29th March - Pig Bush, New Forest, Hampshire

A complete contrast in the afternoon from the blue waters of the Solent to the oranges and browns of the New Forest at Pig Bush.  We were here in the hope that the Redstarts had started to return.  On arrival the car park was full, the sun brings everyone out.

We walked through the wood by the car park and headed down towards the stream.  A Comma butterfly flew past and then settled on the ground in the sunshine.

A little further along we came across a moth, This is an orange underwing and is one of the earliest day-flying moths to appear in spring, taking to the wing on sunny days in March and April. Their caterpillars feed on birch trees, so they're found on woodland edges, in sunny clearings, and in scrubby areas or heathlands with patches of birch. The moths often flutter around the very tops of the birch trees, though they do come down to the ground to drink and bask.

Orange underwings spend the winter as a pupa attached to the bark of a tree, or dug in to rotting wood. The adult moths emerge in March and can be seen into April. They lay their eggs on birch twigs, with the eggs hatching in time for the caterpillars to feed on newly-grown catkins. In later spring, the growing caterpillars feed on the young birch leaves, instead. The caterpillars pupate around June and spend the rest of the year as a pupa.

Walking through the wood there was plenty of sunshine coming through the bare branches.  There were also some very dramatic dead trees, this one covered in ivy.

Plenty of Stock Dove calling, this one settled on a dead bough.

There were at least four Firecrests singing all around us, one showing well.

We made our way to the damp flooded area.  The paths though were almost all dried out.  Disappointingly there were no Woodlark in the open areas, but as we approached the wood by the bridge across the railway line.

A Blackcap was singing from the scrub, the first of the year, but was making it difficult to see.  As I searched for the Blackcap, I came across  a Great Spotted Woodpecker, two more Firecrests and this Treecreeper in the middle of a Hawthorn bush.

I finally managed to find the Blackcap and it stayed still for a brief moment.

There wasn't any sign or sound of Redstart.  A Nuthatch was vocal above us and showed well on the knurled wood.

Another classic pose.

With no Redstart and just a Blackcap migrant we headed for the path to cross the heath.  But as we approached we could see that fences had been put in place and there was a sign stating the path was closed as they were flooding the area to enhance the habitat for wildlife.

We joked how was anyone to know we had walked the path, when directly in front of us a Peregrine flew up in front of us.

It flew around the heath, with some low passes.

It then settled in a tree, perched behind the branches.  Here it preened for a while and we waited to see if it would fly again.

It did and came closer towards us.

From the colour and size we felt that this was an immature male Peregrine.

It spiraled up, gaining height very quickly and in a matter of minutes was just a speck amongst the clouds.

We had to make our way back the way we came.  As we walked across the heath there were Stonechats amongst the bracken, and this male Dartford Warbler.

Walking through the wood I was taken by the oak trees.  the bare branches, now waiting for the leaves to appear provide some wonderful shapes.

So no sign of the hoped for Redstarts, but some interesting stuff and completely different from the morning walk.