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The sounds of the seasons in Richmond
The sounds of the seasons in Richmond arrive before you see them. A swift’s scream high over the river in May tells you summer is coming. The first roar of a stag in Richmond Park means October has turned. These are the voices of the borough’s calendar. You learn them without trying. The dawn chorus […]
Richmond deer and the first time you saw them
Richmond deer make themselves known before you see them. You hear the bellow first, low and guttural, rising through the bracken like something out of a nature film. Then you spot the antlers, the pale rump, the stocky shape moving between the oaks. If you grew up somewhere else, this moment feels impossible. Wild deer. […]
When the dawn chorus in Richmond wakes you at half past four
The dawn chorus in Richmond reaches its loudest in late April and early May, when you might find yourself wide awake at half past four. Blackbirds start first, their fluting notes cutting through the dark. Then thrushes join in, then wrens, then robins, building into a wall of sound that makes sleep impossible. Richmond Park […]
The rut brings Richmond deer to life
The rut in Richmond Park transforms October into the loudest month of the year. Red and fallow deer stags bellow across the grassland, their voices carrying through the mist at dawn. You can hear them from half a mile away on a still morning. The stags are competing for hinds. They roar, they clash antlers, […]
Richmond deer at dusk, a hundred strong and moving as one
Richmond deer appear at dusk in numbers that stop you mid-stride. A hundred animals crossing the grass together, moving like a single breathing thing. You hear them first: the soft drum of hooves, the occasional low bark cutting through the quiet. October brings the rut, and with it the park’s loudest month. Stags bellow from […]
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