A Visit to the Animal Sanctuary

Oh, the weather was grim! We went to the animal sanctuary to see what was going on up there. 

There were a lot of different owls going on- apparently something to do with a police raid. A small Shetland pony snorted and galloped over to us for attention, again a police rescue. A poor little Muntjac deer with a bad hind leg looked very disturbed to be faced with fencing. Two young jays waited to grow their head crest feathers. A very old sheep limped about its enclosure, and another looked grumpily out of its shed at the drizzly weather. The Big Pig couldn't even be bothered with today, and slumbered on its straw, a barely visible mound in the shadows of its shed. Two little fox cubs looked absolutely miserable. There was a rabbit or two, some canaries, lots of parakeets (permanent residents because they are not natural British birds), pigeons, pheasants and doves, and a lot of geese, two of whom were creating an astonishing commotion. As we drew closer, we realised this was due to the presence of a huge and threatening-looking heron, that simply seemed to be enjoying winding them up. There were three free-range herons, all apparently up to the same tricks: just looming, hunched, looking for trouble. A different heron in an enclosure appeared to be oblivious to her team-mates' unpleasant antics.

Not many photos because it was so dark and gloomy, and I only caught two of the herons. I tried to photograph a fallow deer, but it was too shy. According to the notice on the fence, it was a goat.