New Forest-ish for Oriole Birding 7th-11th July 2025

7^th July

I began my journey in Lowestoft and headed cross country to pick up the van at Great Ryburgh before dropping back down to Cambridge to collect Marilyn, Cynthia and Margaret for the journey down to the New Forest for the traditional Oriole trip.

There were a few Kites and Buzzards on the way but mostly there was just lots of talking! We met up with Zoe and Peter at Ormonde House in Lyndhurst and after a breather we popped out to Matley Bog for a short introductory walk.  It was warm and birds did feature than much with Meadow Pipits, Stonechats and a brief calling Woodlark out on the heath.  Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff called from the Oaks and Siskins invisibly called overhead and Ravens could be heard kronking in the distance.

There was not one drop of water in any of the bomb craters and there were no Dragons or Damsels at all but we did get some excellent views of Silver-studded Blues and cryptic Graylings. A Slow-worm slunk across the path having been stepped over fortunately!

Slow-worm

Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue

Grayling

Grayling

Both Oblong-leaved and Round-leaved Sundews were hanging on and the Heathers were starting to bloom well in places and a shiny Green Tiger Beetle scuttled along in front of us as we looked at the flowers.

Oblong-leaved Sundew

Green Tiger Beetle 

Back near the van there were Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Holly Blue and several Bumblebee species on the Brambles as well as a selection of common Hoverflies.

Gatekeeper 

Bombus hypnorum 

Stonechat

Alder Buckthorn

Dinner in town beckoned but the local Song Thrush had started before us.

Song Thrush - he closed his eyes with each thrash

8^th July

As is usual with the trip the itinerary is somewhat fluid and with the weather that morning looking to be warm but with some cloud I opted for an Acres Down start to try and keep down the haze.

It warmed up quickly but we persevered and all saw a male Goshawk although the displaying pair of Honey Buzzards were just too far away.  Common Buzzards showed closely and we got great views of Marsh Tits, Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, Chiffchaffs, and Blackbirds that were feasting on the Rowan berries.  A juvenile Redstart briefly perched up but the flyover Crossbills that we heard only did so when we were under the trees. 

Peter getting close to Gatekeepers I think

There were Speckled Woods, Gatekeepers and the odd Silver-studded Blue and a Silver-washed Fritillary powered through while the Wood Crickets quietly chirped under the Bracken.  We slowly drove down towards the ford and found a pair of Spotted Flycatchers on the wires and amazingly a place to pull off the road!  There were a couple of Marsh Tits in the hedge and a pair of Grey Wagtails in the little stream where Robins, Siskins and Goldfinches were coming down to drink.  It was a delightful start made all the better by a pre-lunch ice cream

From here we drove through the now simmering forest down to Crockford Bridge where once again both car parks were closed off and new bylaws mean a ticket if you park off road in the gravel layby there thus requiring a walk of nearly a mile from the next car park.  In fact all of the car parks used by naturalist. seem to be closed to ‘protect wildlife’.  I have no idea how the other car parks are in any less sensitive areas?

The stream was still flowing crystal clear and as ever was a joy to slowly walk alongside and everyone revelled in close encounters with Small Red, Blue-tailed and Southern Damselflies, Black-tailed and Keeled Skimmers, Broad-bodied Chaser, shimming Beautiful Demoiselles, a patrolling male Emperor that was defending its stretch from a hyper active Golden Ringed Dragonfly that with patience perched up very nicely now and then.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Keeled Skimmer

Keeled Skimmer

Keeled Skimmer

Beautiful Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle

Blue-tailed Damselfly

Southern Damselfly

Southern Damselfly

Southern Damselfly

Small Red Damselfly

Emperor

Emperor

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

There were a few Butterfly additions with Peacock, Dark Green Fritillary, Painted Lady and Red Admiral and it was good to still see Minnows in the stream.  Bird wise there were a couple of Linnet families and a single hovering Kestrel.

Marsh St John's Wort

Large Skipper

Lesser Water Plantain

Minnows

Large White

Large Skipper

It was now very warm and a short look at the lily pond end of Hatchet Pond gave us a Brown Argus, Common Blue Damselfly and some of the biggest Round-leaved Sundews I have seen and all nestled in the spongey Sphagnum Moss.

Wood Ants

Bog Bean

Round-leaved Sundews

Common Blue Damselfly

A short walk at Pig Bush gave us more Spotted Flycatchers and a good roving Tit and Crest flock but the track out onto the heath was closed to the public.  It was just too hot to take on the Shatterford walk out in the open so we ended the day with a look at the heath around the main car park.  There were strangely no Woodlarks but in the shade of the pines there were six silvery Mistle Thrushes bounding around and a family of Spotted Flycatchers were flicking in and out making Margaret very happy indeed.

Spotted Flycatcher

We were all flagging and retreated to the cool of the hotel.

9^th July

A non-New Forest day and by mid-morning were to the north at Bentley Woods and setting out on a slow amble down the sunny tracks in search of whatever insect life popped into view.  Purple Emperor was a prime target but it seems that unlike everywhere else, Bentley is having a poor year and we (and nobody else) ever saw one.

However it was a wonderful walk and there were so many Butterflies to watch with 19 species recorded.  Silver-washed Fritillaries were abundant and cruised around with just a few White Admirals on the Brambles.  Brimstone were everywhere and must have been freshly emerged and we had never seen so many perched up before.  

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper

Large Skipper

Brimstone

Brimstone

Brimstone

Brimstone

Ringlet

Ringlet

White Admiral

White Admiral

White Admiral

Peacock

Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Speckled Wood

Brown Argus

Green Veined White

There was a good assortment of Hoverflies and a very stripy Figwort Sawfly on the only patch of Common Figwort we found and amongst the flowers there were Vervain, Musk Mallow, Agrimony and Woodmint.

Figwort Sawfly

Tabanus sp

Tumbling Flower Beetle - Variimorda villosa

Tortoise Beetle nymph

Zoe found a cracking Firecrest and Treecreepers, Nuthatch and a male Yellowhammer in the final paddock which was devoid of Butterflies. In fact the only Marbled White was seen along the forest tracks!

Agrimony

Meadowsweet

Enchanter's Nightshade

Hemp Agrimony

St John's Wort

Marsh Valerian

Wood Mint

Tutsan

Vervain

Musk Mallow

Five miles of walking saw us back at the van for lunch in the shade before a group discussion saw us agreeing to head west to Martin Down as the strongest sunshine should have been past by the time we got there.  Some blessed cloud cover bubbled up as we arrived which was great but it was still very hot and humid but at least we were not burning.  It did not affect the insect life and the chalky grassland gave us the opportunity to discover a new suite a Butterflies.  There were lightening blue Chalkhill Blues, three Skippers, Small Heath and Small Copper and several Dark Green Fritillaries as well as many day flying moths.  

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue & Pyrausta aurata

Chalkhill Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Peacock

Small Copper

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary

Essex Skipper

There were Six-spotted Burnets, Pyrausta aurata and my first Forester (I think) as well as a host of Grass moths and a couple of Micros.  Bombus vestalis and humilis were added to the Bumble list but all the Orchids were well over having been scorched in the heat of recent weeks.

Acleris asperana

Agriphila inquinatana

Forester

Forester

Agaptea zoegana

Shaded Broad Bar

Six Spot Burnet

Red Soldier Beetles

Cinnabar cats

Red Soldier Beetles

Bombus humilis

Tachina fera

Squinancywort

Harebells

Red Bartsia

Self Heal

Knapweed

Greater Knapweed

Small Scabious

Wild Basil

Honeysuckle

Yarrow

Wayfaring Tree 

Wild Carrot

Old Man's Beard

The Red Arrows shot through on their way to Bournemouth for the display and we saw a couple of loops in the distance and Yellowhammers and Skylarks were singing and we could hear Bullfinches in the Blackthorn.

Red Arrows

Having not got crispy fried we started to head back to Lyndhurst and stopped at Eyeworth Pond for a look for pond loving Odonata.  The lake was covered in hundreds of tandem Common Blue Damselfly pairs and we also found many Small Red-eyed, Azure and Red-eyeds.  Black-tailed Skimmers patrolled edges and several Emperors were out in the middle.  There were no Mandarins or Kingfishers but the Grey Wagtails bobbed up and down the road.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

My first New Forest Croc

Black-tailed Skimmers

It was too hot for small birds to come down for seed and we sat in the shade by the van watching Song Thrushes feeding alongside the little wet run that dribbles into the lake before the final run back into Lyndhurst.

10^th July

With the New Forest being so hot and dry I opted to go west towards Dorchester to Silverlake where I failed to find the Scarlet Darters last August.  With glorious weather and a mercifully short walk we were soon in the amphitheatre and immediately had several Scarlet Darters in view including a male protecting an ovipositing female. The next couple of hours became one of the best Odonata experiences any of us had ever had.  Our arrival had coincided with Ant colonies taking to the wings and the lake was swarming with Dragons and Damsels feasting of a smorgasbord of flying snacks.

By the time we decided that lunch was needed we had seen four species of red darter with Common, Ruddy, Red-veined and Scarlet.  There was a learning curve on the latter as I did not realise that Scarlet Darter also has blue behind the lower eye and apologies to the two gents who I pointed out what I thought was a posing, perching RVD.

Scarlet Darter

Common Darter

Common Darter

There were several other new trip species with Common Emerald Damselflies, Banded Demoiselles and Four Spotted Chasers amongst 16 species seen. 

Common Emerald 

Black-tailed Skimmer

Black-tailed Skimmer & Scarlet Darter

Common Emerald 

Emperor

Common Blue Damselfly

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

There were many tiny Toadlets around the margins and unsurprisingly there were two immature Grass Snakes out hunting on the blanket weed.  Bullfinches continued to taunt us from the Willows and out on the pits we added Egyptian Geese and Great Crested Grebes to the bird list.

Speckled Bush Cricket

Common Toadlet

Grass Snake

After lunch we moved on to Morden Bog (home to that Short-toed Eagle) and walked through a Ragwort meadow to the heathland edge.  Bee-wolves were stuffing Honey Bees into holes in the sandy track and the Ragwort had Cinnabar moths on it and along the woodland margin we surprisingly found a single White-legged Damselfly which was a nice bonus.  Amongst the Hoverflies I found us Xanthogramma pedissequum and the imposing Sericomyia silentis and Marilyn and Zoe off in front heard a Nightjar churring for a few seconds!

Bee-wolf - Philanthus triangulum

Sericomyia silentis 

Speckled Wood

Out on the scorching heath Emperor and Golden Ringed Dragonflies were hunting and the Small Heaths, Graylings and Silver-studded Blues were keeping low. The lake is surrounded by bog and we could hear Little Grebes giggling but a perfectly places due of pines overlooking a small cattle pool was just the ticket for some shade and the chance to watch Emerald Damselflies, Keeled Skimmers and a pristine Broad-bodied Chaser.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Keeled Skimmer

Silver-studded Blue

The heat was too much to continue a circuit and we retraced our steps hearing a couple of male Dartford Warblers (but seeing none) and several Stonechat families on the way. The crew were demanding posh ice cream with menaces and on the way home I deviated off the main road and came down through Burley where a perfectly placed parking space offered the required dairy top up!

Stonechat

It was our second night at La Pergola for a slap up Italian and afterwards some of us went over the road to have a listen for Nightjars which took just a few minutes to achieve as a huge orange full moon rose over the trees.

11^th July

Unusually for this trip I opted for an early start and a pre-breakfast walk to give us the chance of a walk at Shatterford without melting.  We were there in the misty forest just after 6am and had a pleasant walk down to the railway bridge and back.  There were still no Woodlarks but we had plenty of Meadow Pipits and Stonechats and two Snipe came up from the main bog.  Despite the fact that it was 24c at just before 7am there were no dragonflies on the wing and just the odd butterfly but the Lesser Bladderwort was putting on a good show.

Lesser Bladderwort

Round-leaved Sundew

Oblong-leaved Sundew

Meadow Pipit

Grayling

Silver-studded Blue

White Beak Sedge - Rynchospora alba

Back for breakfast and then off to Acres Down for a final walk in the shade along the main track.  It was pleasant in amongst the trees and we watched a family party of five Firecrests in one small Holly and once again had close Spotted Flycatcher encounters.  Back at the tea rooms we watched Silver Washed Frits and Brimstones on the Buddleia and enjoyed a wondrously obscene cream tea each before packing up, saying our farewells and heading for home. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Common Frog

Common Frog

Historical pony damage on Holly trees?

Brimstone

Silver-washed Fritillary

Peacock

Silver-washed Fritillary

The post double scone cake...

The Friday afternoon traffic had other ideas about our journey to Cambridge and we ended up on a very scenic northerly cross country route through a stinky hot 34c landscape.  All hail the air-conditioned van!