25th October - The New Forest and Fishlake Meadows, Hampshire

The last day before the clocks go back saw the sun rise at 07:45.  I was meeting Ian at the Bramshaw Telegraph car park off Roger Penny Way in the New Forest.  I arrived a little before sun rise with the skies to the east warming up with pink and golden skies.

Just after Ian arrived the sun made its entrance.

We set off walking the path towards Ashley Hole and then Leaden Hall.  The sun was now sending that lovely golden autumn light across the gorse.

A little way into the walk we came across a stag Fallow Deer amongst the gorse, with a couple of hinds.

We were here hoping to see some of the Fallow Deer rut, so seeing this smart stag was a good start.  The area was used by the RAF in World War II as practise for the bombers and there are many hollows where the bombs were dropped and these fill with water.  This one was a nice reflection of the morning sky.

I like my landscape photography in black and white so here the above image in black and white.

Reflection of the sky in the pool.

A few years ago Ian and I did the same walk and were caught out by a biblical storm that absolutely soaked us and we were lucky there wasn't any damage to our cameras.  This was the copse where we desperately tried to keep dry.

We spent some time searching the area beneath the trees for fungi and found this quite smart Blusher mushroom.  Its named for the flesh that blushes red when damaged.  They are apparently edible but have to be cooked properly.  This has just emerged and it grows to be a flat parasol.

We could here the grunts and barks of the Fallow Deer but we couldn't see them.  This female watched us pass by.

There was a quick glimpse of a pair of antlers moving through the bracken.

The deer didn't emerge though and we decided to move off the path and walk through the heather and gorse.  A Dartford Warbler called and then appeared at the top of a gorse bush.

We could still here the deer away in the valleys, but still couldn't see them.  A female burst out from the gorse and on seeing us bounded away in theatrical fashion, bouncing on all four legs.

As we walked down into Ashley Hole the sky behind was impressive with the clouds.

We spent sometime in the woods around the bottom where there were Blackbirds, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush and a few Redwing feeding amongst the berries in the hawthorn and holly.  We found this False Death Cap amongst the bracken.  Not as deadly as the actual Death Cap, but not something you should be eating.

This is Ringed-Panaeolus and it grows on dung!

We made our way up the side of Ashley Hole and all the way to Leaden Hall, the wide plateau, that at this time of year was always popular for Ring Ouzel, they haven't been so common over the last few years but we thought we would give it a go.  As we walked across the plateau there were no birds, only a distant rainbow, that was an indicator of things to come.

There aren't many bushes on the plateau but what there was were covered in berries.  We walked around the main clump where we could hear Blackbirds.  Ian went around the back and found a juvenile Ring Ouzel, it didn't stay long and I managed to get on it as it flew away.

We searched but could re-find it.  There were several Blackbirds and these appeared to all be of the continental type.

A Stonechat appeared from the hawthorn bush too!.

We headed back to the cars and spent sometime in the wooded areas where we found some more fungi.  This one is known as a Penny Bun.  This is one of the Boleta mushrooms and apparently is edible.  These are at the end of their fruiting season.

This one has been attracting some nibbling.

Here we have the Angel's Bonnet.  Most often found on stumps, fallen trunks and branches of Beech or Ash trees, but occasionally on other dead hardwoods, the Angel’s Bonnet is distinguished by its odour of iodine, which is most noticeable in dried specimens.  

This is Scarletina Bolete and is reported to be edible but could be confused with poisonous species such as the Devil's Bolete. When damaged the flesh of this chunky-stemmed mushroom turns blue very quickly.

They are fairly common in deciduous woodland and pine forests in Britain and Ireland, this attractive red-stemmed bolete is often found among bilberries.

Back at the car we had an early lunch and then decided to go to Fishlake, to give Ian a chance to see the White-tailed Eagle.  As we left it was drizzling, but as we arrived at Fishlake  it was really raining.  The rain though was a case of good and bad news, the good news was that people were leaving and the car park emptied and allowed us in.  The bad news though was that the eagle had flown off and it was unlikely to return while it was raining .

Undeterred we walked around to the viewing points.  What I would say is that I haven't ever seen so many people here, mostly all with cameras.  Nothing from the view points we kept going walking down to the open area that it like to frequent.  Nothing there as well, but the Kingfisher was still showing amongst the dead trees.

Nobody can say we didn't give it a go, we walked back along the canal path where Chiffchaff were calling, but nothing much else.  At the screens the highlight was a mixed flock of Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest.  When a Sparrowhawk appeared the alarm calls were amazing.  

There was nothing out on the water once more, but the cormorants were still on the dead trees.  Walking back a Kingfisher flew back and forth along the canal and a Great Egret flew across the reeds.

We spent some time listening and looking for the Yellow-browed Warbler and were rewarded with it calling for sometime, but never showed at all.  As we left a Jay flew from the oak trees and settled on a branch with an acorn in its bill, classic autumn photography.

A strange day, good to get a view of a Ring Ouzel, but everything else was a little limp and it was disappointing that the eagle and warbler didn't show for Ian.