Beasts of the Forest

 Ever since I first went to the forest of Dean six years ago, it has always been my number one aim to see and even better get a picture/some footage of a wild boar. They' are an animal I've always been fascinated by and the Forest of Dean is the best place to see them in the UK. If you haven't read my last post then go and do so as this is a part two to that one. 

First thing in the moring at a crisp 6:am I headed out to where I saw the boar through my thermal imaging camera, but this time in the hope of seeing them in the daylight. I didn't see any boar, but did see some deer. This is a female fallow deer:

This roe deer walked out on the path in front of me:

Here is another I saw of to the side of the path:

After failing to see the boar around where I saw them the night before we headed to an RSPB reserve called Nagshead that was recommended by some walkers for seeing boar. We arrived and looked at the recent sightings board that did include wild boar so we headed down the paths and to the hide where they had been reported. After a few minutes we stopped and I had a scan with my thermal camera along the edge of a small field. It picked somthing up along the woods edge before dissapering into the ferns. We had the camera ready and watched as the tops of the rustling ferns got closer to us, a bit like in Jurassic Park. But it ended up being jurassic pork as 5 wild boar appeared suddenly on the path in front of us before suddenly realising we were there and sprinting off back into the ferns, snorting and squeling loudly. 

An encouter like that was exactly what I had wanted all these years. It does however get even better as once we got to the hide there were four more. But this time, they were humbugs (piglets)!

Suddenly, the sow appeared out of the ferns and I got the shots that were worth the six years of trying and failing:

This next one is my favourite photo I have ever taken, only slightly different to the last one but it's head is slightly more raised, poised for the best angle:

Even after 6 years of research on them and how to at least even spot one in the Dean, I never imagined I would get a shot like that. Shortly after those pigs had moved on another one appeared and seemed to follow in the same direction. Based on my knowledge of boars, it would most likely be a sister or previous daughter from another year of the sow. 

The hide didn't stop delivering though as a fox appeared and had a drink from the pond in front of the hide:

The hide was also brilliant for bird life:

We saw this jay:

A stock dove:

A siskin:

My top bird of the day was my first ever firecrest:

Finally, just before we left, a herd of four fallow deer appeared:

That was everything we saw in the Forest of Dean this year. Finally seeing the boar and getting some brilliant pictures was well worth the wait. Remember to leave a comment and thanks for reading.