Photographer's 'awe' at rare albino stag encounter

A photographer who captured on camera a rare encounter with a white hart deer in the wilds of Devon said he felt "awe" he felt coming within feet of it.

Brian Johnston, a lorry driver who photographs wildlife in his spare time, said it was following a two-day mission that he finally spotted the stag dozing in a field.

"It really is a spectacle to see this mythic-like creature - and to just to see one sitting in a field is pretty special," he said.

Charles Smith-Jones, technical advisor at the British Deer Society, said, after studying the photographs, that he believed the red deer to be "albinistic" - which he said was "very very unusual".

White hart is a term used to describe an adult male red deer with a white coat, although most white deer are actually leucistic - combining a lack of hair and skin pigment with normal eye and nose colour.

True albinos were more rare, said Smith-Jones of the British Deer Society.

"You run into them every now and then - you get localised populations where the gene is reasonably strong.

"Some of them are albinos, some are leucistic, which means they have less melatonin which causes colouration."

Steve Hussey, from the Devon Wildlife Trust, meanwhile, warned against revealing the deer's whereabouts to protect its welfare.

Johnston, 42, said he had taken up wildlife photography about four years ago and had since captured many pictures of deer.

However, it was only during the short period of rutting season that he had spotted the rare white hart deer, he added - believing them to be leucistic.

He said: "I'm out most weekends, especially when the stags come out of hiding.

"I saw this one last year but it's bigger now, with more spikes on its antlers."

Describing the stags as "elusive" and "really impressive", he said getting close to them was a "challenge" while having captured the image was a "good feeling".

"Not many people get to see them," he added.

"The day before we spotted it but it got a whiff of our scent and ran off.

"The next day he was dozing in a field so we managing to get fairly close."

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