The Calm before the Storm

I went to Richmond Park early this morning hoping to capture some images of the Deer Rut as this weekend a year ago there was plenty of action between the stags.It was dark cloudy and gloomy this morning.This years better Summer must have had an effect as there was little activity between the Red Deer stags and many sat together in small groups. A couple of Stags were bellowing in the woods and as the bottom two images show one Stag held some territory with about 25 hinds around him. This will likely change in the next three weeks so I may try to go back if the weather conditions allow.