This little sika calf is about 24 hours old and about the size of a new-born lamb. If you look carefully you can see her nose and eyes to the right of the picture as he/she watches us watching him/her. It is the first new deer calf we have seen this year. We were alerted to its presence by her mother’s anxious behaviour and perhaps she was right to be anxious as she had the calf right beside the river in a place which regularly floods.

In the early days, before the calf is strong enough to follow her mother, the calf is left in a secluded spot while the mother feeds. This calf was left largely covered by rushes and we would never have found her if we had not known exactly where we had seen the mother.

I’m sorry the photograph is not more distinct but I did not want to create any disturbance or move any of the rushes which were providing shelter and security.