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

Maybe Next Time?

After around 3hrs of tracking in an area where I knew there were wild boar, I finally found them.
I hadn't seen or heard a single person and felt great as I managed to get into a fantastic position to grab some good shots.
Focusing on a open area where the sun was dappled on the forest floor as it cut through the trees, all I needed was for the boar to move into this area. This is where patience comes in as it is so easy to push to get close, which usually ends up with the wildlife being disturbed and you then miss your chance. It can take a while, but being patient usually gets you better results.
Then I heard voices in the distance and I was praying that they weren't coming my way, but they were. Out of the whole forest, two guys had decided to walk directly where I was camped out; I couldn't believe it!
I could picture the shots I was about to get, but instead all I ended up with was these.

This is the moment she heard them and rallied her young.


Then they disappeared into a dense part of the forest.


Talk about gutted, but that's how it goes sometimes. The sow was by far one of the largest I have seen for a few years and she would have made a great photograph; along with her little ones. I will find them again and hopefully I/we won't be disturbed next time.

Rob

Wild Boar Debate Continued...........

Well as you will probably have read already, I have had a reply to my reply in the Review this week, regarding the wild boar!
Mrs. Partridge has asked the question whether I could hold my nerve and my camera steady with a couple of wild boar charging me.

Firstly, I would just like to say that I am posting this here as I believe a tit for tat battle through the newspaper will not get anyone anywhere, where the boar are concerned, I have had my say and she has had hers.

If the wild boar are seen so often and sooooooooo dangerous, why are they not attacking? It amazes me that people are still willing to condemn a species on the assumption that they MAY attack, when all the boar are doing is trotting or running up to check things out.
I have never hidden from the fact that they will kill a dog if they have young or if the dog becomes aggressive, but if you are reading this then you have access to the net... DO A SEARCH and look up unprovoked wild boar attacks on humans IN THE WORLD! Then condemn them, all they are doing is checking things out as they have very poor eyesight and can only distinguish blue from the three primary colours.
Do people not read or research anything these days?
It's like me saying Umm! There's a dog off a lead in the wood, it may bite me! Better do something to stop this or our children will get hurt.
COME ON, it's a forest with wild animals in it. There are fallow stags, which have the potential to kill a fully grown man during the rut and there are snakes, which can kill children and the elderly, but we don't run around screaming every time we see one, do we.

It's a joke and it anoys me when people make assumptions about our wildlife!

Mrs Partridge, I have been face to face with the biggest boar I have seen in my life and I have a witness who was with me at the time. I have had one run at me and the video is on HERE. I have photographed them in groups (sounders), on their own and with their little ones. I even photograph snakes UP CLOSE, so the answer to your questions is yes, I can hold my nerve, I can take a steady shot and I am never intimidated by the boar. I am wary of them and respect them as they are wild animals, but they are not monsters like they have been portrayed to be.
I only hope that you and many like you see them in a different light before it is too late. I also hope to be as lucky as you and see them on a more regular basis, this way I can get more video footage, which will show their behaviour and help to educate people on their behaviour, so they will see that they are not after our blood!

Until the next time....

Rob

The Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review

I have contacted the editor of the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review to comment and hopefully get an article published, sticking up for the wild boar, instead of condemning it.

The article I am refering to is from page 5 of, Volume 29, No 24, week ending 12th June 2009.


Here is my reply.....

To the editor,

I am writing in response to your article featuring the wild boar, Vol29, No24, WE: 12th June 2009.
Hopefully you will see fit to publish my views. My name is Robin Ward, I am 40 years old and I live in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean. I am a company Director and I have lived in the Dean all my life.
It saddens me when people make assumptions about certain species just because they don't fit in like the rest of our wildlife. Take the wild boar and the snake for instance. I have been photographing our native snakes for many years and I took my first wild boar photograph back in 2006. Since then I have had many encounters with them, sometimes on their own and sometimes with their young, but not once have I encountered an aggressive one! I am passionate about all our wildlife, I also believe that everything has a right to live and that we should not condemn and persecute without obtaining the facts. When people make assumptions like, if I were a child, it would have stood no chance! This is just another nail in the wild boar's coffin, how can anyone make this assumption? The boar sees dogs as a threat, not humans. They are inquisitive and have poor eyesight, only being able to distinguish blue from the three primary colours, so when they see something large walking through the forest, they have to get close to see what it is and if there is something roughly the same size as them on all fours (your dog), then yes they could see it as a threat, especially if they have young present.
The boar, which supposedly charged Mr. ??? would have been trotting up to check him and his dogs out. I have experienced this many times and I have even captured it on video, see link below. There has been a sow and three piglets in the woods where Mr. ??? saw the boar recently, she has been spotted on numerous occasions and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the boar that he saw. I have attached a photograph of her ((c) Robin Ward), taken by me only 2 weeks ago in the same place as Mr. ??? saw his.
I can understand peoples concerns as it is a species, which has not roamed our forests since the 17th Century and people don't know what to expect, but like any wild animal in the Forest of Dean, treat them with respect and leave well alone.
I agree that they will require managing like the fallow deer as they have no natural predators, but the Forestry Commission already manage the deer, so there should be no issue there? I have also attached a few more of my photographs, all from the Forest of Dean. Hopefully you will be able to put together a nice piece, rejoicing our wildlife?
I am also an external writer for BBC Gloucestershire on their nature section, having 8 articles published to date. See BBC wild boar link below. Wild boar video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPlg2oTfKKM Link to my BBC feature: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2007/11/22/wild_boar_feature.shtml

It's not a sin to love wildlife, we need it to survive!



Kind Regards

Robin Ward

Wild Boar Sow (Sus scrofa)

He she is, sadly I missed the little ones!