Saturday 16th March 2024.
Yet another good day’s birding with pals Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher that took us to three different locations today: Acres Down, Blashford Lakes and Bratley Plain; all around the New Forest area. I was still not decided on whether to go up to the north of the County and try my luck for Stone Curlew at a site we know or back into the New Forest for another try for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker; but when I noticed how sunny and with a blue sky overhead, I decided on the latter. However, it didn’t go totally to plan as one hoped for. I had left my camera and binoculars back at home! Doh! Whether it's Alzheimer's kicking in or simple forgetfulness, who knows; but I just hope it's the latter!
The Moth Boxes:
Both Andy and myself had put the moth boxes on overnight in our respective gardens and it was Andy’s moth box that provided all the goodies this morning. All mine produced was one weak looking Beautiful Plume and a large Crane Fly for my efforts, whereas Mr Fishers produced the following: 3 Small Quaker, 1 Early Grey, 1 Early Thorn, 1 Brindled Pug and 2 Common Plume; the first four moths mentioned being new for the year. The last Early Thorn I had seen was several years ago when I used to check the moths at Portchester Crematorium. There was also a deceased Herald moth of which looked as though it had been caught in a spider's web and fell prey to the spider. Grumble! What a great start to the day. So, after putting the moth box away, there was no time to lose as we made our way to the superb site of Acres Down.
Acres Down, New Forest:
The weather was looking glorious all the way to the site, with a clear blue sky overhead, though it did start to cloud up a little, but still quite a bit of sunshine. The signs were good for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker to appear, for overcast conditions does not seem favourable for the bird to start ‘drumming’ it seems. We were in for a bit of a surprise when we arrived at the birds favourite tree in the woodland as there was not only several birders present there already (the car park was near full on arrival), but, believe it or not, a BBC film crew with the Ecologist and TV presenter Mike Dilger, his wife and son and four film crew all present; hoping to grab some film footage of the LSW! It turns out he was a really nice chap to talk to and knowledgeable as well as we waited patiently for the bird to show.
The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker did eventually show, a male bird, but before it did, nearly two hours later after our arrival, we enjoyed sightings of a pair of Stock Doves perched in the ‘pecker’ tree, both Common Buzzard and a Kestrel flying high over the woodland, 3 Crossbills, Redwing, Grey Wagtails, Siskins and both Firecrest and Brambling calling in the woodland. Again, it took nearly two hours for the shout went up that the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was in its usual tree, but we had to move further round to get a glimpse of the bird. Sadly, no photos for me of the bird, but we did get to see it high up in the tree before it disappeared back into the woodland. We had heard the bird ‘drumming’ about an hour before somewhere deep in the woods behind us, but it was a ‘no show’. Mr Dilger got the film footage of the bird they wanted and eventually went on their way with the film crew back to the car park, very happy indeed. However, we lingered here another thirty minutes or so and were eventually rewarded with superb views of the male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the same tree. Geoff had recognised the bird's call, which wasn't far away and then I saw it fly into its favourite tree where it showed very well. It then flew off into a nearby tree where we watched it briefly, then fly off deeper into the woodland. Our quest had been successful and so we made our way back to the car, but not before watching a large flock of Siskins just above our heads feeding on the fruits of a Silver Birch. Both Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker were both heard during our time in the woodland, but no sightings of both birds today.
Blashford Lakes, Blashford:
Andy wanted more ‘year-ticks’ and therefore I thought Ibsley Water would be a good place for possible Sand Martin and Little Ringed Plover and so we made our way to Blashford Lakes. The Tern Hide was empty of birders, but Ibsley Water was empty of migrants! Sadly, no Sand Martins or Little Ringed Plovers were seen during our couple of hours here (though two Little Ringed Plovers were reported on Birdguides later in the evening here! Fume!).While having our lunch in the Hide, there was still a lot of wildfowl to go through with plenty of Pintail, Wigeon and Shoveler the main birds and smaller numbers of Tufted Duck, Mallard, Teal, a few Pochard and at least three Goldeneye on the water (three female birds and a drake). After lunch, we decided to view from the Viewpoint overlooking Ibsley Water and the Tern Hide and from here, we had sightings of both Red Kite and Common Buzzard drifting over the fields and trees plus a pair of Great White Egrets slowly flying south over the reserve. A lot of Dunnocks and Long-tailed Tits were flitting around the brambles around us and at least two Chiffchaffs were seen singing in the distant trees. A male Reed Bunting flew over our heads as we soon decided to call it a day here and try our luck with the Ivy North Hide for possible Bittern.
Again, the Hide was empty as we sat comfortably to view the reedbed in front of us and also the lake. Sadly, no sign whatsoever of any Bitterns (two were seen here recently), but a Grey Heron caused some brief excitement when it flew out of the reeds. A showy vocal Cetti’s Warbler was flitting about in front of the Hide within the reedbed and a Water Rail called occasionally. The lake had all its usual wildfowl present, but nothing out of the ordinary and in the distance, both Common Buzzard and Red Kite could be seen over the distant woodland. Andy had checked his mobile for any interesting bird sightings and a report went up on the Hants Birding website that a possible Siberian Stonechat had been seen again on Bratley Plain, near Bolderwood. So off we went! When we left the Hide, I checked out the Scarlet Elf Cap fungi that Andy had seen earlier and was abundant along the edge of the footpath, growing under the brambles and leaf litter. As we were just about to leave the car park at the reserve Centre, a Kingfisher flew out in front of us and then flew up the small river just before the reserve exit!
Bratley Plain, New Forest.
Geoff had mentioned earlier that rain was coming in from the west later in the afternoon and it sure looked dark on our arrival at the car park at Bratley Plain. After searching the surrounding heath for any signs of birdlife, we first found a pair of Mistle Thrushes that promptly flew off into the distance; but after 15 minutes or so, I soon found a pair of Stonechats of which one, a female bird, certainly looked very pale. Still cursing about not having my camera with me, I checked out all the relevant details of this interesting female bird, which certainly looked paler and sporting quite an orangy chest; but we concluded it must be an odd coloured female Stonechat and most certainly paired up with a male bird close by. I can certainly see why ‘Siberian Stonechat’ was mentioned though not confirmed. Though a false alarm for another potential ‘year-tick’, the rain had started to fall and so we made our way back to the car and to our respective homes. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was Geoff’s first sighting for 18 years apparently, while earlier, Mike Dilger told us it was his first sighting of this species for 25 years!! The New Forest is the largest stronghold in the UK for this species, holding around 200 pairs out of the 1000 pairs known in the UK. I was glad to see that both Emma and Matt Parkes caught up with their first Wheatears of the year at Hook-with-Warsash site today. Great photos again Emma.
