Country diary: My daughter says she's seen a fawn - has she? | Kate Blincoe

Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: Muntjac deer mate all year round, so it's quite possible. I take to the oak throne that we have on the farm, and scan the viewIt's a bright morning with a light frost sparkling on the meadow. The traffic noise from the nearby dual carriageway is louder than normal, oppressive in this rural scene. There are lots of deer prints here, the two toes making that characteristic heart shape. Roe deer and muntjac intermingled, making neat little paths, deer motorways, tracking through the field.My daughter says she saw a fawn grazing here yesterday and, at first, I thought she must be mistaken - it's far too early - until I remembered that muntjacs give birth all year round. And so I take to the large throne of a seat that we have here, hewn by my Dad out of a massive piece of oak. I climb up and perch on it, feeling small in its expanse. Continue reading...