Bradgate Deer Rut

Its 6.30 am and its still dark, I’m at Bradgate Park for a deer photographic workshop organised by Danny Green a Canon Ambassador, Danny has recently returned from Finland photographing Brown Bears so I’m hoping to learn a few tips and tricks

As always I forget something, this time a head torch. I tag along the back of the group trying not to stumble as we make our way into the darkness, after what maybe a kilometre we stop and wait for it to get light, maybe we could have started a little latter ?

Red and Roe Deer can be heard bellowing out their rutting calls and Tawny Owls are still calling in the now twilight. Soon it’s light enough to start looking suitable subjects, unfortunately it’s not cold enough for those classic shots where the deers breath can be seen in the cold morning air as the sun light is breaking through, maybe on another occasion. 

Through out the day we have the opportunity to photograph deer in natural undulating countryside albeit the light wasn't at it best but thankful the forecast of rain didn't materialise 

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Red Deer Stag & Hind's

Fallow Deer

Red Deer Hind & Sub Adult

Another Boaring Morning in the FOD !

One last forest outing to add to the boar image portfolio before my trip next week to the Costa Blanca, sun, twenty eight degrees and autumn bird migration in full swing......cant wait !

Its a great time of year in the Forest of Dean (FOD) with day time temperatures still continuing to approach twenty degrees, but autumn is arriving quicker than you think with leaves now starting to yellow.

The alarm goes off at 6.15 am set for my last boar outing but it's still dark, theres little point in just sitting in the car waiting for it to get light so I grab an extra 30 minuets in bed as my target location is only ten minuets drive away. Arriving at the location I over shoot the forest track so continue to the next pull in and park up, still half asleep I head down the track checking the camera settings, the low light requiring some hefty ISO, but needs must.

Along the track the grass verge show signs everywhere of boar activity fresh from last nights foraging so I'm optimistic for an encounter. I'm now at a location I have previously visited, under an oak tree there is the unmistakable bottom with a wiggling tail of boar, crouching down I try to impersonate the vegetation to be invisible but I'm detected....boar are everywhere running to my left and right from the forest back into the bracken heavy tree plantation they feel safe occupy during the day. After the initial frantic activity I wait to see what else may appear, I can hear the alarm snort of a single boar that had been enjoying the new crop of acorns, then its all quite......time to move on ?

Its now over an hour since the family of boar made a bolt for cover, just as I was about to move on to another location when a head appears out of the bracken, its a Melanistic Fallow Deer a variation that seems to be quite common in the FOD, the deer looks at me, I take some images, and with a alarm "bark" its gone

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Melanistic Doe Fallow Deer

My next location is to revisit the forest track that showed signs of last nights boar activity, very slowly as I'm walking along the track a female boar appears out of the forest to my right, I crouch down, the boar looks in my direction, they have very poor eye sight, the sow slowly walks across the track followed by tree juveniles, then two more in a hurry and finally the big male boar that looks like nothing going to trouble him ! I've set the camera to silent continuous shooting to avoid alarming the animals, its slow...way too slow for a twenty second encounter, struggling to shoot maybe five frames a second, next time I'll use rapid burst and see how it goes.

Happy I got some decent shots another location beckons..

Wild Boar Sow

Male Wild Boar

Now three hours later I'm coming to the end of the session and struggling up a particularly water logged track, crossing in from me there are maybe four Fallow Deer, the first barks out an alarm call as it disappears deep into the forest, then two more, the last just stops mid track and looks in my direction possibly wondering whether I'm a threat, I rattle off some images, a nice end to the morning  outing. The Costa next but I'll be back out next month on my return

Doe Fallow Deer

In Search of the Elusive FOD Boar

Its Monmouth Music Festival Week and always good fun right in the centre of the town, Saturday night its "Michael Jackson (Forever Jackson) live !....but whilst I'm whooping it up at the music festival I'm also determined over the weekend to track down the sometimes hard to see Forest of Dean boar.

An early 5.30 am start I head into the forest, its a fantastic morning with the sun is just starting to appear, in the deathly silence I pick up the calls of Stonechats, I locate two, a male and a juvenile sat on the top of some flowering plant, I watch for a few minuets and grab a couple of distant shots with the 500 mm in the low light, but I'm not here for Stonchat's and I push on.

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Juvenile Stonechat

In a plantation clearing I locate three Fallow Deer, a young buck and a doe with a quite large fawn, I anticipate they are likely to cross the path I'm located on so I settle down and wait, the doe appears checking its safe to cross, the fawn follows then the young buck...click ! I get some distant shots, not the best but its a start, time to move on..

I'm now in another part of the forest for reliable sighting of Fallow and Roe Deer. Big thanks to RW for his expertise and local knowledge without I would be completely lost, thank you again.

In a small plantation a group of about eight Fallow Deer are getting on with their morning, I locate a buck with quite a nice set of antlers so I wait for a mega shot. As the deer make their way through the long grass they occasional look in my direction, just the look that tells you we can see you! then the largest buck crosses the track but first pausing to look our way, that was the shot..I missed it, the others follow not stopping and its all over, time to move on to the next location

I'm now in a part of the forest where there are reliable sightings of Adder and Common Lizard, as we approach on the top of small ant hills and areas of bank where there is short grass I count around five different Adders, they are quite timid and detect our presence quickly disappearing into the undergrowth. 

From a distance I manage to get some record shots as this will bey first encounter with Adder in a very long time

Continuing our search for boar we pass an area where trees have been previously been felled which the ideal location for young Common Lizards to basked in the morning sunshine. Black to brown in colour of the they are no more than around 50mm in length. 

My visit for the weekend is nearly up with just enough time to search in one more location for boar, again extensive indication boar have been active during the night but no sighting. As we end our search there is just one more photo op with a doe Fallow Deer. 

See you next time...