Also present in around the egg trays were up to 4 Cockchafer Beetles; my first of the year. Plenty of birds were singing in and around Cowplain Marsh including at least 2 Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over. Andy has recorded several Large Red Damselflies by his Pond this week.
Bolderwood, New Forest:
On arrival in the big car park at Bolderwood, we were confronted by the new Pay Machines. All New Forest car parks now have the machines in place, but I have to say, I didn't expect them to be relatively cheap to park. Andy kindly paid for 4hrs parking of which it was only £5. You could pay nearly that for a couple of ice-creams here! Fellow birder (and Lazee Birder) Graeme Loader joined us and while chatting to him, three Siskins flew low over the car park to kick off our trip here nicely. He had come from a wood in New Milton where he had photographed a family group of Tawny Owls, including two fluffy youngsters.
Above, a female Blackbird was seen at the start of our walk into Bolderwood and below, this female Siskin came down to the ground and perched nicely in front of us.
Above, our first encounter with our first Wood Warbler of the year and being quite flighty, I managed this shot (with a bit of luck!) with the bird about to perch.
Following the ‘Pin-drop’ I kindly got from a friend, we made our way to the site and what was to come was simply exceptional. We followed the footpath down that eventually led to a very large clearing. The grey skies of earlier this morning had gone and bright sunshine took its place. Nearing the Wood Warbler site, a flock of 8 Common Crossbills flew over and a few more Siskins, while both Firecrests and Goldcrests were singing in the woodland. Even a Hawfinch put on an appearance as it flew over our heads and into the woodland opposite.
Above, more photos of the showy Wood Warbler. You can see the rings on the legs quite clearly. Some birders are not happy that a small bird has to have so many rings on its legs, but it clearly managed to fly back from its wintering grounds for another summer in the UK.
It didn't take long to find the singing Wood Warbler which was slightly in the woodland from the footpath and carefully getting a good place to watch and photograph from, we all got excellent views of the bird, though it hardly ever stayed still as it flew from perch to perch as it beautifully sung in front of us. I did manage to grab a few half decent photos of this gorgeous and dare I say it, rare bird in Hampshire. Numbers have dropped dramatically over the last decade here within the South Coast and even in the New Forest, the last stronghold on the South Coast, their numbers have fallen so low. Once we saw the bird well, I noticed the bird had two rings on each leg, which I am sure was the same bird I saw a few years ago within the same vicinity.
Above, the Wood Warbler in full song and below, this distant singing Tree Pipit was our first for the year within the large clearing.
Raptors were evident over the large clearing including above, a Common Buzzard and below, a female Goshawk. A Red Kite was also seen.
After 15 minutes or so, I decided to join Andy back on the main footpath, while Graeme continued to get more photos. Andy and I then made our way up the track to view the clearing and then we heard a Nightjar briefly ‘churring’. Though I knew we had little chance of finding the bird, we did have a good look later when it ‘churred’ again, but to no avail. However, from the clearing, we also saw our first Tree Pipit of the year; a singing bird perched high on the top of a dead tree. Happy days! From the large clearing (perfect for Nightjar’s), a couple of Common Buzzards flew over, as did a Red Kite and even a female Goshawk was seen sailing high over the clearing!
Above, a male Stonechat was close to the footpath within the large clearing with the female not too far away either. Below, looking east over the clearing.
Above, the footpath through the clearing heading north. Below, the male Stonechat seen by the footpath.
A male Redstart was seen perched high up in a dead tree some distance away, but when we got a lot closer, this singing bird showed very well for us both. Both Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff were in full song and a pair of Stonechats showed well near the main footpath. A pair of Long-tailed Tits were chasing each other high up in some trees near where the Redstart was singing and a few Swallows drifted over. Another Common Buzzard soared high overhead and was then rumbled by a pair of Ravens before drifting off south.
Above, I am seeing Painted Lady butterflies all over the place and this one was by the footpath and below, the singing male Redstart perched high up on a dead tree by the clearing.
Above, the singing male Redstart by the clearing and below, a pair of Ravens didn't take too kindly for a Common Buzzard in their air space!
A Brimstone butterfly flew over the bracken and a Painted Lady showed very well beside the main footpath. Along the edge of the footpath, the likes of Wild Bluebell, Dog Violet and Common Lousewort were growing abundantly. What an amazing place we were in and even Andy commented on how good this particular large clearing was. I most certainly will be coming here again.
I am always keen to check out any wild flowers on show and this trio were abundant along the footpath. From top to bottom: Wild Bluebell, Common Lousewort and Dog Violet.
Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes:
One of the many Garden Warblers by the Viewing Platform at Blashford Lakes this afternoon.
After grabbing three good ‘year-ticks’ at Bolderwood, I wanted to finish the day off at Blashford Lakes and hopefully, there might be a few Hobbies on show there this afternoon. After grabbing some lunch at the garage on the A388 Salisbury Road and then negotiating the traffic lights on the same road, we got to the Blashford Lakes car park around 11.30am. The weather was still good at the time and instead of going into a packed Tern Hide, we made our way to the Viewing Platform to eat our lunch to the sound of singing Garden Warblers.
Above, a Common Tern with two Black-headed Gulls on the new Tern Raft close to the Tern Hide. Below, a Garden Warbler in full song.
Above, a 'teneral' Damselfly that has just recently emerged and below, a distant Great White Egret on the island to the north of Ibsley Water.
A quick scan over Ibsley Water, it didn't take me long to find my first Hobbies of the year. In fact, four birds were on the wing together, hunting high over the main road in search of dragonflies or Damselflies. A great start to the trip here and my 4th ‘year-tick’ of the day. I was now hoping to find my first Common Sandpiper of the year, but despite searching the spits and the small islands, there were no sightings. I did, however, find a single Little Ringed Plover on one of the spits and other waders present here today included at least three Oystercatchers and still good numbers of Lapwing.
Above, a large flock of Common Terns took off from the small islands on the east side of Ibsley Water. Below, one of the four Hobbies hawking over Ibsley Water.
Above and below, the Great White Egret in flight heading southbound.
Wildfowl numbers have dropped massively since the last time I was here with just small numbers of Mallard, Tufted Duck and Gadwall present. There was just the one Egyptian Goose present and a pair of Grey Lag Geese dropped in briefly. Common Terns, however, were in very good numbers and showed well throughout the time we were here. Easily, at least 25+ birds were present all around Ibsley Water and some even posed nicely in front of the Tern Hide when the rain came down later in the afternoon.
Above, another shot of one of the Hobbies going over and below, a pair of Common Terns perched on the posts in front of the Tern Hide as the rain came in.
Above, one of the many Common Terns posing nicely in front of the Hide and below, this Lapwing came very close to the Hide, walking along the shoreline.
As mentioned, Garden Warblers were showing superbly with many in full song all around us while we had lunch and searched for birds. Raptors were going over throughout our stay here and included numerous Common Buzzards, a Red Kite, the Hobbies and Andy picked up a female Marsh Harrier flying over the trees near Salisbury Road. A Cuckoo was heard calling in the distance and, incidentally, one was seen flying over the road earlier near Milkham Inclosure. A Great White Egret flew in and landed on the island in the northern end of Ibsley Water and was then seen later fishing over on the east side until flying off high south.
Above, in came the heavy rain and below, the Little Ringed Plover next to a Black-headed Gull on the nearby spit.
Above, this female Mallard with her duckling that swam very close to the Hide and below, two of the hundreds of Sand Martins hawking insects over Ibsley Water.
Around 2.30pm, the rain started to fall and so we spent the next 45 minutes or so from the Tern Hide. The rain got heavier and heavier and although we were hoping for a flock of Black Terns to drop in, we were rewarded with hundreds of Hirundines, notably Swifts, Sand Martins and a few Swallows. A pair of Common Terns flew in front of the Tern Hide and landed on nearby posts (see film footage) and my first duckling of the year, a Mallard with its youngster, swam right in front of the Hide.
Above, more Sand Martins in the rain as was this Swallow, below, going over Ibsley Water.
Above, good numbers of Swifts were over the Water including this one that came pretty close to the Hide and below, the Common Terns again posed nicely in front of the Hide. Such beautiful birds.
While back at the Viewing Platform, we saw our first Azure Damselflies of the year and also my first Large Red Damselfies going about their business low over the brambles to round off another superb day in the New Forest. Great company as always makes the day special and a coffee to finish off the day at Cowplain Marsh too.
