NEW FOREST BIRDING TRIP

 Today's trip required an early start to enable me to join the South Wiltshire local rspb group  for a morning's birding in the New Forest. I knew the car park at Acres Down  fills up quickly so  needed to ensure I was there in good time for the starting time of 8 o'clock.  Therefore by 6 am I was on the road and travelling the 1 hour 25 minute journey. It was dark when I left  with ice on the windscreen, but it soon  got light and became a beautiful sunny day for the last day of February. 

Last year I was in the area at the beginning of March and visited Acres Down because I had found out it was a favoured site for the lesser spotted woodpecker, the smallest and rarest of the woodpecker species in the UK. However, I failed to see it on that occasion so was hoping that it would be present this year. 

By 8 o'clock, the group had gathered 14 participants;  the leader never knows how many people to expect as you just need to turn up! The  first part of the visit was to walk a short distance down the forest track and stop for about half an hour opposite a particular dead tree which the lesser woodpecker likes to use to drumming. Some of the members said that they already tried and failed to see the lesser spotted woodpecker this year, whilst someone else  said they saw it last week!  I tried to remain optimistic!  

 A couple of birders were already  at the viewing spot, and told us the good news that they had seen both male and female within the last twenty minutes! 

Some members set up their 'scopes pointing at the bare tree which was bathed in sunlight at the top, After a while a pair of stock doves flew in and rested together on a branch then a smaller bird flew in and stopped on the side of the tree and began drumming - our lesser spotted woodpecker! It was a small bird, and  quite  hard to see in detail through binoculars but thankfully someone let me look through their 'scope.  Shortly afterwards a second bird joined it  and after a bit of flying about both woodpeckers flew  over  the top of us and for a few moments perched at the top of the tree where we were standing although it was difficult to crane our  necks to see them.  They flew off and later we heard drumming from a bit further along the track but could not spot either bird. We decided to walk on but then realised that one of the birds had returned to the original tree and was giving lovely views, sometimes drumming, sometimes preening. It remained in view for some time, before moving further up the tree and transferring to a smaller branch and drumming there,  which made a higher pitched sound compared to the  thicker part of the trunk! 

Eventually the bird flew off leaving us delighted to have seen it so well. 

We walked down the track again, noting some small birds such as great tit, blue tit and long tailed tit. We also spotted a treecreeper and saw a jay fly over head. 

The second part of our walk was to go up to the top of the down, and look for woodlarks and hopefully goshawks. We stopped briefly at the top of the hill for a snack and relaxation before  making our way to a popular viewing area. On the way I saw my first butterfly of the season, a red admiral on some gorse flowers. Woodlarks could be heard all around us and eventually we spotted several individuals at different times, flying overhead as they sang , their short tails and wing flapping reminding us of a bat in flight. Up on the down we saw mistle thrushes, stonechats and meadow pipits and after scanning the tree line for a while, a member of our group spotted two distant ravens which were then joined by a goshawk who saw them off and then was joined by another goshawk. To most of us they were just black dots in the sky though! 

By now it was past midday and we made our way back to the carpark before dispersing. I'd added a 'lifer' to my list along with five further year ticks.

  

                                                               pony at the top of the down

                                                             first butterfly of the season

                                   some of the group relaxing during the mid morning break 

SCARLET IBIS IN TTHE WATER PARK?

 I regularly look on the local birding blogs to see what's about and yesterday I saw someone had posted a photo of a scarlet ibis ( obviously an escapee) which he'd seen in the Cotswold water park! Intrigued, I looked further and found it  was in a flooded field  east of Pit 114  in the eastern section. The water park is divided into east and west sections, the eastern section being fairly close to home, so I decided that I'd try and locate the bird if it was still there.

 Now I know that most birders would not add it to their year lists, but I  thought I could always try to imagine I was in the Caribbean, with the sun shining in a bright blue sky ( although with somewhat lower temperatures!)  It would be a nice local visit, in advance of the longer trip to the New Forest which I have planned for tomorrow.

Having worked out where to go, I parked on a minor road at the end of a footpath but soon realised I was at the wrong spot, and with the help of google maps, turned and walked along the edge of the road  until I  reached another wide track which I followed. It led alongside a lake to a farm of some sort  from where I could see a gap in  the hedge where a field was flooded. This was obviously the spot but I wondered if I would be trespassing?  I could not see any birds from where I stood, so walked past a couple of empty vehicles and then spotted a footpath sign, -  a right of way obviously led across their land, and the place I wanted was only a few metres away from it!  

It was a bit boggy in the grass so I was glad of my wellies as I made my way through the gap and immediately spotted the ibis, not too far away, its scarlet colouring  making it easy to identify. The only trouble was, I was facing right towards the sun!  The bird seemed happily feeding in the floods so I had to hope that either a cloud would cover the sun or that the ibis would come closer and to my left so that the sun was shining more on it  rather than behind it. With the former unlikely, I had to wait and watch. Thankfully, with nothing in particular to disturb it, and as I was somewhat camouflaged against the bushes behind  me,  the scarlet ibis eventually started to head in my direction and eventually passed  about 30 metres in front of me where I was no longer looking right into the sun.  I did my best to get some shots of it although I struggled with the lighting a bit. After a while the ibis turned back towards the way it had come, and I decided to leave, it still seem quite undisturbed by my presence.

Satisfied to have seen a rather different bird, I set off back down the track;  on the way I saw and heard a raven overhead, and pausing  at a gate, spotted a raft of red crested pochards on the lake, both new for the year.

BIRDS AND FROGS IN FOD

     I had another opportunity to visit the Forest of Dean today, in the hope of seeing the Mandarin ducks I'd missed last time. I also thought I'd try for a better view of the hawfinches if they  appeared under the yews on Crown Lane.  After an early start I arrived at Crown Lane, Parkend at just before a quarter to eight in the morning. One other car was parked so I drew up next to him, slightly backward so that  I did not block his view. 

After a twenty minute wait I began to see some movement in the yews just above the ground and chaffinches began to 'drop' to the ground, a dozen or more. Then a larger, chunkier bird appeared... a smart male hawfinch. It hopped around feeding from whatever it could find on the ground, gradually getting nearer to the car till it was only several metres away. Then a disturbance caused all the birds to fly up to the trees where they were hidden. Another wait and the chaffinches were down once more, but this time no hawfinch appeared. A car drew up and once again the birds scattered. I didn't see the hawfinch as closely again, as the birds moved to a spot under the yews quite a bit further on, but with the arrival of some  men further up the road, who proceeded to get out tripods and telescopes I knew there would no point in staying any longer. If only they would stay in their cars, they would have better chances of seeing the hawfinches! 

After a quick visit to the viewpoint at New Fancy View ( I saw nothing!) I drove to Cannop Ponds which thankfully had re-opened since my last visit. Scanning around I soon found a group of   mandarins sheltering under their usual bank  and walked over the bridge hoping they would swim out into the open, Just then a family came along and started to throw duck food into the water and the mandarins quickly swam over and joined the throng of mallards jostling for food. This gave me an opportunity to photograph them a bit closer. 

The weather had started to cloud over but as it was only midday I decided to have my lunch in the car before heading over to rspb Nagshead.  I visited the Campbell hide but it was very quiet although some ladies did point out a  single roosting bat at the top of the staircase which leads to the seating area! I'm afraid I don't know what type it was.

I didn't want to walk  one of the trails today so strolled down to the pond and sat on a picnic benches to see if any birds were around. Then it  dawned on me that it was February,  a good time to see frogs spawning.. I looked down at the water and suddenly realised that there were dozens of tiny little heads poking out.  A board walk jutted out slightly into the pond so I stepped on to it and crouched down to see the frogs more closely. At first they all submerged but gradually one by one appeared again, looking in my direction, amongst the masses of frogspawn that had obviously been laid over the past few days.  I knelt down with my camera and took a number of shots. I was pleased with some of the results below.

a blackbird which approached close to my car

yews under which the finches were feeding

mandarin perched on a branch at the edge of the pond

females appeared to be outnumbered by males

in a sea of frog spawn

HAWFINCHES AT PARKEND

 I read a blog recently which suggested that the hawfinches at Parkend were really not worth visiting, as the area is so busy with dog walkers, cyclists etc that the birds are not coming down to the ground beneath the yews like they used to. 

As this is an area which I've visited in the past, and reports are still coming in of up to 5 hawfinches being seen regularly, I thought I would go and see for myself as I needed this species for my year list. 

Crown Lane borders the cricket ground at Parkend and has a row of yew trees partly encircling a grassy area in the centre. You can park along the lane from where you can see hawfinches and other birds such as chaffinches, nuthatch etc . However, as a local blog tells you, you need to stay in your car to be able to see them, as they are easily spooked.

 Expecting the spot to be popular, I arrived soon after 8 o'clock but found the lane empty. I wasn't sure of the best place to park these days,  so opted for a spot halfway down where there was a slightly larger gap between two yews that would give me some better light, I thought. 

Nothing happened for a while, and then someone brought 3 dogs out of their van and let them run around on the grassy area. I would need to be patient! He eventually left  then I realised that a small flock of birds was coming down to the ground further down and around the corner so I drove slowly down and re parked not wanting to get too close in case the birds were nervous. . Another car came along and parked on the opposite of the road, so I wondered if I should have done that too, to get some better  photos  but it was too late.  A couple of jays appeared and fed for a few minutes before flying off, then down came the finches once more. 

I soon noticed a hawfinch amongst the chaffinches, larger and chunkier to look at. It wasn't the only one, as I also saw a female. In fact there were at least 3  and maybe more.  Every so often a passer by would send them all flying back up to the trees, and I would have to wait another 10 minutes for the birds  to return to the ground.

The recently arrived car held three passengers who I could see had cameras but then the front passenger got out and the birds disappeared. I was close enough to speak and mentioned to  her that the birds would be unlikely to come whilst she was out of the car but she said she was on the wrong side and couldn't see.  This proved to be true  as the  birds started to feed much further away and eventually the visitors left! 

After their departure, the chaffinches and hawfinches returned to their original place, but then were once more disturbed by the owner of a van getting out and talking on his mobile phone. 

It seemed as this was a good time to leave, as a couple of men on bikes appeared, stopping to do some stretches against the fence close to where I had parked. 

Overall I felt as if I had had some good views, albeit not quite close enough and  too overcast for satisfactory photos. It  had been quieter than I had expected though, and  I will know next time where the best place to park is. 

Next I drove over to rspb Nagshead and walked up to one of the hides. However, it was  overcast and cold so I didn't stop long, there were no birds to be seen anyway, although a string of four fallow deer passed through the trees at the far end of the clearing. 

My last stopping place was to be Cannop Ponds in the hope of seeing some mandarin ducks. But here again I met with disappointment as the road leading up to it was closed for repairs. I thought I might be able to park a little way further on and take a footpath but the footpath was also being upgraded and you couldn't get through! However, I usually visit the area a couple of times in April and May to see the pied and spotted flycatchers and redstarts so will hopefully catch up with the mandarins then, with perhaps some warmer weather!

hawfinch

chaffinches came down to drink  at a puddle near to my car