Wildlife Safaris Forest of Dean

15/09/2026

Catching up with the conservation grazing ponies at Woorgreens Nature Reserve today. What beauties! 🐎 🌳😊

09/09/2026

One of my favourite wild boar signs! 🐗

Boar are famous for digging over the soil, but occasionally you can see where one has just stuck its snout into the ground as it walks along, leaving a long, snaking trail 😂 We found quite a few like this today - boar are certainly enjoying the softened soil now we've had a bit of rain!

02/09/2026

September is here, it's finally been raining in the forest and it feels like the seasons are turning towards autumn... But even on a rainy day there are still reminders of summer - like this hummingbird hawk-moth Liz spotted in our garden this morning! 😮🦋🍂

29/08/2026

Dramatic skies on one of our evening wildlife safaris last night! 😮🌳

03/08/2026

All about 'eclipse' plumage (presented by Ed) - something we show our guests at this time of year but few people have heard of!

This mini documentary is part of a series focused on the wildlife a...

30/07/2026

Wild boar doing what boar do best - happily foraging as they move through the forest 🐗🌳🤩

Liz was lucky enough to watch this large, relaxed group for over half an hour. With all the dry vegetation on the ground they made quite a noise! This is a 'sounder' - a group of females with their young. Now a few months old, the youngsters have mostly lost their stripes now, but they were still happy to tussle and play with each other!

What a privilege to be able to quietly watch them going about their natural behaviour.

Our evening wildlife safaris give the best chance of spotting these elusive forest animals. We have new dates up for the summer and autumn - book your place at https://www.yuup.co/experiences/wildlife-safari-in-the-forest-of-dean?referral_id=tgRJ03pPhWbdfPzhLb6Jhw

21/07/2026

We spotted a couple of lovely wood white butterflies in the forest yesterday! 🤩🦋

These dainty little insects are our smallest white butterfly, and are now quite rare in the UK, so it was good to see a few of them flying in the sunshine ☀️

16/07/2026

One of our favourite places to take guests, Cannop Ponds has a rich mix of habitats, from lakes and wet woodland to ancient oak woodland, plantation and scrub. It has various walking trails and also a beautiful cycling trail running through it.

Wildlife highlights include:

🦆 Waterbirds on the lake and along Cannop Brook, including grey wagtails, mandarin ducks, little grebes and cormorants, plus goosanders in winter. If you're lucky you may even spot a kingfisher or dipper!

🐦 Woodland birds such as nuthatches, woodpeckers, treecreepers, thrushes, goldcrests, firecrests and t**s, as well as buzzards, ravens and occasionally goshawks overhead. Swallows swoop over the lakes in summer, when redstarts and flycatchers also visit.

🦌 Wild boar and deer in the surrounding woodlands.

🦇 Bats feeding over the lake at dusk.

🦋 Varied insect life including silver-washed fritillary butterflies, golden-ringed dragonflies, beautiful demoiselles, dung beetles and many others.

🚂 Hidden clues to the forest's industrial past.

🌳 A tranquil atmosphere amongst ancient woodland, including 200-year-old 'Napoleonic oaks'.

Perfect for exploring at any time of year!

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13/07/2026

It's a prime time for insects in the Forest at the moment! 🦋🐝🪲🦗

As well as many of the commoner species, we've also managed to spot a clouded yellow butterfly and hummingbird hawkmoth this week. Dragonflies and damselflies are out in force, and grasshoppers and bush-crickets are filling more open, grassy areas.

Guests on our daytime safaris get an opportunity not just to spot these beautiful insects but also to learn a bit more about their life cycles and behaviour. They also get the chance to learn how to identify grasshoppers and bush-crickets by their sounds!

07/07/2026

A moth trap treat with the kids this morning 😊🦋