Its tipping down with rain and I’m off to Cardiff to watch the Wales v Australia rugby match part of the autumn internal series, I’m not optimistic a win is on the cards but its good again to watch an international rugby after what seems like an age following on from the New Zealand Lions tour. Well as expected with an experimental side Wales lost 21-29 but at least I get a day in Cardiff in the run up to Xmas, a great time of year with the dark nights and the colourful lights...its always buzzing. Next up the All Blacks in two weeks !
Its Sunday and the forecast is completely different from yesterday with sunny intervals but with a biting cold wind. The plan today is to see if the Hawfinches are making an appearance at the usual location. Arriving just as the its getting light I’m the only one present, Its quiet with only a couple of Chaffinch’s and an occasional Nuthatch scuttling about looking for the last of the seed put out by phototogs on an earlier visit, time for plan “B” and look for Wild Boar
I’m always amazed at what ever time of the morning I’m in the forest there are cars always parked, early risers indeed. At a familiar location I pick up a dark coloured doe Fallow Deer with a juvenile in tow always a regular for this location, a pair of Stonechats flit around the tops of the now golden brown vegetation, I can just about hear the males characteristic “tack” call, wanting to move on I resist the temptation setting up the Big White for some possible images in the not so go light.
In a clearing deep in the forest the location being good for Nightjar at the right time of year I see a birder with his scope fixed on something of interest, it’s a Great Grey Shrike sat in a tree, a bird always difficult to approach so I'm not expecting to get a close. We watch for some minuets and it puts on a display hovering Kingfisher like, almost dangling on string, motionless in the air apart from the whirling blurred wings. As we talk and we lose sight of the bird, I wish the birder all the best and move on.
Now on my return I pick up a “Pricket” (young male) Fallow Deer, he’s not as nervous as the doe seen earlier as he’s safe in the deep grass, he drops his head and in a blink disappears. It's all quiet not the encounter I was hopping for, a little further along the track a lady walker has her iPhone out taking pictures of something...yikes...boar !...a Sounder of six juveniles....
As I approach the juvenile boar make a dash from the edge of the forest onto the track and I rattle off maybe 20 to 30 images as I’m expecting them to disappear in to the thick bracken, instead they start routing around in the soft grass track edge eventually moving just inside the tree line. Now a little calmer I move into a position with better light, the boar don’t seem bothered and they carry on searching for acorns with their snouts buried in the ground oblivions to my presence.
Its now some thirty minuets since the encounter and the boar are now back in the location where they were first spotted, I’m sat down amongst the leaf litter trying to be selective with my shots as I’ve already taken well over 500 images, at times the boar at at my feet and to close to get a shot with the 100-400 zoom lens, I sit still watching the enchanter I’m sure that will take some beating and will not happen again for a very long time.
To my right there’s a chap with a dog, the dog is very interested in the goings on but to be fair is under control and silent, the boar approaches the chap and he has a big grin on his face at the encounter that must be a first. Soon there are maybe six walkers all watching at the amazing encounter with phones out recording the event, unfortunately there are two small dogs that refuse to stop barking which eventually spook the boar and they are off, up the track and into the thick bracken. An amazing encounter thats lasted for well over 45 minuets and will live in the memory for a very long time
On the way back to the car I come across a walking couple and we briefly chat……“seen much” I ask, the gent replies….“absolutely nothing, and you ?”…I reply….”just some odds and sods”
Wild Boar
Dog walker and Wild Board sharing the forest.
Respect to this gent when he realised boar were about he put the dog on its lead, although the dog was very interested it remained calm and quiet with the juvenile boar approaching to within half a metre distance
Always good to have a good scratch
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