Hi guys, thought I'd share this one with you. Hope it aint too boring.
Set out from Black Water car park in the New Forest at 6am this morning, still in the grey half-light due to the cloud cover.
I headed east through Poundhill Inclosure with Robins, Wrens & Dark Bushcrickets singing around me. One Roe doe was on the right-hand side of the track & a Roe buck was on the left-hand side, on the corner of a clear-fell site. Goldcrest were singing at the top of the Scots pines & a Tawny owl flew right in front of me from its perch in a young Oak. A Hobby was calling from the eastern end of the Inclosure.
Out on Poundhill Heath about 10 Red hinds were grazing the purple heather with their calves, also a small herd of Fallow does & fawns ran over to the fence line, led by a white doe.
Walking over to Queen's Meadow, about 20 Fallow does & fawns were grazing the grass on the western end of the field. Probably because they'd just come out of wood that side & this end gets the first rays of sun light over the trees in the morning.
Through Brinken Wood, some ancient pasture woodland, & along the Highland Water there were some Grey Wagtails in the stream, Great Spotted & Green Woodpeckers calling along with the common birds like Nuthatch, Blue, Great & Long-tailed Tits, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Treecreeper & Buzzard. Wood Pigeons & a Stock Dove were singing. A bat (at 6.50am) was flying over the stream where it probably had a tree roost nearby. There were several more herds of Fallow does & 2 lone Fallow prickets (yearling bucks) which were still in velvet. There were alot of Ganoderma bracket fungi on the old Beech trees & alot of Oyster mushrooms &
Stereum hirsutum on the fallen ones. The only other fungi were the Blushing Bracket, Birch Polypore & an old Chicken of the Woods. Along the stream were the leaves of Coltsfoot, Common Figwort, Wood Sorrel, Marsh Cudweed. Marsh Willowherb, Tutsan, Butchers Broom, Tormentil, Lady fern, Hard fern, Polypody ferns(in Oaks) & Lemon-scented & Golden Male ferns.
Coming out of Brinken wood & crossing the top of Wide Lawn, a patch of humid\wet heath, there was Marsh St.Johnswort & Marsh Pennywort.
Walking through Hursthill Inclosure, Drivers Nursery & New Park Plantation there were all the common birds again with Siskins & Crossbills flying over the trees. Most flowers had gone over here but there was still plenty of Tormentil, Common Cow-wheat, Water Pepper, Lesser Spearwort, Selfheal & Water Mint.
Meeting back up with the Highland Water down-stream, more flowers: Marsh & Hedge Woundwort, Betony, Harebells, Enchanters Nightshade, Wood Sage, Wood Spurge, Herb Robert & Creeping Jenny. As I was walking along I heard the whistle of a Kingfisher, so I stood still & waited. The Kingfisher came shooting past.........closely followed by a male Sparrowhawk! The Sparrowhawk gave up the chase just as it passed me so I got a good view of it as he perched just a few meters away for a minute before he flew on. Further upstream a couple of Grey Herons flew off.
On to Poundhill Heath again the Red deer were still there. It was 8.50am & not enough people had gone past to make them move on yet.
By now the sun had come out & back in Poundhill Inclosure it was just warm enough for a Grayling butterfly to start flitting about & some Meadow Grasshoppers, Long-winged Coneheads & Wood Crickets to start singing.
Worth getting up early in the morning.
How many of you are still awake?
