A stroll across the wide open spaces of Richmond park can be a magical experience and this mild sunny early autumn afternoon is no exception.

I'm walking slowly towards a noble red stag that has amassed a harem of fifty hinds, the largest number I've ever seen collected by one stag. Around the margins sit three young males keeping a respectful distance but no doubt hoping to muscle in if the harem master is distracted but his multi-tined antlers  show he is a formidable adversary to be reckoned with.

Dotted among the grasses are large parasol mushrooms, their brown spotted cream caps resembling partially opened umbrellas. They are the forerunners of a fungi bonanza if October is wet.

Somewhere among a stand of oaks a little owl calls his plaintive mewing 'kiew', and he is answered  by another some distance away in light woodland. Little owls hunt by day as well as night and it is sometimes possible to spot one perched on a fence post.

Occasionally a skylark utters a faint 'peep-peep' from tussocky grasses while a flock of five swallows speeds into the distance, sadly the last time I will see them no doubt as the fly south to Capetown.

Later on sipping our cappuccinos in the café we are surrounded by jackdaws 'chak-chaking' to one another although the pair of young birds in the photo are clearly not on 'chaking' terms!

Their grey beady eyes are ever alert to pounce on a dropped muffin crumb or a tray of left over curry. They are not fussy eaters!

A stroll across the wide open spaces of Richmond park can be a magical experience and this mild sunny early autumn afternoon is no exception.

I'm walking slowly towards a noble red stag that has amassed a harem of fifty hinds, the largest number I've ever seen collected by one stag. Around the margins sit three young males keeping a respectful distance but no doubt hoping to muscle in if the harem master is distracted but his multi-tined antlers  show he is a formidable adversary to be reckoned with.

Dotted among the grasses are large parasol mushrooms, their brown spotted cream caps resembling partially opened umbrellas. They are the forerunners of a fungi bonanza if October is wet.

Somewhere among a stand of oaks a little owl calls his plaintive mewing 'kiew', and he is answered  by another some distance away in light woodland. Little owls hunt by day as well as night and it is sometimes possible to spot one perched on a fence post.

Occasionally a skylark utters a faint 'peep-peep' from tussocky grasses while a flock of five swallows speeds into the distance, sadly the last time I will see them no doubt as the fly south to Capetown.

Later on sipping our cappuccinos in the café we are surrounded by jackdaws 'chak-chaking' to one another although the pair of young birds in the photo are clearly not on 'chaking' terms!

Their grey beady eyes are ever alert to pounce on a dropped muffin crumb or a tray of left over curry. They are not fussy eaters!