Forest of Dean, autumn colours and a Wild Boar encounter

A fantastic location to visit at any time of year, the Forest of Dean is especially beautiful during the autumn months. Rich yellow and russet tones wash over the forest at this time of year providing a banquet of fruit, nuts and berries for the forest’s wild inhabitants. The heart of England and a true wilderness, the forest covers over forty square miles of iconic ancient British deciduous woodland with it’s stunning Beech, Sweet Chestnut and gnarly old Oaks, not to mention harbouring a wealth of wildlife.

Most species of Deer can be found throughout the forest but Fallow Deer makes up the majority. Another unique woodland dweller that calls the Forest of Dean home is the Wild Boar. Re-introduced into the forest some years ago it’s caused some controversy with local residents mainly due to the damage they do when rooting through people’s gardens for food. One of the main aims to coming to the forest for a few days was to hopefully photograph the Boar. Knowing how rare and extremely elusive these creatures are didn’t bode well for my confidence, but being a wildlife photographer; I knew that you should always expect the unexpected, and nine times out of ten patience and persistence usually rewards with a sighting and if lucky, hopefully a photograph.

Most days we headed out into the forest on foot and saw the clear, tell tale signs that there had been Boar activity present; such as unearthed ground, footprints and tree rubbing but unfortunately never came across any until our third day searching. In a forest clearing we spotted two Boars rooting around. Now, from never seeing one before these came as quite of a shock as they were pretty big! and as with all wildlife spectating/photography keeping your distance is paramount to ensure the welfare of the animal, especially with this species with the stories I’ve heard about them becoming aggressive. In my experience on this encounter though, it was the complete opposite. They were extremely obliging and content with us being near them which helped greatly in getting some lovely close up views and photographs of them.

I personally think they’re a fantastic addition to the forest and viewing them rooting around through the undergrowth was a real timeless encounter and one we’ll never forget.