A trip to Woolmer Pond & Old Winchester Hill.

Saturday 15th October 2022.

The Green Sandpiper on Woolmer Pond this morning.

Just three moths in the moth box this morning. Whoopee doo! A Double-striped Pug, Light Brown Apple Moth and a Tachystola acroxantha was my reward for my efforts and it was even worse at Andy’s house where there was NONE! Well, that's not entirely true, as he found two later this afternoon, in the back porch: a Common Marbled Carpet and a Light Brown Apple Moth, which must have been hiding in all the clobber hanging around there.

Above, the Common Marbled Carpet moth found this afternoon back at Andy's house. Below, one of many Red Kites seen today.

While checking my moth box this morning, at least there was a bit of bird activity going on that included a pair of Sparrowhawks flying low over the house, both heading southbound although getting some unwanted attention from a Carrion Crow! A Chiffchaff was actually singing close to my garden and I saw the bird several times flitting about the trees at the back of the garden. A Wren and a Robin were heard at the back of the garden and overhead, both Pied and Grey Wagtail were heard calling, though not seen.

Top photo, Suede Bollette Toadstool and below, I believe are Inkcaps.

It was Woolmer Pond this morning for all our birding fun and although the weather was good at first, by the time we left, the rain clouds soon appeared. Bird of the morning was the Green Sandpiper that was feeding on the edge of the south half of the main lake. Surprisingly, there were no other waders present, normally a good number of Lapwing, but none today. It was rather quiet for birds around the perimeter, but at least there was a lot of Toadstools to look at, especially through the wooded area leading to the perimeter of the Pond. My ID skills on Toadstools are somewhat poor and so I expect to use the Facebook Fungi guys to help ID my photos.

Above, I thought this large cluster of probable Inkcaps was amazing and below, another shot of the Green Sandpiper with a Carrion Crow in the foreground.

Even the Cottage area was quiet, although a lot of Jackdaws flew over due to a passing Red Kite that sailed overhead. In fact, Red Kites were going to be a big feature today with many sightings of this enigmatic raptor. We even saw a flock of 6 birds together flying over the woods at the north of the Cottage along with a Common Buzzard. I was surprised that we did not come across any Stonechats at all, though there were plenty of Meadow Pipits over. We did come across a few Tit flocks within the woods that included Coal and Long-tailed Tits and the occasional Goldcrest and Chiffchaff, but no Crossbills or Siskins during our time here.

From top to bottom: the infamous Cottage at Woolmer Pond; a pair of Red Kites over Woolmer Forest and a pair of Long-tailed Tits within the Forest.

Out on the heath through Woolmer Forest, a pair of Woodlarks showed well, including one singing bird that climbed the sky and then flew off over the heath. A Great Grey Shrike was seen over this side of the Woolmer Forest this time last year, but despite several good scans across the heath, there was no sign. Sadly, all was very quiet indeed as we made our way back down the hill through the Forest and then back down the track to the car. Rain looked imminent as we hurried our pace. Though the birdlife was quiet, at least there were plenty of Toadstools to look at  (sorry Andy!) and a few Dragonflies were on the wing too. A Southern Hawker and a few Common Darters were seen on the way back, though too quick for me to take a photo. 

Another selection of Toadstools within Woolmer Forest. Top photo: Puff Ball; centre photo:  Saffron Milkcap. Bottom photo: Redhead Russula. I am using the ShroomID App on my smartphone and although it promises to be as accurate as possible, I must get into the habit of taking photos of the underside, stem as well as the top of the Toadstool/Fungus. I have always found this topic so interesting and I will add, I will never take any home to eat! It is far too dangerous to do so and I know people who have come a cropper and poisoned themselves by eating the wrong Toadstools!    

After our trip here, we popped into Clanfield to grab some refreshments before making our way to Old Winchester Hill. Parking wasn't too much of a problem, probably due to the long rain shower earlier. The idea was to sit on the bench and overlook the Hill to the west and watch what birds fly past, but that horrible westerly wind put paid to that after 30 minutes. But during that time, at least two Red Kites went past as did a female Sparrowhawk, one male Kestrel and at least three Ravens. I was happy with that. As we were leaving the area and making our way back to Clanfield along Hayden Lane, I saw a large flock of waders to the south of the road and I was in no doubt that they were Golden Plover, of which I quickly pointed out to Andy. There must have been approximately around 70+ birds in the flock, but as we were driving, I could not locate where they landed. Still, a notable sighting for here.  

Our late trip to Old Winchester Hill produced a few sightings as we watched from the Dave Compton memorial bench. Above, at least two Red Kites drifted through; looks can be deceiving and although it looked sunny and gorgeous overlooking the Fort, it was quite cold in that blustery wind. Bottom photo was of the female Sparrowhawk flying north.