Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes)


Red Fox, Forest of Dean, originally uploaded by Ben909.

The high vegetation of the forest is making spotting wildlife tricky at the moment, so this was a bit of good fortune. I'm hoping to get some better fox shots soon.

Badger, Forest of Dean


Badger, Forest of Dean, originally uploaded by Ben909.

This is a badger I first photographed last year. The sett appears to consist of one less badger this year (only 3 now). The eyes may look a little unnatural - they had a horrible case of 'green-eye' (the badger equivalent of human 'red-eye') from the flash. I've done the best I can to correct them. There's another blurry badger in the background. At one point, a fox walked through too, but in the darkness I originally mistook it for another badger. Shame, as it would have been nice to get a fox and a badger in the same shot.

Wild Boar Sow (video), Forest of Dean


Wild Boar Sow, Forest of Dean, originally uploaded by Ben909.

This was taken last night. I took a number of photos, but the light was really poor under the tree canopy in the twilight, so I reached for the phone to try a bit of video. This is a small sow, probably parenting for the first time, accompanied by her six young (not in this video).
Top tip: Do not stand on a wasps nest that has just been unearthed by a wild boar, wearing trainers and cut-off trousers. I wondered what the weird humming noise was until my ankle was on fire with stings. I think the boar then probably wondered what the hopping, cursing human was all about too. It made the drive home 'interesting' too.

Buttercups


Buttercups, originally uploaded by Ben909.

A fallow doe in the Forest of Dean, munching on some buttercups.

Wild Boar Suckling, Forest of Dean

This is one of the shots that was on Springwatch that I haven't got round to uploading until now. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing of shots I guess, but it's not something you see every day, and not something I expect to see so close up again any time soon. Here's the TV clip again.