SERENGETI? NO, IT’S CHILLY CHATSWORTH IN APRIL!
IMAGES of thousands of migrating wildebeest crossing rivers on the African plains are a familiar sight from TV wildlife documentaries.
But seeing dozens of deer swimming across the River Derwent in Derbyshire made for a no less thrilling display as far as nature lover Jim Bell was concerned.
‘It was like a scene from the Serengeti,’ said the 73-year-old, who has been a keen amateur wildlife photographer for more than 50 years. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it. It was amazing.’
Fallow deer are known to be strong swimmers and capable of long distances.
At least they didn’t have to brave the scores of crocodiles that are normally awaiting the wildebeest in some of Africa’s national parks such as the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Mr Bell took these pictures of around 100 fallow deer swimming in unison across the river in the 1,000-acre grounds of Chatsworth House, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, on Easter Sunday while he was out for a stroll.
Mr Bell, a retired draughtsman who lives with his wife Mary in the nearby town Belper, said: ‘I like to go out to somewhere in the Derbyshire countryside nice and early most Sundays.
‘I’d actually gone to take photos of the red deer, which Chatsworth Park is famous for. It was about 8am when I saw the fallow deer running quickly up to the water’s edge. They stopped for a second.
‘I still couldn’t believe it when they all got in the water – they all just jumped in and swam.’
Once on the other side of the river, some of the deer stopped in front of an old mill and turned to look straight at Mr Bell.
‘It almost looks like they’re posing for the camera,’ he said. ‘But I think they turned because I made a clunking noise clicking my camera on to the tripod.’
Unlike red deer and roe deer, fallow deer are not native to Britain and were probably introduced by the Normans in the early middle ages.
Three Asiatic species, the muntjac, Chinese water deer and sika deer arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Chatsworth House boasts 297 rooms and is known as the Palace of the Peaks. Its idyllic setting by the Derwent in the Peak District National Park has established it as a leading tourist attraction, as well as a backdrop for film and TV drama such the 2005 movie version of Pride and Prejudice.