Blue Eyed Birder: New Forest (ish) for Oriole Birding

14^th July

With my tour in the New Forest not starting until early evening, it seemed an obvious route to take me down the A12 and to the Hudsonian Godwit at Cattawade on the Stour on the way down. A short walk and I was soon with a small crowd of familiar faces watching this smart male bird feeding solo on the mud of the high tide pool.

He was still richly coloured dark brick red underneath but the head and neck were already moulted into new plainer plumage. Even without direct comparison, it felt slighter than a Blackwit. A female Marsh Harrier came into view and as hoped it briefly spooked the Hudwit which performed a lazy circle in front of us allowing those gathered to see the silky black underwing coverts. He landed closer allowing some more plumage to be discerned.

Hudsonian Godwit

Hudsonian Godwit - John Pringle had a little closer

Wishing to stay ahead of the traffic I soon bid my farewells and walked back to the van where a Jersey Tiger was on the prolific roadside flowers along with many Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Whites and a few Painted Ladies.

My journey was actually ok and even the M25 was relatively kind to me and my mid-afternoon I was in the Forest and parked up at Matley Bog for a hot walk. It was 30c and I did not stay too long. All bar one of the bomb crater pools was absolutely bone dry – so sad to see but the largest was still viable and this is where I found Common Emerald and Small Red Damselflies, Common Darter and two male Keeled Skimmers.

Common Emerald

Common Darter

Keeled Skimmer

Small Red Damselflies - so perfectly coloured for their environment

Small Red Damselfly

My butterfly tally looked quite good but the actual numbers were very poor. Most of the Silver-studded Blues were tiny females and I found three Graylings and a single Silver-washed Fritillary amongst the commoner species. There were few Grasshoppers but as I walked back I could hear Wood Crickets off in the Bracken and Bee-wolves were patrolling the sandy path. Spotted Flycatchers were along the woodland edges and Stonechats and Meadow Pipits were out on the heath but it was just too hot.

Silver-studded Blue

Silver-Y

Grayling

Spotted Flycatcher

I collected Gill from Brockenhurst before wiggling our way back to Ormonde House in Lyndhurst – our regular roosting place on this trip.

The crew assembled and were treated to their first Italian blowout at the magnificent La Pergola.

15^th July

With the weather forecast looking very warm for the week I opted to start our first day at Acres Down as it looked the coolest of starts and it would keep the haze down. The walk down to the viewpoint gave us incredible views of two families of Firecrest in the Hollies and Birches. The juveniles are always very educational, looking as they do, like odd Yellow-browed Warblers. Spotted Flycatchers flicked around and we could hear Bullfinches, Siskins and Treecreepers along with sneezing Marsh Tits. As usual for the time of year actually seeing the birds in the wood was more tricky.

The view was magnificent and we had not been there very long when three Ravens slowly drifted over us and these were shortly followed by a large raptor. ‘Honey Buzzard! I called and everyone got quickly onto this well marked female as she lazily headed off to look for breakfast. We were even able to get it in the scope. What a great start. My usual view here with a group is some unsatisfactory circling hazy blob so this was quite special. Not long after, we added a male Goshawk too and although further away it was still perfectly enjoyable.

Meadow Pipits and Stonechats were seen but other than Stock Doves there was little else over the trees and with our main targets somehow quickly achieved we began to amble back.

This time we spent more time looking at the ground and found Woodland, Field and Meadow Grasshoppers, Wood Crickets and a flying Woodland Dor Beetle. Keeled Skimmer and Southern Hawker zipped around and a male Blue Emperor patrolled the path where Gatekeepers and Speckled Woods flickered.

Keeled Skimmer

Phytomyza ilicis

Elevenses was taken at the tea room where a few Butterflies were added as we sat and supped and the Ravens returned and kronked and popped above us.

Onwards and down to Crockford Bridge where the ridiculous parking situation is still in place, requiring the walk back up along the road from the next car park down. Not that it was without wildlife and we found families of Siskins and Treecreepers and a good selection of Dragons before we even got near the Bridge with Golden-ringed, Emperor, Keeled Skimmer and Common Darters. Silver-studded and Common Blue were seen and I took great joy in showing off some common leafmines. Labyrinth Spiders had their large hammocks strung through the brambles but a single Opilio canestrinii was the only other spider.

Coptotriche marginea

Ectoedemia heringella

Stigmella aurella

Phyllonorycter messaniella

Grayling

Opilio canestrinii

Wood Ants

The session down at the stream was, as hoped, superb with all the targets quickly found, allowing more time to relax and actually enjoy them. Beautiful Demoiselles flounced up and down; shimmering in the sunshine and we quickly worked our way through the Damselflies with Small Red, Blue-tailed, Southern, Azure and even Small Red-eyed that I had not seen here before.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Small Red DFs

Small Red-eyed DF

Southern DF

Southern DFs

Common Blue DF - Julie Rogers

Keeled Skimmers were numerous and two pairs of Golden-ringed Dragonflies patrolled not stop and never gave us the chance to get a shot! While watching them the Gorse was full of Linnets, Stonechats and Meadow Pipits and a Brown Hare lolloped through. A female Pheasant had brought two chicks down to drink. They were already capable of flight.

Keeled Skimmer

Keeled Skimmer and a Pond Skater

Keeled Skimmer

Black Bryony

Bog Myrtle

Bog Pimpernel

Harebell

Marsh St John's-wort

Lesser Skullcap

We walked back, spending time with the Dragons again and the zipping little Minnows in the stream where Whirligigs did what they do best. Brown Heath Robberflies patrolled and as we stopped to watch the Demoiselles back near the road, the female Golden-ringed appeared and began egg laying at our feet with powerful dips into the water all the way up to the wings. There were big smiles all round.

Agriphila inquinitella

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper

Minnow

New Forest Pony

Brown Heath Robberfly - Tolmerus cingulatus

Whirligig Beetle

It was late afternoon but simply too hot to be walking out onto another area of exposed heath so we returned to the hotel. Dinner in town in the pub was followed by a visit to the closest area of heath where at just after 10pm the first Nightjars started churring and kewicking although the dip in the view prevented us actually seeing one. A Tawny Owl called through the very warn still night while large Noctule Bats hunted around us.

16^th July

Breakfast and then out and north out of the New Forest to Bentley Woods with some interesting lane driving and vehicle squeezing on the way. Two buck Roe Deer were seen in a stubble field just before we got there.

Our walk along the main rides was quieter than hoped and it would seem that the extreme and prolonged heat had speeded things up meaning that Purple Emperors and White Admirals were already over and given the state of most of the Silver-washed Fritillaries they did not have too long left either!

Silver-washed Fritillary

I think I have only seen one Purple Hairstreak there before but this time we had quite a few and several were at ground level where the famous blackcurrent purple could be seen as they flicked by. We added Small and Large Skippers and Ringlet and a big patch of Betony hosted eight freshly emerged Brimstones which was to become one of the trip highlights.

Red Admiral

Large Skipper

Ringlet

Brimstone on Betony

Gatekeeper

Singles of three big Dragons patrolled and a good selection of Orthoptera but there were very few flies at all.

Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil

Vervain

Black Bryony

Common Centaury

Square-stalked St John's-wort

Hoary Ragwort

Imperforate St John's-wort

Cicadella viridis

Meadow Grasshopper

Lesser Marsh Grasshopper

Field Grasshopper

Silver Y

Song Thrush anvil

Lunch in the shade and then onwards and west to Martin Down. It was hot but we had a very productive walk out to the raised works. Florally it was still good with plenty of Knapweed, Small Scabious, Parsnip and Carrot but there were no moths other than Grass moths this time. Butterflies were better with almost all the hoped for species with Chalk-hill Blue, Marbled White, Small Heath, Essex Skipper, Painted Lady and Green-veined White but the hyper Dark Green Fritillaries were looking very tatty as they zoomed around.

Wild Parsnip

Old Man's Beard

Honesuckle

Small Scabious

Red Bartsia

Knapweed

Wild Basil

Yellow Rattle

Yarrow

Spear Thistle

Purging Buckthorn

Wayfaring Tree

Almost endless...

Painted Lady

Painted Lady - I like the arrangement of our in this one

Small Skipper

Common Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Small Copper & Small Heath

Green-veined White

Bombus lapidarius was once again the commonest species on site and by patiently checking the Red Bartsia I eventually found several highly active Melitta tricincta that specialise in this semi-parasitic flower.

Bartsia Bee - Melitta tricincta

As usual there were Grasshopper headaches but at least Roesel’s Bush-Crickets and Long-winged Coneheads are straightforward enough. There were Labyrinth Spiders here too and I was particularly pleased to find a Neoscona adianta on a Wild Carrot bloom.

Neoscona adianta

Eriothrix rufomaculata

The only Cinnabar cat

A tiny Sarcophaga

And a bigger Sarcophaga

Sicus ferrugineus

Yellowhammers called and the bushes held a few Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and Blackcaps while Skylarks were still collecting food.

Everyone was happy to back in the air conditioned van as we cut back across country and through Fordingbridge before diverting to Eyeworth Pond (FEP to those who know) which was the perfect way to end the day.

It was warm and still and the lake was teeming with hundreds of Damselflies. Most were Common Blue and Small Red-eyed but we found Azure, Blue-tailed and Large Red-eyed too with excellent close views on the lilies.

Large Red-eyed DF

Small Red-eyed DFs

Azure DF

Black-tailed Skimmers were zipping between us and there were many Blue Emperors on patrol and females were seen ovipositing. A Brown Hawker was one of our missing species and then a male Red-veined Darter unexpectedly came to visit. They seem to be having a good year.

Black-tailed Skimmer

female Blue Emperor

A shoal of Rudd were in the shallows and two each of Kingfishers and Grey Wagtails were seen as we moved out of the way to let some New Forest Ponies come down to drink.

Curry night at the Ormonde beckoned!

17^th July

We may have slightly left the New Forest once again and went west to the magical Silverlake. It was once again hot and sunny and the lake was on very fine form. The crew did not know where to look first. Once again the water was covered in Common Blue and Small Red-eyed Damselflies but of course there were many other wonders to see here with our first Broad-bodied and Four Spotted Chasers, at least four Lesser Emperors and I reckoned at least eight or so Broad Scarlets.

There were many Blue Emperors too and they kept the Lessers on their wings and we also found Common and four or so Red-veined Darters amongst the Black-tailed and Keeled Skimmers. A female Banded Demoiselle was new one too.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Keeled Skimmer

Keeled Skimmer

Broad-bodied Chaser

Broad Scarlet

Broad Scarlet

Broad Scarlet

Broad Scarlet - female

Common Darter

Red-veined Darter

Common Blue Damselflies

I opted for a pre lunch walk towards the pits where Dartford Warblers were quickly found but remained deep in the Gorse while we counted at least 20 Clouded Yellows (including one ‘helice’ female) generally heading east across the site but at least one or two had the decency to pause on the Fleabane. There were some immaculate Painted Ladies too and on the Ragwort we found Cinnabar cats, two Six Spot Burnets and a magnificent Ectophasia crassipennis – a species of Tachinid that only made it to mainland Britain from the Channel Islands in 2019. There were plenty of common Grasshoppers to cause me a headache but the Mottled that I found was a stunner and looked like a piece of lichen.

Clouded Yellow

Ectophasia crassipennis

Field Grasshopper

Mottled Grasshopper

Painted Lady

Grass Emerald

Tutsan - yet another St John's-wort

We took out packed lunches back to the pool and sat there while the dragons flew around us. The Lesser Emperors showed exceptionally well at this point and the Blue Emperors were obviously off on a siesta somewhere.

Great Pond Snail

Lesser Emperors

Lesser Emperor

Lesser Emperor

Lesser Emperor

Some local gleaned information had us heading ten minutes back east to the almost hidden Higher Hyde Heath NR where we hoped to find Ruddy Darter – a surprisingly scarce species down here. The site was made up of mixed damp woodland with pool along with open heath and bog. The latter was completely dry and a couple of the ponds still had a little water in.

An amazingly huge Monterey Pine

Ruddy Darters were indeed in attendance and we did not see another red species here. A glowing male Broad-bodied Chaser was hunting fro ma favoured perch and there were Keeled Skimmers and Common Blue Damsels.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Ruddy Darter

I spooked a chunky female Sand Lizard off a small wooded bridge which was both pleasing and then disappointing as no one else saw it. The open heath held many Bog Bush Crickets in areas that should have been damp and with patience we were able to get some great views of this localised species.

Bog Bush Cricket

Meadow Grasshopper

Mottled Grasshopper

Bombus lucorum and lapidarius were on the Heather and a tiny Bee-fly got us quite excited as it turned out to be a Heath Bee-fly – a species only found a few Purbeck heaths! I had only ever seen Bomylius major so finding minor was high point for me on an already excellent day.

Bombus lucorum - a male

Heath Bee-fly - Bombylius minor

Grayling

We said hello to the grazing horses and ponies who were spooking up Rush Veneer, Silver Y and Common Heath moths and then re-entered the woods where our final pond gave us two Common Emerald Damselflies in the gloom although it took a little while to get everyone on to them.

Common Heath

Rush Veneer

Common Emerald DF

Frogbit

Liriomyza eupatorii - a fly mine on Hemp Agrimony

Tischeria ekebladella moth mine on Oak

From here we wended our way back (via an icecream) to be in time for our final La Pergola dinner.

18^th July

The final day of this trip is always about trying to squeeze something worthwhile in before we all head for home. This time I decided to try Pig Bush and it proved to be the perfect finale. The shady trees were alive with invisible Wood Crickets and families of Spotted Flycatchers and out on the edge these were joined by broods of Redstarts, Stonechats and Robins. Two chats were on the path and I stepped back to let the others see the Redstart and therefore did not see the Adder that was escorted across the path by them. I could see the Redstart wing waving at it but not the actual snake.

Synaphe punctalis - rescued from the hotel as well as a Peacock

juv Spotted Flycatcher

Redstart and the Adder - Julie Rogers

A Tree Pipit perched up alongside us and Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings were further out on the heath where Grayling danced. I scanned for raptors but only found two Buzzards but Dartford Warblers were occasionally vocal and we got several views as they zipped to and fro over the Heather.

A slightly more obvious Grayling

Down at the still damp bog there was just a little water left in the valley bottom and I was very surprised to find a ‘Green Frog’. I had no idea of which species it was although I wrongly suspected Pool Frog or that there are four potential species within this bit of Hampshire! We found six more, mostly dark frogs on other pools and it would appear that they are actually Marsh Frog. Why anyone would want to walk them out to these remote spots and introduce a non-native predator into a struggling habitat already being affected by climatic change is beyond me?

Marsh Frog

We searched for Raft Spiders but I only found a small one on the surface but one is better than none and our scans also gave us a couple of Reed Beetles, Keeled Skimmers, a male Broad-bodied Chaser and a very large, funky black and white Icunumen Wasp which looks like it may just about be field identifiable.

Icunumen Wasp - possibly Amblyjoppa porteus

Reed Beetles - Donacia versicolorea

Bog Asphodel

A Water Rail flushed from our feet and headed for the willows and male Oak Eggar moths hurtled across the landscape. I saw an incoming insect which crash landed onto Chris’s head. ‘Big Beetle!’ I thought and immediately removed it without really looking. Tim offered me a pot and I enjoyed saying ‘ You’re going to need a bigger pot…’

What had come to see us was a large Musk Beetle decked out in glorious shining iridescent green with long legs and typical Longhorn antennae. It came with us back to the wood where it headed straight for the oak canopy.

Musk Beetle

The walk back on the same path had given the Bee-wolves the chance to warm up and go hunting and we saw two bringing back Honey Bees slung beneath them.

Bee-wolf - Philanthus triangulum

Time was marching on so we called it a day, dropped Gill off in Brockenhurst and then fought our way through the first day of school holidays traffic back up to Lyndhurst to eject the rest of crew and say our farewells after a thoroughly enjoyable few days in an area that I think, for this trip, should be called the Greater New Forest… cough cough.

Blue Eyed Birder

Thursday, 23 July 2026

New Forest (ish) for Oriole Birding - 14th-18th July 2026

No comments:

Post a Comment