Golden days

[ColinM]

A walk in the Forest of Dean today was interrupted by some wild boar (on the path ahead), a rutting stag (somewhere deep in the woods, never seen) and some persistent Nuthatches and Woodpeckers flitting above us. All in all, it was a great decision to take the day off work.

And here's some of the scenery:

Gnarly guardians




Yes, much bracketing was needed in the dim light

[Erik Lund]

Nice rendering in the first shot but the out of focus foreground is a bit distracting - Autumn forest is low light and a struggle to shoot so one often need a tripod,,,

[elsa hoffmann]

I am with Mr Lund - the second images colours are great!

[ColinM]

Thanks Erik, Elsa

I understand - I really liked the tangle of branches in the first shot and tried several zoom settings.
I'd hoped the closer branches would act as a frame, but accept that the final result doesn't achieve this.

Gives me an excuse to go back and try again!
Meanwhile I found out a bit more about the wild boar. Turns out someone was trying to raise them and they bred faster than they could cope with. He brought them to the forest and released them as a way of getting them off his hands.

They carried on breeding and the 60 he released are now estimated to number more than 1,500! They cause a lot of damage and the Forestry teams are battling to control numbers (I think the pigs breed faster than they are able to cull them).