The Weeks Ahead

Over the coming weeks I have a few meetings, which will definitely keep me busy!

I am soon to meet with the Forestry Commission to work out the best plan of action regarding the wild boar. I'm not expecting them to implement my suggestions, but I do hope they will listen. The wild boar require management, but only when absolutely necessary and this is something I am hoping to help them with, to get a better understanding of boar numbers throughout the area, so that a more accurate guess can be made when a cull is imminent.

I will also be attending a talk on ash die back, to hopefully better understand what is going on within our forests. Huge amounts of larch has been felled and is still being felled throughout the UK and the sooner we get on top of these issues the better.

Then a meeting with Forest of Dean District Council regarding Northern United (Northern Area Action Plan).

As I have been surveying and monitoring this area for wildlife for many years, I have been invited to a meeting to discuss the area and the wildlife. I welcome this invitation as it is local people with local knowledge who can really help, not people pulled in from far and wide that do not know the area and the wildlife present.
I have never approved of the development of this area, but if Northern is to get the green light, I am not going to sit on my hands, or bury my head in the sand as a defeatist. I will work with them to make sure the wildlife comes first and that sensitive and unique areas are maintained, preserved and protected.

Then... It's off to one of my favourite areas in the Forest of Dean to work with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust on a project to manage reptile habitat.
Really looking forward to this as it is where I excel and the excitement of knowing that you will one day find an adder basking in an area that you have helped create is amazing!

Spring is around the corner and I am looking forward to warmer days and lighter evenings, so I can get out with the camera more often.

I leave you with some photographs of wildlife 

All photographed in the magnificent Forest of Dean

Roe Buck

Wild Boar Sow and her Piglet 2012

Red Fox

Baby Grey Squirrel

Wood Mouse Nicking the Bird Food!

Me, Photographing Wild Boar

Portrait of a Wild Boar Sow; From Encounter Above

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker Searching for Bugs

Cinnabar Larvae on Ragwort and Cinnabar Moths on Thistle

Male Adder Basking in Bracken

Wild Boar Sow, Checking Me Out!

Female Adder Photographed From a Distance of a Few Inches

And Finally, a Guard Hornet Guarding the Nest

Rob

Look out for Bambi!

Our roe and fallow deer have given birth to their fawns, so please be aware of this if walking your dog off lead in the forest.
The doe will leave her fawn in the grass, sometimes near the edge of a track while she wanders off in search of food. This is not neglect and the fawn has not been abandoned as the doe needs to feed to keep her strength up and to produce milk for her suckling fawn.
Fallow deer have one fawn after a gestation period of nearly nine months, whereas roe deer have between one and three fawns after a gestation period of ten months. The mortality rate for roe deer fawns is much higher than fallow deer fawns and one reason is due to their weight and size at birth.
A roe fawn can weigh as little as 1.5kg, whereas a fallow fawn weighs between 4 - 5kg.

If you come across one, please don't disturb it or stay around it for too long as the doe will be anxiously watching from a distance and it will also be very stressful for the fawn. Thanks.

Deer in the Forest of Dean...

Roe Deer - Buck


Roe Deer - Doe


Fallow Deer - Buck


Fallow Deer - Doe


Fallow Deer - Doe & Fawn


Melanistic Fallow Fawn


Rob