My last post was on the 5th March... This basically
means that since then I have been at work... I seem to remember seeing some
Fieldfare and a Raven in Kent on a trundle round on Sunday 20th but
other than that I think it was just the reserve that held my attention. We are
only one week into the Easter break (although it feels like two already) and so
with today booked off it was a day to make the most off.
Up even earlier than normal (0430) to beat the M25 and M3 traffic
to make a dash for the New Forest. The weather
looked good all day and the journey was fine and as is the norm now was accompanied
by a Red Kite near Basingstoke not long after sun up.
There was only one other car at Acres Down at 0730 and a
walk down the main drive was in order to give those Goshawks a chance to wake
up. Although it was not especially warm
it was a joy to be out and in the still conditions there was bird song all
around. I counted at least eight singing
Firecrests in the Firs and Holly and one or two showed incredibly well with
stripy faces and fluffed out blazing crowns.
Siskins displayed overhead and the soft ticking of
Hawfinches came from the Beech tops and several flight views were had while two
pair of Common Crossbills balanced on the topmost spindly pine bough they could
find. Lesser Redpolls and a pair of bud
munching Bullfinches added to the finch list while Green Woodpeckers yaffled
and both Great and Lesser Spotted drummed.
Having heard the Cely Woods Lesser Spots recently I am still drawn to
the fact that the drumming sounds remarkably like a distant Baillon’s Crake...
oh well... Interestingly I did not see one of any species!
There were Chiffchaffs, Nuthatches and Treecreepers as well
as all the usual Tits and Goldcrest and Song Thrushes and Robins were in song
in every direction. Stock Doves ‘whoo-a-whoop’ed and I found one peering from a
nest cavity but it was the singing male Redstart that proclaimed his newly acquired
territory from the top of a mighty Beech tree that told me that we were into
April and no longer in March as his shivered his fiery tail for all to see.
Sadly there was not one butterfly to be seen and the only
thing that caught my eye was a curious little yellow club fungus growing
amongst the moss in the pathside ditch.
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| Bog Beacons Mitrula paludosa - I called it Fiddler Crab Eye Stalk Fungus (ACV) |
Back to the car and then up onto the top as the sunshine
threatened to properly break through. It really struggled but my patience was
rewarded with a fine female Goshawk in the distance as well as several Buzzards
and a Raven. A Hawfinch flew across the
valley and at least four Brambling headed north along with my only Swallow of
the day.
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| Acres Down |
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| And I had to take a selfie to send to my work collegues who were slightly dubious about whether I had actually taken a day off or was just secretly lurking somewhere on the reserve... |
Four male Stonechats reedily sang from the gorse clumps and snatches
of Woodlark song reached me. I could also hear at least one more Redstart and
then a Dartford Warbler started up and displayed energetically from the top of
some scraggly Holly trees. I ambled back to where Andrea was at the car passing
two more Firecrests and an obliging Coal Tit on the way.
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| Dartford Warbler |
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| Common Buzzard |
It was 10am and in a short couple of hours I had encountered
nearly everything you could hope for in a full day in the forest... wonderful stuff.
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| New Forest Ponies |
I then looped round through the eastern Boulderwood road with
the windows down, passing several more Firecrests on the way and a brief
comfort stop resulted in a young male Goshawk flying low through the canopy
with his breakfast dangling in his talons. Roadside Dartford Warblers and a Curlew followed as I cut
through towards Fritham and the delightful Eyeworth Pond. Rather sadly I was
after Mandarin for a year tick and two pair duly obliged upon arrival along
with a duo of dinky Donkeys and a at least four more Firecrests and the first
Marsh Tits of the day.
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| Mandarin (ACV) |
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| He was a little too inquisitive... |
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| Lovely Lesser celendines on the way out from Eyeworth |
Some Highland Cattle were a nice distraction near Godshill
but Blashford Lakes only provided me with a load of Black-headed Gulls and a
distant Red Kite. There was not even one hirundines!
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| Highland View |
Lunch was taken in Brockenhurst and then a drive up
Rhinefield to Blackwater Arboretum with the intention of another walk. The forest had been pretty empty all day but
it was now half one and the car park was bogging with dogs and families and
BBQs so with clouds looming I decided to head out and homewards (passing at
least five more singing Firecrests on the way up to the A35!). This was a smart move as they heavens soon
opened and we were chased home cross country on the A272 by the most appalling rain
I have seen in a long time.
So all in all a great few hours spent in the New Forest and
a reminder of what a joy an English woodland can be in early springtime...
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