Monday 24 March 2008

New Forest and Blashford HWT

A day in the New Forest was appropriate for today, starting off with rather nicely with 2 Goshawk at one of those "hush, hush" locations, though i expect every man and his dog know where they are these days! But still im saying nuttin!!

Next off to Eyeworth Pond, where there were plenty of Mandarins about, 50:50 ratio to male and female. And if memory serves me correctly there were 12 birds present. (See this is the problem not keeping a blog up-to-date, you tend to forget some info).

As far as introduced birds come, these have to be one of the best, there was a decent number of them on the Pond today. (c) Ashley Howe


A few brief stops to look for Great Grey Shrike at a few various sites, drew blanks, so we went off to the Ibsley/Blashford area. Well there wasn't really anything significant to report...apart from a good looking 'bird' with a tidy round rump working in the visitor centre. The Woodland Hide however, was the most productive, with a nice selection of Finches.


Just some of the Finches infront of the Woodland Hide this afternoon, coming to the feeders. Obivously Lesser Redpoll, top and Brambling, below. (c) Ashley Howe


Having left the hide, we almost immediately bumped into a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, which showed surprisingly well, at a close range. However it was one of those birds which i couldnt focus my camera on through all the branches infront of it.

This Pheasant cleaned up the mess, the Finches left behind on the deck. (c) Ashley Howe

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