Butterflies, Dragons & Everything Else

Ragwort; disliked by some as they see it as a serious weed. 
Also, people who own horses dislike this plant and for good reason as it is poisonous to horses.
However, if managed it is not a problem and in the forest and countryside, where this plant is relatively harmless it has some fantastic benefits.

If you want to see or photograph a huge array of different insect species then look no further than this bright yellow wildflower as nearly every insect imaginable swarms around ragwort to feed on it.

So the next time you see ragwort, don't look on it as a weed, look on it as a vital source of food for our many thousands of insects and stop to check out the activity.

Click on images for larger view.

Common Blue

Bee

Southern Hawker

Golden ringed

Green Veined White

Meadow Brown

Small Copper

Clouded Yellow

Common Blue

Gatekeeper

Peacock

Fallow Deer

Common Lizard

Fallow Deer

Candid Fallow Deer

Fallow Deer

Hornet Moth

Hornet Moth

Poplar Hawk Moth

Poplar Hawk Moth

Poplar Hawk Moth

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

A Trip Down South!

Along with a good friend (who was driving) I endured horrendous traffic, which meant it took four hours to reach our destination in Dorset and with heavy fog most of the way it appeared that we would probably be travelling back without the photographs we were after.
However, optimistic as always and nearing our location the sun broke through the fog and it turned into the perfect day for the rare reptile species we were after; the Sand Lizard!

NOTE: The Sand Lizard is protected under, Schedule 2 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (1994), and Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.

With the help of some very trusting and friendly locals, it was only a few minuets before I was face to face with my first sand lizard. I must admit that I was shocked to have found one so quickly, but without the help of our local friends it would have taken a lot longer as they are so well camouflaged.

First find!


This was great, except it was not the best of shots due to the bush it was basking under, so we moved on.
I had never seen a sand lizard in the wild before, so as far as I was concerned this was about as good as it was going to get. How wrong I was as just around the corner our luck changed!

This fella was out in the open making the most of the blazing sun!


There were at least six lizards in one location and it was hard picking one to photograph.


The one thing that astounded me was the fact that they were all very curious and even came up to the camera!
The sand lizard, as mentioned above, is very rare and also extremely protected so the last thing I wanted to do was to disturb them. This concerned me on the way to Dorset, but I was gobsmacked at how relaxed these lizards were with our presence.


It's always nice to get two different species in one shot, but when I got up on this morning I couldn't of imagined that I would be photographing a sand lizard, with a ladybird walking around next to him!


We left this site and headed out onto some heathland where we saw a nice male adder. I missed this opportunity, but something even more special was just around the corner.
A male sand lizard!


We left the locals and headed to another spot where there was a chance of photographing another species, which I had not captured previously; Sika Deer.

Not knowing what to expect and ready for the stalk I followed my friend to some open grassy areas, surrounded by woodland. Now these deer are wild, they are not on an estate, or privately owned, so I was again wondering if we were going to succeed!
We spotted some on the edge of the woodland in the grassy area and proceeded to crawl towards them.

I photographed this fella at ground level and the blur in the foreground is grass.


At this point we were almost in the middle of the grassy area when a hind walked up to check us out!


Then two young stags started squaring up to one another!


As you can imagine, I took quite a few pics of these deer, but we still had one more place to visit before we left. The coast.

I'm not the best when it come to identifying birds, so if I have some of these wrong please let me know and I will correct.
And please note: Photo's taken from cliff top!

Bar-Tailed Godwit


Black-Headed Gull



Black-Winged Stilt


Little Egret


Not bad for 5 hours work!

Rob

BBC Filming on Poaching!

I filmed earlier today with BBC Points West on the poaching of dear and wild boar in the Forest of Dean.
You have one chance to watch it, tonight at 10pm on BBC1, but only if you receive Points West. Not available on BBC iPlayer!

Here is a link to the website article.
Link Here

Rob

The Encounter!

I spotted a piglet dart onto the track and then back into the verge while I was out searching for wild boar. Then I saw the sow with around 8 piglets in total! I hit the deck and crawled on my belly through mud and brambles until I was approx 20 metres away. This is when the sow walked out onto the path!




She spotted me and proceeded to stalk me from the other side of the path! As I was lying down with my camera rammed into my face, she could not make out what I was and this enticed her to come closer and closer!




She was approximately 3 metres away when she suddenly realised what I was and stopped dead in her tracks. She watched me for a few moments and then as if she had suddenly realised she had piglets nearby - took off!
She ran straight back to her little ones, but stayed in the area, not bothered by my presence.




I carried on crawling on my belly until I got to within a few metres of them, but struggled to get a clear shot of the piglets.
I decided to go back to the area a couple of days later and as luck would have it, they were virtually in the same spot and this time I managed to get a piglet, nearly in the open!




On my way home I decided to stop off and take a look around another hot spot. No wild boar, but I did bump into this fine lady. A roe deer!




And finally, a greylag goose enjoying the sun on a local lake. (I was lying in the mud again!)