Winter wagtail

In winter the pied wagtail has, to an extent, adapted to the disappearance of the rocky, often stream-side environment they like. During my lifetime I have seen these attractive black and white birds repeatedly using locations that must provide the food that they require, places such as school playgrounds, tennis courts, car parks and roofs of all descriptions. In recent winters I have found pied wagtails searching the crannies of wood shingles on the roof of the Forestry England visitor centre at Beechenhurst in the Forest of Dean. The photograph shows one of two birds that were carefully scrutinising the roof during a recent visit.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P950

Late autumn colour

click photo to enlarge
On a recent walk in the Forest of Dean we noted how most deciduous trees had lost a lot of leaf in a relatively few days. This autumn, in my part of the world, has been relatively calm and mild, but change was in the offing as we walked through the oaks and pines near the Speech House. Here, once again it was the fiery oranges and golds of the beech trees that caught the eye.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Autumn at Cannop Ponds

Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean are man-made reservoirs that were designed to send a controlled flow of water to a water-powered wheel at Park End Iron works. They comprise two ponds and were built in 1825 (lower) and 1829 (upper). Today they are a popular tourist destination and a nature site.

 In recent years there was the possibility of the ponds being drained and the land returned to its former existence as a valley of the Cannop Brook. Fortunately this project was dropped and the habitats around the two ponds will be developed to benefit more wildlife. These two photographs were taken recently at the edges of the expanses of water.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Mossy forest floor

The Forest of Dean is a mixture of ancient forest and small plantations. The latter are mainly coniferous, and often so densely planted that the forest floor is little more than an accumulation of pine needles in which little grows. But, in a few places the light is able to illuminate the ground and that, combined with moisture leads to an attractive forest floor of moss, as in the photograph above.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Mallards Pike, Forest of Dean

Mallards Pike in the Forest of Dean is a small lake with nearby parking, a cafe and a tree climbing facility. The name seems to reference the ducks most commonly seen on the water and a type of fish that lurks beneath the surface. But apparently this isn't so. Mallard in this instance is a corruption of the surname Maller, the person who owned not only land in the area in the 1950s but specifically, a turnpike road and toll house. Maller's turnpike, in time, became Mallards Pike.

 photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Return to Speech House Lake

Three years ago I took a photograph from approximately this point on the edge of Speech House Lake in the Forest of Dean. On a recent walk that went by the lake I took another photograph in the same area. The reflections of the small islands of pines were better this time and the presence of clouds improved the shot considerably, as did the seasonally yellow tinge of the light. I had hoped to make more of the flock of mandarin ducks on the water but they quickly fled and were soon barely visible  (centre right).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Silver birch avenue

The small, closely growing, silver birch avenue in this photograph must have been deliberately planted because it runs along the top of an embankment of a disused railway near the edge of the Forest of Dean. It is now one of the footpaths that runs from Cinderford's Linear Park into the forest. 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Autumn trees

I can't imagine what it is like to live in a place where there are no clearly defined seasons. For the photographer spring, summer, autumn and winter can offer the same subject clothed in different ways and so a simple walk in the woods can differ markedly depending on the time of year. Trees the colour of those above can only be seen in autumn. In winter they will offer their black skeletons, in spring fresh, light greens filtering the brighter skies, and in summer dense foliage will block much of the light reaching the forest floor.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Autumn beeches

Arboriculturists seek to breed ever more beautiful trees. Over the years we have visited a number of arboretums and have been impressed by the variety of colours that have been coaxed out of tree families. Acers, in particular, have been the focus of plant breeders and a vast range of leaf shapes and colours have been drawn from this variety. But, every autumn, as I gaze upon the native beech trees' leaves changing from green to brown to orange then gold, I remind myself that there are few finer sights than the autumn sunlight seen through the leaves of Fagus sylvatica. These examples were photographed in the Forest of Dean.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

New sculpture in the Forest of Dean

On a recent walk in the Forest of Dean we came across a new addition to the Sculpture Trail. The work called "Gathering" is by the Gloucestershire sculptor, Julian Wild. Its striking colours caught our eye, as did the reflective metal blobs on the surfaces of the poles. You can read more about the sculpture in the sculptor's own words here.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Exmoor ponies

The Exmoor pony originates from the area of moorland that embraces parts of Somerset and Devon. It is well adapted to moorland conditions i.e. rain, snow and poor grazing. The breed is recorded in the Domesday Book and has largely maintained its characteristic appearance through to the present day. It has been used for riding and pulling vehicles. Claims for it being a breed from prehistoric times are disputed but it it has notable similarities to cave drawings of ponies. The pony came close to extinction post-WW2 and in recent years the number of animals in the UK is thought to have increased to 95 with a world-wide population of c.330.

These ponies are some of at least four animals used (in conjunction with Highland cattle and Hebridean sheep) to develop and maintain heathland in Woorgreens Nature Reserve in the Forest of Dean.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

The Wishing Tree

I recently became aware of "The Wishing Tree" near Cinderford in the Forest of Dean and we undertook a walk that included stopping off at it. It is a tree - in this instance a dead one - where people hammer a coin into the trunk and make a wish. Until I became aware of this example I didn't know that it is one of a number of such trees found in the British Isles. The idea of it sounds to be of great antiquity, and I suppose in some ways it is like the love token involving locks fixed to the railings of bridges. I had imagined that this Wishing Tree would be away from other trees giving it greature stature, but it was fairly closely surrounded by others and relatively hard to find.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Highland cow, Woorgreens Nature Reserve

Woorgreens Nature Reserve is an area of heathland in the Forest of Dean. It is 104 acres (42 hectares) in size and includes a small lake and wet areas. The site is managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust who are seeking to retain and widen its heathland characteristics to make it attractive to a greater range of wildlife. They are employing three types of large grazing animals to help them achieve their target. Highland cattle are the largest and we came upon several gathered under a stand of conifers by the edge of the reserve. This particular animal, one of the traditional ginger coloured animals - there are black Highland cattle too - posed very nicely to have its photograph taken. My first impression was that the cattle had cowbells round their necks, but closer inspection showed them to be GPS collars to ensure that the cattle remain in the required areas.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Wet autumn woodland

We recently had a walk in the Forest of Dean after quite a bit of rain had fallen. The trees had given up more leaves to the deluges but, nonetheless, more remained firmly fixed to branches than is usual for the time of year. It was slippery underfoot and water droplets twinkled in the sunlight that pierced the tree canopy. The dead and dying bracken looked bright orange as we walked towards the sun but the tree ferns remained resolutely green. Our route took us through Nagshead Plantation, an area that includes an RSPB reserve. Everywhere we looked it seemed there was a competition between the oak and the beech for which had the best leaf display. For me the beech was winning.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Wet autumn leaves

Regular spells of useful rain are now following our dry summer and early autumn, and the leaves are steadily falling from the trees. A walk in the Forest of Dean found us tramping through carpets of assorted leaves that still glistened from a recent downpour. The low morning sun illuminated them quite nicely adding shadows and bright points to the subtle colours, inviting a photograph.

 photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The mandarins' new colours

During summer after the hatching of eggs and the quick growth of ducklings the mandarin, like all other ducks, moults its feathers. This period is also known as "eclipse". It is most noticeable in the brightly coloured males that become predominantly brown though they can still be distinguished from the females by their distinctive beaks.

click image to enlarge
As autumn approaches a new set of feathers grows and quite quickly the males assume their multi-coloured best. On a recent visit to Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean we saw the mandarins by the waters edge, under the overhanging trees. Many birds were perched on the low branches of alders. The second photograph shows a bird standing on a section of submerged branch, its lower body reflected in the water, with real and reflected branches in the background

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

Preening drake Mandarin

On a late April walk round Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean we came across a reduced number of mandarin ducks. This is probably accounted for by the fact that in April and May the ducks are nesting in cavities in trees in the area around the water. Of the remaining ducks all but one were males, and most of these were spending their time preening on branches overhanging the ponds. The biological imperatives that govern behaviour seemed to be at work here - the females doing the important stuff and the males making themselves look the best they can!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Steam Mills Lake, Forest of Dean

The 5 acre (2 ha.) Steam Mills Lake is in the village of Steam Mills that adjoins the town of Cinderford in the Forest of Dean. Both village and lake get their names from a steam mill that was established there in the nineteenth century. The lake is man-made, the result of clay extraction for brick making (which continues today on a site among trees next to the lake.) The water now serves as a fishing lake containing brown trout, barbel, bleak, bream, carp (common & mirror), chub, gudgeon, perch, roach, rudd & golden rudd and tench. Fishing is managed by the Royal Forest of Dean Angling Club. On our recent walk in the area we saw only tufted duck, mallard, coot, moorhen and gulls on the lake but there were siskins in the surrounding woods. My wife posed as the focus of interest in this shot.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The naturalized mandarin

The mandarin duck is a native of Eastern Asia, mainly China and Japan. It became known in Europe in 1599 through a painting brought to Rome by Japanese envoys. Live birds were introduced to Britain shortly before 1745 when it was known as the "Chinese teal". Drawings of the birds in the garden of Sir Matthew Decker in Surrey were made by the naturalist George Edwards. Thereafter many wealthy landowners tried, often successfully, to establish the bird in their grounds and pockets of mandarins developed across the British Isles. I recently acquired the book, "The Naturalized Animals of the British Isles" (Christoper Lever, Hutchinson, 1977) where the above facts (and many more) can be found. Interestingly the large colony at Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean isn't mentioned: perhaps it is of more recent establishment. The photograph shows a striking male mandarin at the Ponds, standing on ice.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

A man-made lake

When I posted my first photograph of Speech House Lake in the Forest of Dean I speculated that, like other stretches of water in the Forest, this small lake was probably man-made and associated with either mine workings or the provision of water power. Some recent reading shows I was partly wrong. Apparently it was created at some point after 1974 because it does not appear on the Ordnance Suvey map of that time. Moreover, it was constructed, by damming a small stream, for the purposes of fishing. It continues to be used by fishermen today as well as offering a destination for walkers in the woodland.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2