Saturday 23rd October 2021.
It was Leadenhall in the New Forest our destination today, seeing that the Ring Ouzels had been showing throughout the week at this well known late Autumn site. However, not for us today, despite a good search for the birds and to add 'salt to the wound', one of the ‘Lazee’ Birders managed to see two birds together in the gorse near the roadside! At least the weather was on our side, with it being dry and hardly any wind, though it was overcast throughout the day.
It was too dark to check my moth box this morning before I headed off northbound to pick Andy up, though there were at least 4 Common Plume’s near the box. So, when I got back after dropping Andy off later in the afternoon, there was a big fat zero total of moths within the box. Harrumph! At least Andy’s moth box came to the rescue when I found my first Red-lined Quaker of the year sitting on one of his egg trays along with 4 Common Plume’s. While checking the egg trays, I did hear a Redwing flying over, but I failed to locate the bird.
We arrived at Ashley Walk around 10.30am and made the long walk to Leadenhall. THe journey there produced a few notable birds, including a Goldcrest flitting about within the leaves of a Silver Birch and a female Yellowhammer perched in a small tree beside the footpath. Meadow Pipits were flying over all the time, but surprisingly, there were no Stonechats seen at all during our visit here. I was forever scanning the heath for raptors, as both Merlin and Hen-harrier have been seen here this week more than once, but there was no sign of any raptors present.
Walking the path to Leadenhall, I did hear at least two Dartford Warblers calling, but they were very elusive, but I got lucky on the walk back when a male bird flew up from the path and flew over the row of Gorse bushes. It or another bird flew out of the Gorse and flew low and landed in the heather, but a no-show for Andy! What was also a surprise was the amount of Reed Buntings here. Reminiscent of when I was at Thursley Common last winter, they seemed to be everywhere, especially by the tall trees and bushes at the Ouzel location.
A small crowd had gathered hoping for a sighting of the Ouzels, but despite the bonus of a Brambling flying out of the Bushes and a female Bullfinch on show, there was no sign of any Ring Ouzels among the many Blackbirds present here. We even went around the other side of the main bushes hoping for a better view, but apart from more Blackbirds and a lone Song Thrush, no sign. There was a Buck Fallow Deer bellowing in the distance throughout our trip here and eventually, we did catch sight of the animal with its huge antlers seen above the heather, way in the distance.
After around a couple of hours, we reluctantly decided to make our way back to the car. After grabbing some food from the local garage, we made our way to Blashford Lakes. Parking up in the car park by the Tern Hide, we had lunch and then made our way to the Hide. It did not take long for us to see our first Goosander of the year of which Andy spotted. The ‘redhead’ female bird was flying high over Ibsley Water then it returned back to where it took off over on the other side of the lake and joined at least four more birds, including a fine drake. Good numbers of both Tufted Duck and Coot were present on the water along with much smaller numbers of Wigeon, Gadwall and Mallard. A few Great Crested and Little Grebes were noted and among the many Herring Gulls on the small islands, I found a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull among the roost. Though there has been a Green Sandpiper present recently, the only waders we could find were Lapwing. Driving back to the car park by the Information Centre, I checked the front entrance to the building for any moths. They usually keep an overhead light on overnight and sure enough, I found two moths; a Large Wainscot and the micro moth Agonopterix arenella, though checking around the other side (the moth box still outside the building but not switched on) we found no other moths.
A quick look at the feeders by the Woodland Hide produced a Great Spotted Woodpecker enjoying the peanuts and a couple of excited Nuthatches above us and nearby, I began checking for Toadstools. I did find a lot of Sulphur Cap Toadstools and Turkeytail bracket fungus was abundant also. On the Silt Pool, there were at least 6 Gadwall and around a dozen or so Mallard on the water, but little else of note here. From the Ivy South Hide, we had a couple of views of a Kingfisher passing the Hide, while on the water, there were Mallard, Wigeon, Gadwall and a few Great Crested Grebes noted on the water. A big queen Common Wasp was buzzing by the window, looking for an escape and thankfully found one of the side windows open!
Pleased with grabbing another ‘year-tick’ (my 195th species for the year), we then gave it a final look over the heathland and this time, from the small car park at Deadman's Hill. Sadly, hardly anything of note was seen and so we made our way back home. After not seeing any all day, we had our first raptor of the day; seen on the way back along the M27 with a Common Buzzard flying over. And if anyone is in doubt how MAD my birding chum Andy is, see below!
