We set off before dawn and first travelled to Parkend, towards the southern end of the forest. Our quarrel here was Hawfinch. We gave it a good hour and a half from dawn onwards. A few hungry Grey Squirrels and nice close views of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch & Coal Tits etc. and eventually a single male Hawfinch, however just when it looked like we'd get some great views, with the 'ticking' getting ever closer, some guy parked up by us to take a closer look. End result, the disappearance of the Hawfinch. Cheers!
After this, the temptation of a coffee & a sausage/bacon roll at the nearby cafe was too great and so we departed.
After the cafe, we moved on to meet with Dave' s friend Ben, who lives toward the northern end of the forest. He has brilliant knowledge of all the local wildlife and where to find it. He kindly was to be taking us around for the day in our quest to see Boar.
Throughout the rest of the morning and early afternoon, we tried several favoured sites, without success, however the signs were everywhere with lots of prints, dung and general muddy carnage everywhere, an end result of their largely nocturnal feeding habits.
The rain had now arrived with a fair bit of vengeance. We managed good views of a couple of Dipper chasing each other about and then nearby we finally found what we were looking for!
Trudging through the incessant mud, we were alerted to some rather unnerving grunts and growls from a dense block of young spruces closeby. Ben assured us though this wasn't a sound of aggression by any means. Despite our best efforts we couldn't see it so we explored the area a little more before Dave and I returned some 15 minutes later. Both of us entered the trees at two points, almost having to crawl our way in (Dave more than me!). I drew a blank, however Dave struck gold, coming face to face with three 1st-year Wild Boar!! I got over there sharpish and managed to see them zooming through the trees at pace. Great to see what we came for but I was definitely keen for better views.
Our last promising site was just a short drive away. The rain, though on and off was pretty heavy but on we went! After a 10 minute walk from the car, we approached a woodland glade where the boar were likely to be. "Stop" Dave whispered and began snapping away with his camera. Despite thorough scanning with my bins, I couldn't see anything. I didn't want to move to scare anything off. I then heard the grunt and squeal of a couple of Boar as they departed away into the forest. My view had been obscured by a couple of nearby trees. I turned to Dave to see his photo (below). F**k it!!!! I'd missed out on great views. I felt bloody disappointed but nothing I could do, it was just one of those things!
We quietly waited to see if the Boars would return, hearing 2 or 3 more nearby. A pick-me-up then appeared in the shape of a lovely Goshawk flying from nearby spruces across in front of us and out of sight. Top views and a welcome surprise. With no more Boar appearing we decided to wander around a bit before coming back round to the clearing. This proved to be a top, top plan. One, then two, three, FOUR WILD BOAR ambling out in the open! Finally! I got some great views through the bins before they melted away again after a couple of minutes.
We had one last wander about, unsuccessful in finding the nearby Great Grey Shrike and any more Boar, we began our walk back to the car. Not before we had our best Boar views yet. By now it was dusk and the rain now constant and torrential, I was muddy and wet through but didn't really care! Walking along a track, we were treated to as many as 8 Wild Boar strutting across the track to more open areas to feed, some presumably from earlier. These were great, unobstructed, prolonged views, even getting to see one male giving his arse a dam good rub on a nearby telegraph pole! A great, amusing way to end things!
Ben kindly invited us back to his to dry off and for a coffee which was welcome to say the least. Pretty chuffed I'd decided to bring a change of clothes too! After a good natter we headed back to Northants, to draw a close on an exciting and tiring day, having ploughed our way through 17km of thick Dean mud!
Many thanks to Dave for inviting me along and to Ben for dedicating his whole day to us and taking us everywhere. What a top man!
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