The marvellous New Forest.

Another Birthday, another day for getting out there and enjoying the lovely weather.. What would I do if my Birthday was in November?

Last year it was Normandy / Pennington, this year searching for a few new Yearticks, myself and my friend (and knowledgable guide) Joe hit the New Forest.. The first time Id really spent any decent time here, despite driving through it probably hundreds of times.

1st stop was a lovely area called Acres Down. A Raptor view point offered great views..
Cuckoos, Stonechat, Woodlark and Tree Pipits.. the last 2 being 'lifers' for me - all showed very well. Sat on the hill top, we could feel ourselves cooking in the Sun.. after 2 hours and an increasing crowd of plonkers, we decided to head into the woodland.. This was a very wise move as it offered amazing views of Redstart and Wood Warblers.. again, 2 lifers.. Going with an expert really makes a difference as Joe picked out a Firecrest in a nearby Pine Tree.
Today was going really well..

Male Redstart.

Firecrest


Wood Warblers were common in the woods.

Joe 'swapping lenses'.

A 'Four spotted Chaser'??

From the New Forest, we headed to Stockbridge, in search of a mythical creature.. Turtle Dove... Never seen one, heard one and am seriously doubting whether they are made up!! But continue the search.

Lots of Butterfly on Stockbridge Down.. Someone asked us if we had seena Duke of Burgundy?? It s a Butterfly apparently.. obviously we hadnt. But a Willow Warbler was showing well.

North?? I never head North..

Feeling a little sore after yesterday's crash on the bike (dont ask!) I had a free afternoon of no cycling - so I headed out to Oxford to try and catch up with a few on this year's 'hit list'.

Garganey and Black Tern in good numbers in or near Oxford had been reported for the last few days.

First call was at Port Meadow.. a marshy area to the West of Oxford near the Thames. I had some rough directions, and you'd think that was enough?? Oh no.. Lots of One Way Streets and roads blocked with bollards meant it was more of a challenge to find the Marsh and somehwere to park than it was to find the Garganey.. Thank god you can now have GPS on Blackberrys. I suppose I should really buy a Satnav, but Im a cyclist!! we worship the Ordanance Survey Map God!

Marsh found, its big with the sun in my face.. Not helpful.. But to the right is a man with a Scope - always look for a man with a Spotting Scope.. saves a lot of checking every bloody Mallard! He's on the Garganey, only one (of the 3 previously listed) and its nice and close.

Job done.

Port Meadow done it was back to the car and try and get out of Oxford before the School traffic started to build up. Next stop was Farmoor and the massive Reservior thats there.. to look for Black Tern.. 22 reported yesterday!

A Yellow Wagtai was very obliging at the edge of the Reservior, just after I left the car park.. Most kind.


Second target of the day.. Black Tern.. a long way off and a real bugger to picture, when youre as talentless with a camera as me.. There were a dozen flying around the water, and this was as close as they came - and with a serious amount of cropping, so apologies for the grainy picture.

Yearlist now on 160.. Marvellous.
Farmoor.