26th February - Acres Down, Martin Down and Eyeworth Pond, New Forest, Hampshire

The last weekend in February sees the sun rising before seven in the the morning and from now on it will be getting lighter every day as we race into spring.  The last weekend of the winter was also a glorious morning, a little frost, but clear skies and in places on the journey to the Cres Down car park, pockets of mist.  As I got out of the car a waning crescent moon was showing between the bushes at the top of the slope that runs south from the car park.

Ian and I had arrived in convoy once again and once suited and booted we headed towards the moon and up on to the slope that looks out across Acres Down, over the trees towards the Boulderwood inclosure.  This is the first view that greeted us, a magical scene stretched out below.

The mist hanging around the trees like gossamer and silk.

The dead bracken all coated with frost.

The mist hanging in the valleys like a white lake with the trees appearing like ghostly shapes.

The sun was now appearing to the east, coming up over the trees and the distant city of Southampton.  We were walking along the top path and coming out into the open we could hear calls around us.  It was still quite gloomy and it was difficult to locate the owners of the calls, but eventually movement on the ground in front of us saw the first Woodlark of the day.

There were up to six different birds around us and pairs would fly up and circle around calling before settling in the same area, a patch of ground that was cleared with grass around it.

The rising sun just starting to pick out the russet brown colours in the lark.

This is the best time of year to see them as they are busy displaying and and foraging on the open ground that as yet hasn't grown to high to hide them.

As we walked along the main path several more came up out of the heather and called as they circled around.  There wasn't any song though, probably too early in the morning and maybe if we had come back later when the sun was a little higher they would have been in song.

As we reached the edge of the slope that leads down towards Wood Crates and Millyford Bridge we were greeted with more stunning views as the mist hung low in the valley bottom.

Looking across the down towards a distant Boulderwood inclosure.

A wider angled view.

The sun now catching the trees alongside the slope through which the footpath leads up to the viewing point.

A close up of the pine trees emerging through the mist in the valley.

A wider paonramic of the view away across the heather and out towards the south.

More pine trees surrounded by the mist.

We were heading down into the bottom of the valley, we could already hear the drumming of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers coming from the trees to the left of the picture.

The mist hanging like a fine mesh curtain across the tops of the trees.

The frost covering the ground and the fringes of the dead bracken on the slope as we headed down to the footpath.

The drumming of the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers was  now quite regular, but being able to find the owner was proving difficult.  The woodpecker has a territory and they like to move around, drumming from suitable trees to ensure others are clear about the owner.  This was clearly what was going on as the drumming would stop and the start up again from a different spot.  We wandered around scanning the tops of the trees without any luck.  We were fortunate though to pick up three Hawfinch flying over, a year tick Mistle Thrush and this Song Thrush singing its heart out at the top of one of the Beech trees..

The sun was now lighting everywhere up, but in the sheltered spots the frost remained.

We spent a fair amount of time walking around the trees listening for the drumming.  There were now Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming, it isn't as fast and is a lot deeper in tone, when they both drum it is quite easy to spot the difference.  We couldn't find the woodpeckers but we did come across a few Brambling.

At the bottom of the path there is a an open space of boggy ground and bracken and we came across a very showy and feisty Wren, singing from the bracken.

Wrens are polygamous, the males will mate with several females and most are strongly territorial, at least before and during the breeding season. Males will construct many nests often 6-12 which the females will choose and then line with moss, leaves or feathers.

For such a small bird the wren has an astonishingly loud song. In fact, per unit weight, it sings at ten times the power of a crowing cockerel!

Leaving the Wren we walked back up the open boggy area nd two Grey Wagtail came over calling and flying around the open area.  We had decided to give the woodpecker another chance, but the drumming at stopped. There was a little compensation in the presence of a  flock of at least twelve Brambling in a tree above us, here two of them

And a Treecreeper that was exploring the smaller branches of the tree above us.

With no drumming we decided to move on and walk down to Highland Water, crossing the water and heading deep into the wood.  More Brambling and Chaffinches were feeding in the leaf litter and Redwing were feeding in amongst the Ivy that was clinging to the trees.

Back on the main path there were many Siskin above us, feeding on the cones of the larch trees and every so often the chipping calls of Crossbills would see pairs fly over, but never settling to allow any photographs.

As we waited to see if the Crossbills would show a Nuthatch was below us hammering away at something on an old tree stump.

The paths join up at the dead oak tree and as we walked on towards the bridge over Highland Water a Firecrest called from within the spruces that lined the path.  It showed a little distantly, but it was nice to get the first photographs of the year of my favourite bird.

A little further along a Goldcrest joined in with the calling.

I was taken by this nice black background as the sunshine picked out this Robin.

Ian had been in the forest the day before and had an encounter with a Goshawk which had led him to explore a certain area, this resulted in him finding this nest, which could very well be a Goshawk's old nest, or it could also be a Buzzard or Honey Buzzard.  Only time will tell if it is occupied again this year.

The Goshawk theory though was reinforced as one was seen soaring over the surrounding trees.  But there are also plenty of Buzzards, this one soaring over the distant trees.

We made our way back to the main path and turned to walk back to Highland Water, following the path around.  I noticed a bridge that I hadn't seen before, this crossed the water and we decided to walk down to it and then to follow the meandering river back to the main track.  As I crossed the bridge I heard a Grey Wagtail once again and it came towards us and settled on the bridge.

The Grey Wagtail is a quite striking bird and not one I have photographed that often.  They have a habit of turning up and then just moving on as quickly.  This bird though stopped on the bridge and called as a second bird appeared and flew around above us.

But it then decided to join its mate dropping down onto the vegetation in the river itself.

The Grey Wagtail is more colourful than its name suggests with slate grey upper parts and distinctive lemon-yellow under-tail, and as a result sometimes gets confused with the summer migrant, the Yellow Wagtail. In breeding plumage the male has a black throat, this looks like a female.  The Grey Wagtail’s tail is noticeably longer than those of Pied and Yellow Wagtails.

The Grey Wagtail is always associated with running water when breeding, although they may use man-made structures near streams for the nest. Outside the breeding season, they may also be seen around lakes, coasts and other watery habitats. Like other wagtails, they frequently wag their tail and fly low with undulations and they have a sharp call that is often given in flight.

As we walked along the river bank, more Crossbills flew over calling. With the low light the river was sparkling in the sunshine.

The river itself was a series of very tight meanders and in places on the curves the bank was undercut as the water eroded the bank.  The tight meanders are the perfect condition to create oxbow lakes which occur when the neck of the meander gradually gets narrower and narrower. Eventually, the curve grows so tight that the river cuts through the meander's neck to follow a new, straighter course. Over time, sediment seals the end of the old loop. This leaves a separated area of water, called an oxbow lake.

While there are no lakes present along Highland Water there are areas where you can see this has happened and the lake has dried up.  In this photograph you can see the tight meander bend.

We were now heading back to the car park, as we reached the wide curve on the path I commented to Ian that he had seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker around here and as I said it we heard what we thought was a Great Spotted Woodpecker drum.  It was close by but then there was the piercing call of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.  It must have been the tree it was drumming on that made the sound a lot deeper.  We scanned the tree to try and find the bird.  When we did it was flying away with that typical woodpecker undulating flight.  It was so frustrating to know it was so close that the Stock Dove at the top of the dead tree was not a suitable compensation.

As you can see from the blue sky it was now a lovely day and it really wasn't a surprise, as we approached the car park, when a Red Admiral flew across the path.  It settle on the leaf litter but didn't stay long enough to photograph.  Interestingly we had a Red Admiral in virtually the same spot a year ago to the day.

It was coming up to mid day and we decided it was time for lunch, after which we set off for another favourite place, but not one I have ever visited before when  there is a "R" in the month.  We were off to Martin Down, a spot we would normally visit in either May, June or July.  It is a beautiful spot at that time of year with birds, orchids and butterflies all over.  Today though we thought we would see what goes on during winter.  The journey took us across the northern part of the forest, through Fordingbridge and over to the north west border of Hampshire with Wiltshire, in fact the border is just on the other side of the A354 that runs north of Martin Down reserve.

Pulling into the car park there were a few cars present but it was easy to park.  A pair of Ravens flew over and a Red Kite drifted away to the north.  We set off across the down land towards the Bokerley Ditch and then up the footpath alongside a copse towards Bokerley Down.  We were hoping to find Brown Hare and a scan of the surrounding fields started to reveal them hunkered down in the grass.

Flattened to the ground the ears lay flat back across the back, the eyes, that can produce almost 360 degree vision constantly watching for any possible danger.

We counted about ten individuals in a similar pose in these fields, but when we reached the end of the copse there was a field with what looked like beet growing in it and here we found at least a dozen Hare, and they were a little more active chasing each other around, almost like a follow the leader game.  We were hoping for some "boxing", but while they were not interacting they all appeared to not want to engage and as one came too close they would move away.

This one moved through the fence and into the next field where again it sat to take in the surroundings before galloping away across the field and into another copse on the other side of the field.

Walking back to Martin Down, the Hares were still lying down in the grass of the fields, one or two though were sitting up and a couple were disturbed by a flock of Rook that came over the from the other fields.

It really was a beautiful day, the wind had picked up a little but in shelter spots the sun was lovely.  Martin Down itself was looking as splendid as ever, with a big sky and wispy clouds

While in that big sky, Skylarks were singing.

Corn Buntings are a Martin Down specialty and up to now we hadn't seen any, then a familiar jingling song was heard and we quickly found the owner and one or two more.  There are five birds in this view.

Edging a little closer I was able to get a closer view of four of the birds.

But then one was left with a perfect background.

Despite the fact that the birds are singing now, they leave breeding until well into the summer which is one of the reasons why they have declined over the years due to unfavourable farming practices that reduce suitable food for the young.

We walked the ditch which seemed strange due to the lack of flowers.  Sheep though were grazing and being managed to ensure all the areas were kept in check.

With the blue sky and wispy white clouds the scenery around us was wonderful.  Rather than produce the usual colour landscapes I wanted to experiment once again with Black and White, using the infrared selection and I think it has produced some truly dramatic images of the landscape around us

Looking towards Bokerley Ditch

The footpath heading down towards the lower car park from the Rifle Ranges

The view across Bokerley Down, where we had been watching the Brown Hare

The view west towards Toyd Down.

Looking towards the rifle ranges.

There were no Yellowhammer on the walk back to the cars which was a little disappointing, but it had been an interesting visit at his time of year.

It was mid afternoon and there was the opportunity on the way back home to take a short detour and drop into Eyeworth Pond to try and get the Mandarin Duck, hopefully with the afternoon sunshine there would be some ideal conditions.

There was a lot of traffic around the pub and farm shop as I passed through on my way to the pond, but fortunately the car park was almost.  There were Mallard close to the bank and in with them two splendid Mandarin drakes.  It parked and grabbed the camera and started to take plenty of photographs.  There was dark water, golden winter sunshine and plenty of reflection what more could you ask for to photograph one of the most photographic ducks in the world?

The sun was catching the 'sails' and made them appear translucent

The Mandarins then hid away in the surrounding low hanging trees and I turned my attention to the birds coming to the seed thrown on the ground around the bank of the pool.

Here then some Eyeworth specialties, first the Marsh Tit

One of the many Blue Tits, at one point I counted a dozen on the ground in front of me.

A Coal Tit, these normally adopt a smash and grab approach, coming in a snatching and then flying off, fortunately this one was looking to enjoy the sunshine.

And finally the Nuthatch.

I was just about to leave when the Mandarin re-appeared this time with two females, there is just something about them that stops you from doing what you know you should do.  The shade from the surrounding trees has a lot to play in this as they create the dark water conditions and reflections that so  frame the duck, the low light coming across the water was also playing its part.

This one is a wonderful collection of colours and reflections, with a couple of water drops thrown in for good measure.

Once again the low sun light back lighting the 'sails' turning them translucent.

Then the Mandarin turned and headed across the pond to the sanctuary of the tree branches on the other side, butthis meant they had to swim throw the truly dark water.

The ripples catching the blue of the sky.

It was the perfect end to what had been a wonderful day in terms of weather, locations and company.  We visited what are probably my two favourite locations for different reasons, the landscapes stunning in the winter sunshine in both cases although completely different with the mist and frost at Acres Down and the big blue sky and wispy skies of Martin Down.  Then finally some wonderful conditions for the splendid Mandarin Duck.