A Patch of New Forest Heathland

  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 Redwin...

  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...

  October’s weather followed the pattern of unpredictability which has become a familiar theme in 2023 – warm sunshine for the first two weeks were followed by heavy rain and strong winds, as a series of Atlantic storms battered and soaked the heathland. The deterioration in the weather also brought a drop in species counts – our peak of 47 on 14 th was just one below last year’s October record but fell to a dismal ‘all time’ low of 34 on 28 th . All counts, lists and bar charts can be found on eBird at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095 The unseasonal warmth at the start of the month did not seem to affect the departures of our summer migrants – House Martins disappeared abruptly from the patch on 30 th September, while Swallows continued to pass overhead until the second week with the last sighting being on 15 th October. As usual, Chiffchaffs outstayed the other summer warblers, with good numbers lingering until the 23 rd , while Blackcap and Common   Whitethroat w...

  The change of season has brought a good month of birding on our New Forest heathland patch. Weekly counts of 53 species on three occasions beat our previous September record of 52, with some warm, sunny weather enabling plenty of opportunities to get out and about. Several additions to the year list have brought the 2023 total up to 95; as usual, full lists and bar charts are available on eBird at:   https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095 The arrival of Yellow Wagtails (fig 1) on the 1st of September was a week later than last year; as usual their appearance on the football pitches coincided with the presence of cattle, and was often associated with a large, mixed flock of Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits . Sightings continued until the last week of the month, which was also later than in 2022.   Wheatear and Spotted Flycatcher were seen regularly throughout September, along with Whinchat and Redstart in the earlier weeks. Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap ...

  August is always a month of high expectations, as the start of autumn migration brings the prospect of some unusual visitors to the patch. Overall counts, however, continued to be rather disappointing, with species numbers ranging from 43 to 49, compared to last year’s August record of 53. As always, full lists and bar charts can be found on the eBird site at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12697095 As in previous years, Song Thrushes have disappeared completely from the list in August, presumably keeping their heads down during their annual moult. Black Headed and Lesser Black Backed Gulls have also eluded us, and a distant fly-past from a pair of Canada Geese represented our only wildfowl sightings of the month. A single Grey Heron has been the only regular visitor on Setley Pond, despite the higher water levels this year compared to summer 2022.   On the other hand, Marsh Tits have become easier; after struggling to find them earlier in the year, at least one family group ...

  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...