'Flaming June' - patch update

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 earlier in the year.

Silver Studded Blue butterfly

Stonechats and Linnets have had a good breeding season, and Dartford Warblers became easier to find as the weather warmed up. Several singing males and fledgelings were sighted at various sites across the patch, although the overall number of territories still appears lower than in previous years after the cold weather in January and February.

Summer migrant warblers continued to sing throughout the month, with good numbers of Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat in the woodland and scrub. Spotted Flycatchers have been active at several woodland sites, but we have not heard Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat or Reed Warbler this year. Our Cuckoos sang for the final time on 17^th June, and the adults may already have headed south; however I was pleased to find a juvenile bird being fed by its meadow pipit ‘parents’ on a dead tree in Hincheslea bog on the 25^th. Interestingly, this was the same location as last year’s sighting – but two weeks earlier.

Little and large: Juvenile Cuckoo with its Meadow Pipit 'parent'

The Lapwings in Widden Bottom and on Setley Plain fledged at least two young each; our Curlew pair made a brief reappearance near Marlpit copse in the middle part of the month but abandoned any further attempts to breed. This is the second consecutive year that they have failed to produce any young in this area. Snipe appear to have been more successful, with several young birds being sighted around the mire in Widden Bottom and over the reedbeds. We are yet to hear or see Water Rail, which bred in Hincheslea Bog last year; it may be that they have retreated deeper into the reedbeds to breed further away from the dogs and walkers on the tracks, so we will continue to listen out later in the summer.

A small family of Woodlark have appeared periodically through the month at various sites around the patch, including Setley Pond, where a Little Egret also took up residence for a couple of weeks. The regular summer sightings of our distinctively marked female Marsh Harrier continued through June, along with Goshawk, Peregrine, Kestrel and Buzzards, but no Hobby or Sparrowhawk this month.

Birding often becomes harder work in July as some of our more common species go into to moult and the woodland birds fall silent, but we will soon be able to look forward to August and the start of the autumn migration season. We will, as always, remain hopeful for a passing rarity.