February 2025 Patch update
As a wise old birdwatcher once told me: 'the only good thing about February is that it’s 10% shorter than January’. This month's New Forest birding exploits lived up to these limited expectations, with species counts in the low 40s falling well short of our (rather surprising) record of 51 from 2022. No new species were added to the patch list this month, with the year total creeping up to 63 which is 3 short of our figure at the end of February 2024. As usual, all checklists and bar charts can be found on our eBird Hotspot , and there is a map of our patch route here for new readers. On a more positive note, the recent weather has been considerably less wet than at this time in 2024, and although the puddles reappeared in the last week of the month, the lower water levels ensured that all areas remained accessible. After the wildfowl ‘bonanza’ of December and January, Setley Pond yielded just the usual Mallards , Grey Heron and Cormorant ; a couple of Little Egret over...