13th June - Pig Bush and Shatterford Inclosures, New Forest, Hampshire

At last, a clear blue sky and sunshine first thing in the morning and you could be confident it would last.  Ian and I had trusted the weather forecast earlier in the week and had planned to make this a day in the New Forest in the hope of catching up with some of the summer specialties.  On arriving in the car park I was a little surprised to feel it a little cool, despite the sunshine there was a fresh wind blowing.

Undeterred, we set off through the wood and out on to the main track leading out to the wood at Rowbarrow, as we crossed the open heath there were Skylarks singing.  Going into the wood we remarked on the complete lack of bird song, how quickly the spring activity has turned into the summer malaise.

A search if the Nightjar tree found nothing and we walked around the outside of the wood where we cane across, what can only be a juvenile Cuckoo, it flew across in front of us and then into a tree.  It came out a little later chased by a small bird, which may have been it's foster parent.

We stopped in the ope that we would see it again, but had to make do with a view of the impressive oak trees in the area.

We continued to walk around the outside of the wood and came across this juvenile Redstart, totally unphased by what it was standing on.

Already we had seen quite a few Chaffinches and along with Stonechats and Robins we would see a lot more over the course of the day.  Not often photographed, but maybe they should be.

Crossing heath once more we could hear and see Dartford Warbler in the distance and then flushed this Woodlark from the path.

A Willow Warbler had been singing from a nearby bush.  As we stopped to see if we could locate it we were quickly aware that there was more than one.  At one point we counted six Willow Warbler which were clearly a family group.

Here the lemon yellow wash of a juvenile bird.

They were active flying between the small hawthorn bushes and the bracken.

We walked into the wooded area close to the railway line.  Once again our search for both Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher didn't turn up anything, but as we searched I came across this rather worn looking Marsh Tit.

And a Treecreeper, in pretty much the same area that I had p[hotographed one in April.

We crossed the railway bridge and walked towards the Shatterford area through a wooded area.  Blackcap were singing and Great Spotted Woodpecker called.  We came into an open area surrounded by tall Silver Birch trees.

A Spotted Flycatcher sat on a prominent branch to the right of the dead birch tree in the centre of the photograph.

We picked up the main path that leads to Woodfidley from the Shatterford car park.  We walked towards the car park.  Clear blue skies over the heath and Bishop's Dyke.

We were looking for the fourth blue butterfly to emerge this year, the Silver-studded Blue.  They like the pink Bell heather and there were quite a few in flower along side the path.  It didn't take long to find one and it was a beautiful one, just emerged most likely.

The butterfly gets its name from the silver spots that can be seen on the hind underwing at the edge of the wing in the orange.  Not so clear in this shot.

But as it sat up on the braken and closed the wings they were clearly visible.

having found one quite quickly we expected more, but it wasn't to be so we turned back and headed to wards Woodfidley and then on towards Denny Wood.  A dead tree amongst the oaks caught my eye and it looks quite spectacular in black and white.

In the winter a Great Grey Shrike was present in the area behind the pond.  Today there were Marsh Frogs calling.  These are a recent introduction to the Nee Forest, having spread west from their first colonisation in Essex and Kent.

Ditches cross the area and feed into the pond, alongside these are hawthorn bushes and in one of these we had a brief view of an adult male Redstart.

We walked through Denny Wood, once again in the hope of finding Redstart, but without any luck.  We did though come across this Wren that was sitting on a dead bough in a small spot of light and was singing away at full voice.

A beautiful background to enhance the scene.

At the edge of the wood we did find a few Redstart, mostly juveniles and there was a Garden Warbler singing in the middle of a bush.  We crossed the heath towards the Shatterford car park and stopped at the ponds by the side of the track.  Common and Blue-tailed Damselflies were buzzing around the vegetation and they were joined by an Emperor Dragonfly.  It was as we tried to photograph the dragonfly that we realised we had been joined by House Martin who were looking to drink from the pond.

For as long as I have been coming to Shatterford there has always been a House Martin colony around the houses alongside the railway line and station, the House Martins must have come from there.  As we came through the wood at Shatterford there was a large puddle with water and mud and there were more House Martins there collecting mud for their nest building and repair.

While the back and head are a shimmering navy blue, the wings appear brown close up, but this could be something to do with the light refraction.

To features that stand out in this photograph, first the feathered legs I referred to in the post from Titchfield a week ago, and secondly, I never realised that they had so large eyes in comparison with the head.

Whether it was the same birds coming back time and time again I couldn't tell, but they kept coming and it was lovely to watch them close up and on the ground.

We walked over the bridge and then alongside the road, heading back to Pig Bush.  Rather than keep going on the road we struck off in the direction of Furze Hill and the small copse.  Coming out of the copse we could hear Curlew calling and we found one in the middle of the bog.

Curlew do still nest in the New Forest, but their numbers have declined dramatically.  There was a sign on Yew Tree Heath road advising caution in case of chicks on the road, the chicks are precocious and feed for themselves while the parents look out for them.  This bird was calling and went through it's whole repertoire, from calls to the bubbling song that characterises open space such as this.  Another bird was responding, it may have been a mate or maybe well developed chicks calling back.

Eventually it flew of in the direction of the calling bird, calling back as it flew.

We carried on and made our way back to the car park for lunch and a drink.  After lunch it was time to search for the other summer specialty we were hoping for.  A little later last year we had been successful in finding the Lesser Butterfly Orchid on the heath opposite the car park, so we were back and were hoping to find them again.

We followed the path from the road down and then cut in to the left.  Last year it hadn't taken me long to find one plant and then with Ian's WhatThreeWords reference I found quite a few.  We followed the reference and worryingly it took us through and area of burnt gorse.  Bracken was growing through, but there wasn't any sign of the butterfly orchids.  We made our way back to the area that didn't look like it had burnt and searched there.  Finally Ian found one, ironically close to the road and the path we had initially walked down.  When I came over I then found another one.

Though very similar to the gReater Butterfly Orchid we see at Martin Down, the Lesser is a little smaller and more dainty.  It also has fewer flowers on the spike, which is a little narrower.

In Hampshire the Lesser Butterfly Orchid is much scarcer than the Greater Butterfly Orchid.  It is very local and tends to hind beneath Bracken and in the case the heather in acid grasslands of the New Forest.

While it also has white flowers with a narrow lip and an extremely long spur, the mouth of the spur is narrower and tends to be straighter.  The main difference though is the arrangement of the pollinia, which unfortunately we can't see here.  In the greater Butterfly Orchid they are widely spaced and converge towards the top of the flower, whereas the Lesser has the pollinia closer together and parallel.

There were a lot more Silver-studded Blues in the area and there was an opportunity to photograph them as the flew amongst the heather.

Another good view of the "silver studs" that give the butterfly its name, the studds "sparkling" in the four lowest black spots amongst the orange.

A walk around the heather and bracken found quite a few Spotted Orchids.  Now identification is always a challenge with Spotted Orchids as there are so many possible hybrids.  The Common Spotted Orchid has flowers with dark lines and loops.  What we thinks we have here are Heath Spotted Orchids.  These are known to have a lip that resembles a wide petticoat and the side-lobes are much wider than the central lobe.  So what do we find, well the colour varies as is the case with all the spotted orchids, but I am fairly confident these are all the Heath Spotted.  These are very acid soils, hence the Lesser Butterflies present and the Heath Spotted is the New Forest's most common and abundant orchid.  

This one seen from above.

Another factor in favour of the Heath Spotted is that the New Forest Heath Spotted are shorter and can have a dense conical spike of pale pink flowers around the tip.

The colour variation is wide, but the shape of the petals remains the same.

It had been a long day and we had walked a good ten kilometres around the area.  As we walked back to the car park a Spotted Flycatcher showed briefly in the canopy.  A good day though and we managed to see al we had to hoped to, while it was nice to be out again in the warmth and sunshine.

17th October - The New Forest, Hampshire

The middle of October is the time Ring Ouzels are on the move and coming through Hampshire.  I met Ian at the lay by at Black Gutter Bottom.  A pair of Raven were by the side of the road where there was a dead Pheasant, we disturbed them and they flew off to the pines a little back from the road.

We walked to the pines and the Raven flew off, but circled the area calling.  On the grass under the pines there were several Shaggy Parasols that were not yet fully open.

Walking down the slope the warm conditions and morning sunshine had brought the Dartford Warblers out and a few were singing in the gorse.

I counted five Dartfords as we walked down the slope to the Black Gutter.

A young male Red Deer was close to the stream, it stood to watch us.  This is only the second Red Deer I have seen in the Forest.

The plateau on Leaden Hall was flooded, and there were many Meadow Pipits chasing each other around the plateau.  There was also a Mistle Thrush, a couple of Song Thrush and fly over calling Redwing, but no sign of any Ring Ouzels.  The Hawthorn and Whitebeam trees were very devoid of any berries, this year has been very poor for berries almost everywhere.

We walked around the area chasing the birds as they flew around.  A male Chaffinch on the a sprig of Hawthorn.

Two Linnets.

The plateau with quite a bit of water after the recent rains.

Here looking down into Ashley Hole, this is usually a good spot for rutting Fallow Deer at this time of year, but there wasn't any sign of any deer at all.

We walked back to the plateau and scattered the Meadow Pipits that were foraging around the pools of water on the grass.  We decided to walk along Ashley Walk in the opposite direction, we normally come towards Leaden Hall, having skirted around the Ashley Hole first.

There were some more Dartford Warblers, Wrens and Chiffchaff in the bushes and in the Oaks several Goldcrests  We then went off the paths and yomped through the heather and gorse in the general direction of Black Gutter Bottom.  A couple of young male Fallow Deer were feeding around the gorse, maybe a sign that the rut has come and gone this year.

As we walked alongside the stream, my tree was distant on the horizon.  To be honest I had forgotten all about it until I saw it as we walked.

Another grassy area had some more Shaggy Parasols, this time fully emerged and showing the gills.

This just emerged showing the stipe ring where the parasol broke away.

Looking east along Black Gutter towards the tree.

We made our way back up the hill towards the cars.  A Red Kite drifted along the horizon and there were Stonechat and Meadow Pipit in the gorse and heather.  Back at the cars we had lunch.  These trees in the distance were showing some lovely colour.

From Black Gutter we drove the short distance to the car park at Deadman Hill.  Ring Ouzel had also been reported here and we decided to have a walk around.  The Raven were still in the area, this pair were rolling and tussling together overhead.

The view looking north from Deadman Hill.

We walked alongside the stream and then crossed a footbridge and the other side.  We could see Thrushes moving overhead and could hear Redwing.  We picked up a black bird ahead of the Redwing and watched as it flew towards a clump of trees.  As it dropped down with the trees behind the wings turned silver and it flew into a bush.  This could only have been a Ring Ouzel, the bird we had hoped to see, but not the best of views.

We walked to the area and searched the trees, once again there were very few berries on the trees and we could not relocate the ouzel.  Walking around though, there were more Redwing and a surprise appearance of a Goshawk, cruising above the tree tops.

We made our way back across the stream and then climbed the hill towards the car park.  We paused and viewed the distant horizon and found three Buzzards soaring with a Red Kite and the two Raven flew past once more.  As we were about to turn around five Swallow flew through heading south (of course).

Next stop was to be Eyeworth Pond.  It looked beautiful in the afternoon sunshine, the trees surrounding the pond just beginning to change colour.  In about a week the reflections in the water should be spectacular, if we get some sunshine.

The speciality of Eyeworth is the Mandarin Duck, but we couldn't see any out on the water.  A little encouragement brought a quite stunning drake out from the undergrowth on the far side.

It was calling as it cruised across the pond with its sails up.

If the weather is good, i.e., sunshine then these little duck can look quite magnificent in the dark water of the pond and you have to take the opportunity to get quite a few images.

It cruised around the pond moving from the different shades of water colour, here some green reflections from the surrounding reeds.

Then back into the black water of the pond, the best background to show off the amazing plumage.

This one my favourite.

Then to finish it was heading towards the little island and the bay behind it, but had to sail through some heavily reflected reeds which seemed to add to the colourful spectacle.

The other duck on the pond are Mallard, these stay close to the shore as they are fed.  The drakes though were also looking superb in the sunshine.  Because they are so common the Mallard are overlooked, but they are a stunning duck to look at up close.

A ring of bright water.

The perfect reflection.

There have been a few butterflies about during the day, Speckled Woo, Peacock and this nice Red Admiral settled amongst the autumn leaves.

Seed is put out by visitors for the small birds either for photography or just for the enjoyment of seeing the birds up close.  Blue and Great Tits were coming and going frequently, as was this Nuthatch.

The seed was out of sight which made for the opportunity to get some nice portraits shots.

The Nuthatch would take the seed away and we watched it caching the seed in other trees and bushes, not just eating it themselves.

To finish off our colourful time at Eyeworth a Kingfisher appeared at the back of the pond, then came closer, settling on the bush in the middle of the island.

It has been a while since I spent some time in the Forest, at this time of year it can be quite special.  The colour is not yet in full swing but should be in a couple of weeks time.  Great too catch up with a very beautiful Mandarin Duck and to walk somewhere different for once.