Sway Heathland Patch Report for 2022

Many birdwatchers will be familiar with the concept of ‘Patch Birding’, where a small area or ‘patch’ is observed over a period of time to log bird species and counts. When lockdown arrived in 2020, the need to remain within walking distance of my house for ‘exercise’ encouraged me to start birding on an area of heathland close to where I live, in the New Forest National Park. I soon discovered that another local birder had been patch birding on this site for a number of years; when the easing of covid restrictions allowed, we decided to join forces and conduct a weekly walk around the area, recording our sightings on the eBird website.

 

‘The Patch’ (see map above - red line indicates usual route)

Starting at the stile at the South end of Manchester Road in Sway (bottom left hand corner of the map), close to the Hare and Hounds pub, we walk through a small area of scrub, crossing the road and following the path alongside the football pitches and behind the allotments. We then follow the heathland path towards Shirley Holms, crossing the Lymington branch line railway bridge, past Setley Pond and then across Setley Plain towards the Filly Pub. We turn left towards Brockenhurst, crossing the road under the Latchmore railway bridge, and following the old railway line until we reach the cottages, where we fork right to cross the reedbeds towards Hincheslea Woods. We emerge from the woods to cross the reedbeds once more, passing under the old railway line and up the hill to the Longslade View car park, forking left towards Marlpit Oak Copse and then back across the heath to Sway, via Widden Bottom.  During the summer months the direction of the route is generally reversed, enabling us to reach the reed beds and woodland earlier. 

Patch Summary for 2022

We undertook a full circuit of the patch with complete record of species on 64 occasions during 2022. Most walks were undertaken on Saturday and / or Sunday mornings and generally were around 3-4 hours in duration, with start time dependent on time of year. The patch comprises predominantly heathland, but incorporates the reedbeds at Longslade bottom, Hincheslea woods and Setley Pond, with views over grazing fields at Hincheslea and Battramsley.

 

All sightings were recorded on the eBird site, and a summary bar chart can be accessed on the following link, which also provides access to the previous year’s sightings, for comparison:

https://ebird.org/barchart?byr=2022&eyr=2022&bmo=1&emo=12&r=L12697095

 

A total of 102 species were recorded on the patch during the year, which is a slight increase on the 97 species observed in 2021 (N.B. eBird records only 100 species during 2022 as Goshawk and Dartford Warbler are suppressed by the website, due to their National scarcity although locally abundent). Our highest species count was 64, on 27^th May; numbers dipped below 40 on occasions during the winter months but improved during Spring, with counts consistently above 50 from mid-March through to the end of June. July was generally quieter, but numbers picked up again during the autumn migration season in August and September.

We have been recording these data now since November 2020, and a total of 28 species can be considered truly ‘perennial’, having been seen at least once in a recorded week of one of the years since then (see fig 1).

 

Figure 1: Perennial Species, recorded at least once in a recorded week of a year between 2020-2022

Stock Dove	Rook	Goldcrest	Dunnock
Wood Pigeon	Carrion Crow	Nuthatch	House Sparrow
Herring Gull	Coal Tit	Tree Creeper	Pied Wagtail
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Blue Tit	Wren	Meadow Pipit
Green Woodpecker	Great Tit	Starling	Chaffinch
Magpie	Skylark	Blackbird	Greenfinch
Jackdaw	Long tailed Tit	Robin	Goldfinch

 

Resident Heathland Birds

A mild winter in 2021 ensured good numbers of Dartford warblers (fig 2) were seen throughout 2022, with successful breeding evident in several different locations across the patch. Regular sightings continued during winter including the period after the cold snap in December.  Stonechats were also abundant through the summer, although numbers appeared to drop off dramatically during December. Hopefully this just reflects movement during the cold weather, but we will need to wait and see what happens over the coming months. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were seen in good numbers, again becoming more difficult to find in winter months. 2022 produced more Woodlark sightings than previous years, with our first singing birds appearing on consecutive weeks in mid- and late-February. A small family group appeared in the summer close to Setley Pond and were later sighted again on Setley plain.

Fig 2:  Darford Warbler

Water Birds and Gulls

Setley Pond does not attract the numbers of wildfowl species that one might expect, perhaps due to the amount of disturbance from recreational use of the area. A single Coot and a Moorhen were seen in April and small numbers of Mallard, were present intermittently between January and June, disappearing completely between July and November. On one occasion a female with 9 ducklings were seen. A pair of Pintail flying over the heath in early February was the only other duck species. Cormorants were regular winter sightings on the pond, and a single Grey Heron, often a juvenile could usually be seen, either on the pond or on the adjacent heathland; our first Great Egret record for the patch was a fly-over in early January, but we were fortunate to find a colour ringed bird (Fig 3), which stayed on the pond for 2 days in December. Data from the ring indicated that this bird had fledged in the Somerset Levels in 2022, and had regularly been seen around Keyhaven and Oxey Marsh in the preceding weeks. Little Egrets were occasional fly-over sightings in June and two were seen in the fields behind St Dominic’s Priory in December. Canada Geese were often heard or seen in flight over the patch between February and June but on only one occasion after that. A skein of Greylag Geese flew over in the first week of June and our first patch record of Egyptian Goose in March, again a fly-over, was followed by further sightings in June and July.

Figure 3: Great Egret on Setley Pond

Herring Gulls were seen on almost every week of the year, often over Sway Village at the start or end of the walk. As in 2021, Black Headed Gulls disappeared during the summer and early autumn. Lesser Back Backed Gulls were seen on more occasions than in the previous year, although none after the end of August. Mediterranean gulls were seen in late May and June, the same weeks as in 2021, suggesting that this is a time of movement for this species.

 

Waders

A pair of Lapwing attempted to breed on Widden Bottom, unfortunately rather too close to the path to be successful. Breeding appeared to be more successful on Setley Plain, and adults were seen at these sites between March and June. A small flock of wintering birds were also seen regularly during January and December, with a larger flock of 20 overhead on one occasion.

Curlew have bred on our local heathland in previous years, but this year’s attempts appeared to be unsuccessful. A pair of birds and an additional male were regularly seen and heard while displaying between March and June. Snipe occasionally flushed from the heath during the winter and were seen and heard regularly over the reedbeds at Longslade bottom between March and July. A single Woodcock flushed from next to the path down from Longslade view while the car park was closed for bridge repairs. Water Rail were occasionally heard in the reedbeds and on one occasion a family group of 5 birds were seen emerging from the reeds.

 

Summer Migrants

This year appeared to be a good year for Cuckoos with regular sightings of multiple birds between mid-April and mid-June. A juvenile bird being fed by a meadow pipit in July was a highlight of our birding year. As in previous years, Chiffchaffs were seen and heard a few weeks before our first Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and Blackcap. We were pleased to find singing Garden Warbler on consecutive weeks in late May and early June, but sadly no Lesser Whitethroat apart from a single autumn passage migrant. Swallows and House Martins were seen weekly between April and October, the latter particularly around St Dominic’s priory which is clearly a breeding site for this species. We did not manage to see Sand Martin this year, and Swifts were only occasional visitors to the patch between May and July. Another highlight of the year was a singing Wood Warbler for a single morning in May, on the edge of Hincheslea woods. A Reed Warbler sang in the scrub by the old railway line on one occasion in May and once in the reeds in June, but was much less evident than in 2021, when we heard them regularly during June and July. Nightjars can be heard on the heathland throughout the summer months, but are rarely encountered on our daytime walks. Occasionally one will start churring during the early morning and on one occasion one flushed from close to the path.

Interestingly this year we were able to identify at least 4 separate singing Redstart at various locations in Hincheslea woods during May, which we had not heard in the previous year. Females were also seen feeding young in June and July. Spotted Flycatchers (fig 3) seemed more difficult to find during the breeding period than in the previous year.

  

Fig 4: Spotted Flycatcher

Passage Migrants

A singing Sedge Warbler, in the scrub near at Marlpit Oak was a surprising find in mid-April and not far away on the same morning a male Ring Ouzel was our first patch record of this species; a further male and female ouzel were seen in the scrub at Marlpit Oak on several occasions in the autumn.  Wheatears were less evident on the heath in Spring this year and appeared to arrive later than in 2021; however good numbers were seen again in the autumn along with several Whinchat. Yellow Wagtail joined the cattle on the football pitches during the third week of August, which was the same week during which we found two Pied Flycatchers. Two Tree Pipit were also heard overhead in late August, but sadly no Wryneck was able to join us this year.

 

Raptors

A female Marsh Harrier was seen several times over the heathland around during the summer months; we also had two sightings of grey male Hen Harriers during the winter, one in January and the other in December. Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were seen regularly throughout the year, with occasional sightings of Goshawk and Peregrine. Hobby and Red Kite were only seen on one occasion, and we did not find Merlin on the patch this year.

 

Thrushes, Corvids and Pigeons

Redwings and Fieldfares departed in the second week of April, reappearing in large numbers at the end of October. Although numbers of Fieldfare seemed to drop in mid-November after they had consumed the supply of berries at Marlpit Oak, a smaller flock continued to be seen intermittently through December. Song and Mistle Thrushes were seen and heard frequently in Spring and early summer but both became more difficult to find when they fell silent during August and September, as noted in previous years.

Rooks, Carrion Crows, Magpies and Jackdaws were a year-round presence in good numbers, but Jays were a bit more sporadic. Ravens were commonly sighted over the heath during winter and early spring but became very sparse during the summer months. While Stock Doves and Wood Pigeons were recorded every week, Collared Doves fell silent during October and November, which is the same pattern as was observed in 2021.

 

Other Passerines

The woodland areas of the patch were regularly frequented by Firecrests, which were seen or heard throughout the year, albeit infrequently in late summer when they were less vocal. Marsh Tits were seen and heard periodically at various sites across the patch, particularly early in the year, but disappeared during the summer. This may suggest that their breeding site was further away from our route than in 2021 when we continued to see them throughout the summer. A pair of Crossbill flew over on one occasion and Hawfinch were surprisingly infrequent, given that they are known to breed and roost in nearby locations. Redpoll were occasionally seen with the winter finch flocks, but in smaller numbers than the previous year. Linnets were present on the heath in good numbers between March and October after which there only sporadic sightings. Reed Buntings were seen regularly in the reed beds during the summer and occasionally in various heathland locations during the winter.

 

Conclusion

Overall, 2022 was a good year with an overall increase in the number of species seen and several new birds for the patch. Highlights included our first Ring Ouzel, and singing Sedge and Wood Warbler, as well as the breeding Redstarts in Hincheslea, which were not present in 2021. We will continue to monitor these sites during our visits in 2023 to see if, and when any of these birds return.