13th November - The New Forest and Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

Autumn colour seems to be at its best around the middle of November in Hampshire and this was very true this year.  It was still pre dawn as I drove along Roger Penny Way, but the colours in the trees on either side of the road were stunning despite the light.  I was heading for Eyeworth Pond, a patch of water created by the damming of a stream.  This has created ideal habitat for that gem of a duck, the Mandarin, trees hang close over the water, providing them with places to hide away and this makes them difficult to see through out the day, so I had decided an early visit was necessary.  I was also hoping there would be a chance to sww the other specialty at this time of year, the Goosander, several use the pond to roost in the winter.

As I pulled into the car park there was a large group of Mallard close to the bank and the mandarin were also in amongst them.  Unfortunately there was no sign of any Goosander what so ever.  A year tick in the bag, I wanted to get the opportunity to get close to the mandarin, the black reflections in the water of the pond provide the ideal background for the vibrant colours of the Mandarin drakes.

Another car then joined me and the occupants were clearly known by all the ducks as they scurried across the water to meet them as they delivered seed and bread to both the shore line of the pond for the ducks and under the bushes and on the fence posts for the passerines.

This was perfect for me, bringing the naturally shy mandarins closer to the camera.  So time to enjoy the beauty of this little duck along with some interesting facts.

Although it was still quite dull and I was shooting on a very high ISO so the images were a little grainy, the dark water and bright colours compensated.  This one drake entered into a bath come shower.

The Mandarin is widely regarded as the world's most beautiful duck and is a native of China and Japan.  The first Mandarins were imported to Britain in the mid-18th century, but it wasn't until the 1930s that escapes from wildfowl collections started breeding in the United Kingdom..

The first birds to escape did so from Alfred Ezra's collection at Foxwarren Park, near Cobham in Surrey, and this area remains one of the strongholds of mandarins in England.

The drake Mandarin's stunning plumage has long made it an artist's favourite, and it is widely depicted in oriental art.

Mandarins favour small wooded ponds and avoid lakes or large bodies of open water.  They are extremely manoeuvrable fliers, able to fly through trees with remarkable agility.  They frequently perch in trees, while the female invariably chooses a hole or cavity in a tree trunk in which to lay her eggs.

Here you get to see the "sails" which are actually an elongated tertial feather.

A change to in the water background 

It doesn't need to be a full frame photograph to appreciate the beauty of the duck.

The drake Mandarin's display is highly ritualised, and includes raising the crest and the orange sails, and ritualised drinking and preening behind the sail.

And here the objective of his affections, the grey brown plumaged female.  Female Mandarins don't quack, but they do make a series of clucking calls that are invariably uttered when they see danger, such as a hunting fox.

Back to the reflections

The water taking on the reflection of the trees surrounding the pond.

The Mandarin is a member of the genus, which has only one other member, the closely related North American wood duck. Though the drakes are very different, the plumage of the females is very similar.  Despite the closeness of the relationship with the wood duck, no hybrids have ever been recorded. This is because the mandarin has a chromosome aberrance that makes it impossible for it to produce hybrids with other ducks.

In their native China mandarins have long been regarded as symbols of fidelity and pairs were given to brides on their wedding day.

The Mandarin is one of the few introduced species in Britain that has not created any environmental problems, mainly because it uses a habitat not favoured by our native wildfowl.

Partly successful at Eyeworth, I wanted to find the Goosander, so, as the Mandarin had eaten enough and were all heading to the trees on the far side of the pond, I decided to try some of the other ponds in the area.  Dropping into Janesmoor there were no birds present at all except for good numbers of thrushes in the surrounding trees.

Next stop was Cadnam Pool, once again ducks were being fed and good numbers of Mallard were hoovering up the seed on the shore and I was surprised to see at least six pairs of Mandarin here too.  There was no sign of the Goosanders though, which was disappointing.  I decided to spend some time walking around the pool, there was plenty of activity in the surrounding bushes, mostly thrushes it was good to be able to get up close to some Redwing.

Whilst the Redwing was the most numerous, it was good to finally see some Fieldfare for the first time this autumn.

Plenty of Beech trees saw quite a few Chaffinches about.

But unfortunately there was no sign of the "hoped for" white rumped Brambling.

Searching around the trees and bushes though did find me these lovely Fly Agaric fungi, probably the quintessential autumn mushroom.

The common name of this mushroom comes from the medieval practice of breaking up the caps and leaving them in milk to stupefy flys. This mushroom also has hallucinogenic properties which the Lapps have used traditionally in ceremonies and even to round up reindeer who seem to love them.

Topically, it was common on Christmas cards in Victorian and Edwardian times as a symbol of good luck and its colours are thought to have been the inspiration for Santa Claus's red and white suit.

Next on the list was a trip to Backley Bottom, this meant driving around to the Canadian War Memorial and then setting of across the heath and down the valley and up the other side to view a second valley.  The walk was not difficult with a clear path, the only obstacle was a stream but this was shallow enough to walk across.  Early on there were lots of Fieldfare and Redwing in the hawthorn bushes and I also came across a couple of Fallow Deer stags still sporting a significant rack of antlers.

The path fringed plantations of mainly Beech and Birch, the hoped for finches though were not on view.  Sizable tit flocks of all five common tits were seen along with Nuthatch Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

The path then ran along the ridge that runs north to south, with wonderful views across the valleys and burnt orange Bracken.

I was here trying to find a bird that over the last few years has not been easy to see in the forest.  The Great Grey Shrike is annual in the Forest, but over the years the numbers have declined.  The last bird I saw was just before the first Lockdown, a very distant white blob for all of five seconds at Holm Hill.  The last time I had a really decent view you have to go back at least five years when a bird along Ashley Walk showed very well and was approachable.

I had no illusions that this bird if I could find it would be that approachable, I was just hoping I could find it.  Once there was a view across Backley Bottom I started to scan the tree tops, you are looking for a white dot.  Today the God's were with us, I found it on top of a dead tree in the valley bottom and quickly took a record.

A good job I did because when I looked again it was gone.  It took a bit of scanning but eventually I relocated it on top of another dead tree about 400 metres left from where I first saw it.

This gave me a chance to use a small hill and the gorse to approach closer without being seen, but of course when I looked the shrike had gone!

With it being so mobile I decided to sit down and just wait and see if it would reappear. This also coincided with the sun coming out and lighting up the bracken with a golden brown glow.

I then realised I was not alone as several birders joined me, which helped with the search and finally the shrike was relocated.  It occupied an old pine tree and stayed there for around 15 minutes before disappearing once again.  I walked down the side of the valley to a clump of trees and managed to find it sitting at the top of yet another dead tree.  This gave me the best view so far.

Then from this position it flew up, completely vertical before gliding away.  In the photograph it seems to have caught a large insect or beetle.

Then I lost it completely.  I decided then that this was enough, I wasn't going to get any closer without completely disturbing the bird and that I probably had the best shots I was going to get.

I walked back up the hill towards the path on the ridge.  After reassessing my way back I decided to walk through Bratley Wood.  As I walked along the path I scattered birds from the Beech leaves and at least two of them showed very distinctive white rumps.  I found a spot alongside a large tree and decided to wait and see what was about.  There was plenty of movement with Great Tits and Chaffinches the most numerous, but every so often a group would fly up and through the trees and there was plenty of white rumps.  It would seem good numbers of Brambling have arrived this year and this was evident in this wood.  In the end I estimated at least fifty individuals amongst the Chaffinches, maybe more.

I did manage to get a few shots as they settled in the branches, there was no luck on the ground as they seemed to disappear into the beech leaves and bracken.

I carried on down the valley and arrived at a gate into the Boulderwood Inclosure.  This opened out into more views of golden Beech leaves and Bracken.

After initially going the wrong way I made my way through the bracken and heather and eventually crossed a stream and then along the cycle track.  Overhead there were Siskin and a "gronking" Raven, while the Redwing and Fieldfare were constantly streaming from the bushes on either side of the path.

Back at the car I contemplated the next move.  I could wander the plains around Black Gutter Bottom and Leaden Hall, or I could try the hides at Titchfield for the reported "showing well" Jack Snipe.  I had done enough Bracken bashing and valley staring so I decided to make my way to Titchfield.

After checking in I made my way to the west side and was heading for the Spurgin Hide.  At the gate a female Stonechat was showing very close.  How could I resist?

On arriving in the hide there was a gathering of people all  looking to the right of the hide.  When it was pointed out to me the Jack Snipe went from view, I never even saw it.  But never mind was the consensus it keeps popping out and showing very well, of course it does.

The time was now 13:30, what could go wrong, two and a half hours until closing, it will come out.  It never did and all I looked at for that time was this view.  The arrow shows where the Jack Snipe had been in some of the lovely photographs I was shown.

So what did I have to entertain me during the two and a half hour stint?  Well, not a lot, there was a group of Gadwall and a few Teal, an Olympic Sprint Water Rail that dashed between clumps of reed.  Lapwing that flew up from the North Scrape and this male Stonechat that was catching insects from around the hide.

Then as a partial saving grace a March Harrier put in a appearance and eventually came quite close to the hide for once.

So that was the end of the day, it seemed strange to drive home in the approaching dark, but winter is now almost upon us.  A partially successful day, I managed three of the target birds I wanted to find, missing out on the Goosander and of course the Jack Snipe.  With boyh of these birds there will be another day.