Some of the great sights of autumn - a murmation of starlings and the fungus in a English woodland can be see in Oxfordshire.
Yet what is perhaps the most impressive, the rut of the Red Deer, can be found close to London at Richmond Park
Established in 1625 by Charles I for hunting fallow and red deer, Richmond Park is 12 miles from London and covers an area of four square miles.
It is still home to royalty, Princess Alexandra still lives there, but thanks to careful management has become London's largest SSSI, a National Nature Reserve and Special Area of Conservation. It is one of the most important sites in the UK for ancient trees and is home to rare animals like the cardinal click beetle, the stag beetle and the lesser spotted woodpecker.
But it is the deer that are by far the most obvious and what makes the park famous - especially in autumn, when the stags are at their most impressive:
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During the day the stags are not too active, often keeping an eye on their hinds (female deer) or just having a rest
With an occasional bout of bellowing to warn off other stags who might be encroaching into their territory.
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But as the day light starts to fade and just before the park closes for the night, the stags become more active, chasing off rivals, often with bracken on their antlers - as if to make themselves even more intimidating.
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If that doesn't work then the final resort is combat - an impressive struggle between two members of what is Britain's largest native land mammal.
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