A Patch of New Forest Heathland

  An impressive summer bloom of Bell Heather has – quite literally – turned large areas of the heathland purple this month, although birding in July has, as usual, been somewhat less colourful. A Crossbill  at Hincheslea Woods was our only new bird for the 2023, bringing the patch year list up to 85. Weekly species counts ranged from 44 to 53, which were slightly lower than in July last year. As usual, all checklists are available on eBird at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095/activity?yr=all&m= Male Crossbill - the only addition to our patch year list in July On a positive note, the seed eaters seem to have had a good year, with large feeding flocks of Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Linnet including many juveniles, being seen regularly across the patch. Stonechats have also done well, with second broods of young emerging later in the month, and there seem now to be plenty of Dartford Warblers on the heath, after successful breeding in several locations. House Martins have b...

June 2023 has been one of the warmest on record in the New Forest, but was a relatively quiet month on the patch birding front. Weekly species counts ranged from 48 on 3 rd to a peak of 59 on the 10 th , with just two additions to the year list, which now stands at 84. No new patch records were recorded during this month. As usual, all checklists are available on eBird at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095/activity?yr=all&m=  . Our first Swifts of the year appeared overhead on 2 nd June, accompanied by higher numbers of House Martins than in recent years, with several breeding sites being identified around the margins of the patch. A flying ant swarm day on the 10 th brought an influx of Gulls, including two Mediterranean Gulls which have been a regular patch sighting each June for the past few years. Good numbers of Silver Studded Blue butterflies in the warm sunshine on the heath were a welcome sight after noticeably lower insect numbers in the cooler conditions earl...