Watching The Reds

No I haven't turned into a Liverpool FC fan,I am referring to two of our iconic mammals, the red squirrel and the red deer.I visited two locations looking for red squirrels,the first at Formby Point National Trust Squirrel Reserve and the second was at a remote forest location in Northern England. The red squirrels at Formby have suffered in recent years from the pox virus introduced from the grey squirrel.The situation does now seem to be improving and the numbers of reds are on the up again.At Formby on a lovely sunny afternoon  I did find some red squirrels but they were mostly at tree top height and were difficult to photograph but I have shown a couple of my efforts above.
By contrast the squirrels at the remote location were scampering around the forest floor and came readily to the peanuts which I scattered around.They were a delight to photograph and it was made all the better by the brilliant shafts of sunlight that from time to time lit up the forest floor The lovely light showed off to perfection the wonderful detail and colours of their coats and tails.It was difficult to leave the squirrels but I had a long return journey home and I vowed to return again to see these wonderful little animals.
I visited Leighton Moss again to see the red deer.It was now time for the annual rut to begin and I was hoping to see some of the magnificent stags present at Leighton Moss.On this occasion there was only one very distant stag visible and then only his head and antlers were just visible above the dense vegetation.I will return soon to Leighton Moss soon and am sure I will have better sightings as the rut gets underway.Hope you enjoy the images above.I certainly enjoyed the experience and can't wait to return for more encounters with these lovely animals.