A Patch of New Forest Heathland

  Whilst I hate to sound like a broken record, it is hard to talk about the last 3 months without mentioning the rain….which has been relentless. The overall weather pattern was similar to 2023 - mild, wet conditions persisting throughout the months of March and April, eventually easing off in mid-May -  but any respite so far in 2024 has tended to be brief, and the continuing surface water levels across the heath and at Setley pond, suggest that this year was considerably wetter. On the birding front, things have been a bit brighter. When conditions have permitted, our daily counts have often been higher than previous years, with our highest of 59 bringing a new March record. The total species number is also ahead of where we were last year with 90 species recorded by the end of May, compared to 81 in 2023. A Barn Owl , which called over the heath during a late night attempt to see the Aurora Borealis was a new bird for the patch, taking the list up to 113. As always, full patch lis

  For the past 4 years, at the end of April, Mark and I have undertaken a day of ‘low carbon’ birding, during which we try to see as many species as possible in our local area, while remaining on-foot. I say ‘low’ rather than ‘zero’-carbon as the day does require a ten minute car journey to the coast, where we start with a sea watch, before walking home to Sway in the New Forest, returning later to collect the car. As outlined below, the walk takes us through a variety of habitats, passing through the marshes at Keyhaven / Normandy, along the Lymington River, through the mixed deciduous / coniferous Royden Woods and back across the heathland, a distance of around 23 Km (just over 14 miles). Last year’s total of 110 bird species was our highest yet – and was therefore the target to beat.   05.37 – 07.45: Seawatch at Hurst Spit For this year’s walk, on 30 th April 2024 we arrived at Hurst Spit, near Milford-on-Sea shortly before sunrise. The strong South Easterly wind suggested we

  Even in my most optimistic moments it has been hard to find anything positive to say about the Hampshire weather this winter. Apart from a brief cold snap in mid-January the theme has been universally mild and wet. So wet, in fact that large areas of the patch have remained inaccessible for several weeks; our trickling streams have turned into raging torrents, impassable even with upgraded footwear, and much of the heathland has been a quagmire. The   mild conditions brought daffodils into bloom in early January, and our first Red Admiral butterfly on 31 st of the same month, considerably earlier than any of our previous records. However, when conditions have allowed us to get out birding, the numbers and diversity of species has been somewhat better than last year. While we have had no new patch records so far in 2024, our year list currently stands at 66 species, ten ahead of our figure for the end of February 2023 with a few interesting highlights to note. As usual, full lists ca

The end of 2023 marks the third complete year of our birding and recording exploits on the patch of New Forest between Brockenhurst and Sway. For those who are new readers of this site, a more detailed explanation of the concept of ‘ Patch Birding’ and a map of showing our route and the locations described in this blog, can be found on the  2022 Summary . My birding companion, Mark and I live in the village of Sway, close enough to the route to enable us to conduct our visits entirely on foot. The concept of ‘low carbon’ birding has been encouraged by environmental campaigners in recent years, although we recognise that not all birders are fortunate enough to have such a rich and varied habitat on their doorstep. While our 54 full circuits was ten fewer than in 2022 it still represented an average of over one visit per week over the whole year, which feels like quite an achievement given the variability of the weather. All sightings were recorded on the eBird site where a summary li

  A brief cold snap produced some crisp, misty mornings in early December, but was soon followed by more wet and windy conditions, one of the warmest Christmases on record and yet another drenching from Storm Gerrit. By the end of the month, Setley Pond had swelled to almost twice its normal size and our trickling streams had turned into raging torrents. Some nimble footwork (and good quality footwear) still enabled us to achieve five full circuits of the patch during the month, with a final flourish of 45 species on the 30 th setting a new December record. No new birds were added to the year list which remains at 97, five short of last year’s total. All lists can be found on eBird via the link:   https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095   Aside from the flooding, the main headline this month has been the huge numbers of Winter Thrushes -   far more than in recent years. During the middle weeks of the month, it seemed that almost everywhere we looked there was a Redwing or a Fieldfare .

  The Sway War Memorial stands at the corner of Durnstown and Pitmore Lane, and usually marks the start and finish of our weekly patch walk. For the month of November it becomes adorned with poppies and wreaths as the focal point of the local Remembrance commemorations. Thankfully, a brief interlude between storms Ciaran and Debi allowed this event to be marked in the Traditional way, although that weekend was one of just two occasions where the clouds parted and floods receded for long enough to enable completion of our full patch circuit. Unsurprisingly there were no new birds to be added to the list, which still stands at 97 for the year, although on both visits we matched our meagre ‘November record’ species count of 44. As usual, the full lists can be found on e-Bird at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095 . A large influx of Winter thrushes was a welcome sight on our first walk on November 11 th – flocks of Fieldfare , totaling around 150 were seen overhead, accompanied by sma