Just Champion

Sunday - 17th March

I've been on the road over the last couple of weeks supporting the Wales rugby team in the Six Nations Tournament.....Cardiff, Edinburgh and back to Cardiff this weekend so the camera as they say has had to take a back seat. Now the tournament is over and Wales are the Grand Slam Champions I'm eager to resume normal service so after that deluge of yesterday afternoon and a forecast of a little sun this morning I'm having a couple of hours out in the forest.

It's a sunny morning all be it a little on the cold side, the area I'm at this morning like many other locations shows signs of recent extensive boar activity so the search begins. An early morning dog walker approaches and asks......"have you come to see the boar?"....I reply "yes".....she continues "they are great, they are all over the place".

Public opinion regarding increasing the boar cull is split especially amongst FOD residents, I supposed you point of view all depends on whether you've suffered damage in some way and your view on nature, but there's no doubt there's extensive damage in some areas to public park spaces, roadside verges even football pitches looking more like ploughed fields.

I'm in an area quite dense in low thorny bushes and gorse which the boar tend to retreat to during the day, I hear a sow grunt which is a bit unnerving when you can't see no more than a meter in front of you so climb to higher ground, I can see a couple of humbugs and a sow, then another sow and more humbugs maybe up to twelve some sunning themselves amongst some gorse bushes.

Its a long shot and switch the crop camera to the 500mm and 1.4 extender giving 1,120mm focal length, the shots aren't what I had imagined or hoped for and certainly not what I'd see recently of low uncluttered images amongst bracken, never the less I'm grateful to be out and a great way to finish off the Grand Slam weekend...Wales..Wales

By the way...thanks for the heads up

Click image to view...

Wild Boar - "Humbugs"

Initially it was thought there were only three or four humbugs but it soon became obvious there were probably up to twelve individuals warming in the early the morning sunshine.

Happiness....just being able to sleep in the sun

Another Boaring Rugby Weekend

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” 

Click image and view full screen

Young Male Fallow Deer, always watchful but content in the safety of the long grass

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

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

Click image to view...

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 II

Arriving quite late on Friday night there was just enough time for a recovery beer then its off to bed for a early 5.30 start. This will be the seventh day over a number of weekends I've been searching for the Elusive Forest of Dean Boar to trying to get the image I was after

Day One - Saturday

Its still dark as I leave the house and head off into the forest, passing the old colliery I spot a male boar rooting amongst the vegetation on the side of the road, its a narrow road at this point but I manage to turn the car around and head back to where the boar is busy getting his breakfast. Boar have very good hearing and smell but poor eye sight, its senses my presence either the cars engine noise or the side lights and makes a bolt up into the forest, I can hear him snorting which they do when alarmed, its not as you would think a threat. As I'm not likely to see the boar again I carry.

Arriving at my location I am always amazed to see at such an early time cars parked with presumably people walking in the forest at first light. Previously at this location I've seen Fallow Deer which are always more difficult to photograph in the wild rather than parks, its also good at the right time of year for Nightjar, Stonechat and over the last couple of years over wintering Great Grey Shrike. 

Its now around 8.0 am and its been quite apart from the odd Buzzard and a few sings of boar damage so I head off to another location close by. No sign today of the large buck Fallow Deer sporting a magnificent set of antlers seen on may last visit so I call it a day and head back to the car, then suddenly I see running amongst the oak trees is a little humbug piglet, then another larger animal, I remove the 1.4 TC as they are too close and swing the 500mm into action, but it struggles to focus and I miss the shot of a young sow...doh, this is completely the wrong lens !

One duff image !...

Day Two - Sunday

Today I've arranged to meet up with RW who has some recent sightings of boar and also Fallow Deer. We arrive at our location and head off down a track into the forestry, within a short distance whilst chatting a big male boar appears out of the forest, stops on the track, takes one look and promptly disappears into the small plantation on the other side of the track..first miss of the day.....play attention !

We are now some way into the forest and on the side of the track is a young boar rooting for a meal, crouching down we grab some shots, then a sow appears slowly crossing the track, followed by the sub adult and a piglet, I manage some thirty images with the 100-400mm lens before they all disappear into the tree plantation, what a good start !

A new location for me, there are signs of extensive boar activity all over the area, we sit and wait to see what my turn up, a buck and doe Fallow Deer slowly walk towards us, the doe senses something and they are both gone, I need to brush up on stalking skills !. We continue a little further and discover someone camping enjoying the delights and solitude of the forest, smoke drifts from the camp fire close ground in the cool morning air, ghost like through the trees, its not suprising the area is absent of our target species.

Female / Sow Wild Boar... 

Yearling Sow...

Sub Adult Boar....

I'm up to may waste in bracken in an area that looks like boar are resident, over so often I stumble on a boar at no more than a metres distance, it grunts and make a bolt for it, the bracken is so dense its pointless looking a further so we make our my way to a path leading up through the forest, there are signs of boar activity every where.

At the top of the track is newly erected Forestry Commission shooting tower was discovered used to cull the boar located in an area with considerable boar activity as you would expect, I'm told they bait the animals to bring in to range which are then shot

In the past shooting wooden shooting towers have been vandalised by pro-boar supporters, this particular tower is constructed from steelwork with all the relevant fixings welded so as to remain tamper proof.

Strategically placed to act as tower security was this Trail Camera, I didn't search extensively but its unlikely to be the only camera installed, I'm sure the First Commission are more sneaky than that !

Sunday Morning at Cannop Ponds

With all the signs of boar damage around the forest I thought this morning I’d get out and about and attempt to locate and photograph Wild Boar. Cannop Ponds being one area were boar have caused havoc digging up all the grassed picnic areas, so here was the starting point of my search.

Following some directions I head up into the forestry soon finding signs of boar activity, and, fifty meters further on I spotted a grey/brown object with a very active wiggling tail…wild boar ! I move a little closer remembering what my mother had said, boar are very dangerous and will charge to protect their off spring, with that knowledge at the fourfront of my mind I move closer, I count at lease three animals deep in cover grunting to each other as they route about feeding, then I’m spotted and with a couple of squeals their gone, deeper into cover.

For the next hour or so I try to get a view of the now very wary boar, not the dangerous animals they have been portrayed, at one point stumbling on four animals at around a meter distance which I have to admit had my hart pumping a little. With one record shot in the bag I head back to the ponds, Its quite bird wise but I do get some decent images of a very vocal Little Grebe