A roar from a red deer stag. I scanned the area where the noise came from and sure enough, tuck in a small cleave in the hillside was a stag. I had a long way to go to get there, but surely worth it.
Another 45 mins later I was in position and poked my head above the clump of reeds I was rapidly sinking into, ( why is it
I always seem to choose the route with the boggiest ground to crawl through!?)
Click click click, he hadn't seen me, beautiful, a fantastic big stag brow, tray 4 and four, click click click , the stag was staring at me, in full camo I knew he wouldn't be able to see me and with the wind in the right direction he couldn't smell me either...perfect. The mist was clearing quickly and now i could get some great shots, when your in the wild these moments don't come around every day, especially with the combination of the British weather and the shyness of the Exmoor deer!
The camera was red hot, the stag was a beauty, but it wasn't roaring, I couldn't know for sure that the Rut had started, maybe there were other stags out of sight. But just as that thought crossed my mind the sound of a vehicle wafted over the valley, a quick check revealed my fear, a tractor, the farmer was out checking his stock on the nearby fields. The stag heard him to and gently trotted away into the coombe, damn, I thought now I'll never know if it was him that was roaring and with that just as the stag disappeared down into the mist he gave a loud bellow!
Yes! I thought brilliant! Its finally here...Its the Rutting Season!
Rupert films an adder actually shedding its skin!!
After having spent 2 months solid study, filming a photographing a handful of Adders at a location deep in the heart of the wilds of Exmoor, I managed to capture the truly amazing moment when an adder sheds its skin. I have been trying for several years to film that special moment, the whole process takes only a matter of minutes and it is extremely hard to be in the right place at the right time. Having missed one snake by a matter of minutes and lost another one in the under growth a few days before I was beginning to think it was an impossible task but my patience was rewarded in the end.
Update - Rupert films adders mating!
As if filming Britains only venomous snake sloughing it skin wasn't enough I have also just witnessed and filmed a pair of adders mating! I was just about to give up for the day when I just caught I glimpse of one under the hedge row. Within seconds of setting up my camera they had started! The 2 snakes wriggled and writhed around and it was really hard to get a good view amongst the undergrowth, but after a few minutes I could see that they were joined together and were in the mating process! They took just over and hour before finally parting and curling up for a rest in the spring sunshine. Its something I have always wanted to film and its a great feeling to achieve something like that and I will be posting some clips here soon!
12th April 2008
15th April 2008
20th September 2008
26th September 2008