Wow.... What a first week on the job. Having spent a lot of time in the last few weeks being able to explore, survey and just generally work on a site that hasn't been surveyed for quite literally centuries. It was obviously going to be a whirl wind of an occasion. It has honestly at times felt like being back in Costa Rica with quite literally not knowing what's going to be around the corner and with the ability to go to areas of the reserve that aren't open to the public I have been able to spend time out in nature without having to worry about Covid, people, dogs, litter etc... Ok it's not perfect but if there was ever a site in the UK to go birding on this is it. (It's worth saying that there is a single byway that run's through the middle of the reserve, but currently this is the only access to the site this will all change once survey work and the local tip has been caped with a new Visitor Centre and car park due to open sometime in 2030 - So unfortunately unless you were to join me or my colleagues on a guided walk there is no access to most of the wildlife in this blog post! - Which to be honest is a shame) So without further-a-do I am going to try and summaries the last week or so into a decent sized blog post....! Tuesday 4th May: On Tuesday morning I went up to the new forest for an introductory site visit. What does that actually mean? Well in this case it means quite simply walking around birding and looking for suitable locations to deploy camera traps. Now I had been told by the reserve staff that I was extremely unlikely to hear or see a Wood Warbler on the reserve as two years ago there was only a single pair which didn't return last year. I hadn't walked very far and all of a sudden one burst into song followed by a second bird on the opposite side of the track. I was over joyed to say the least, especially since I had never seen or heard Wood Warbler before and I was standing watching two birds fighting for territory. They are such bright birds with a cracking song and it was interesting to watch their hunting techniques as they are quite easy to pick out amongst chiffs and willows as Woods tend to float from tree to tree. Its quite extraordinary. I have no clue how they do it, but it is quite incredible to watch. Above: Wood Warbler Continuing into the main reserve the place is full of life with a back drop of singing Firecrest, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Blackcap, Blackbird, Robin, Wren, Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush. It's just incredible you can kind of tell that the site has been left to it's own devices for a long time. In fact we have the highest density of Firecrest, Goldcrest and Treecreeper for any site in the New Forest. With somewhere in the region of 250 to 350 pairs of Firecrest. I mean it's so ridiculous that first thing in the morning you can stand in certain parts of the reserve and can't even count the number of singing Firecrest on the fingers on your hands. They are quite literally everywhere. Infact to be quite honest I strongly suspect the above estimate is hugely underestimating the size of the population. Above: One of the many singing Male Firecrests I continued my walk around and stumbled across a small mixed flock of Crossbill and Siskin before heading out into a clearing where a Tree Pipit was singing from a nearby tree. As I did a family almost Redwing like tsip and a pair of Hawfinch flew over. Just an incredible place. (Scenery images to be saved until the end) I then headed along a nearby track just before calling it a day and broke my Odonata duck for the year with my first Large Red Damselfly. Above: Large Red Damselfly Wednesday 5th May: On Wednesday morning I decided to head up to the reserve early to see if the Wood Warblers were still singing and also to go and set up some camera traps on site. Of Course the Wood Warblers were still in place and seemingly holding territory which was great news, however I recently learnt that Wood Warblers in the new forest are on a spiralling trend by which in just a few years time there many quite literally be none left at all. 10 years ago there were around 120 pairs in the forest this year it was though to be just 5 pairs until I found these two. But to go from 120 pairs to 7 pairs in the space of 10 years, surely must be sending the alarm bells ringing. These birds despite being called Wood Warblers are infact ground nesters and thus makes them vulnerable to a whole host of threats from over grazing, tourism/ people walking off footpaths, lack of suitable woodland, lack of insectivorous prey the list goes on. It would be really sad to see a species like this go from the UK, but the decline has been catastrophic to say the least and no one in the forest seems to care with the exception of the RSPB and Wild New Forest! Sound recording of both birds here: XC645882 Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) :: xeno-canto Above: Wood Warbler Moving on I stopped to look at a pair of Marsh Tit when I spotted two birds chasing each other around a nearby dead tree. To my surprised it was a pair of Redstart and the male was in absolutely cracking spring plumage. Above: Marsh Tit Below: Wren It's interesting... I am told this site possibly has a pair of Willow Tit around but so far I am yet to find them on my walks and surveys. Moving on I walked through Firecrest corridor and as I did so a huge Goshawk flew out of the trees. I then followed a track a little way until I felt a pin cone hit me on the head. I stopped and looked up to unsurprisingly seeing a huge flock of Crossbill feeding in the pines above me. In fact there must have been easily 50 of them tearing Pine cones apart and once done quite simply chucking them to the ground. Its perhaps the easiest way to find them when they aren't calling. The crossbill weren't alone though as they were with at least 15 Siskin and 4 Lesser Redpoll. Just before the flock took off I noticed another Redpoll feeding in the canopy that was noticeably bigger, plumper and paler than the others. Which had my mind suggesting Mealy/Common Redpoll and infact that is what I am pretty sure it was but as soon as I lifted my camera the whole flock flew as one of the Goshawks was up and about. After sometime a few Crossbills returned to drink from a nearby puddle, but unfortunately no Siskin or Redpoll were to be seen. Above: Crossbills Moving on into the more open areas and my first Small Copper of the year was basking in the sun. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was feeding in a nearby field and well Goldcrests and Firecrests were ridiculously numerous as always. Several Common Buzzards soared over head while my first Noon Fly of the year was on a nearby log. I chose this time as an opportunity to have my lunch and as I did so I noticed a pair of Marsh Tit rushing in and out of a nearby tree trunk attending their nest. Above: Small Copper Below: Great Spotted Woodpecker Above: Goldcrest Below: Common Buzzard Above: Noon Fly Below: Marsh Tit entering it's nest hole It was soon getting late and so I decided to head for home, but not before coming across another Crossbill flock and also a tonne of Deer. Above: Crossbill Below: Fallow Deer (?) Thursday 6th May : Thursday was a day off and to be honest I was quite fortunate as the weather was extremely poor. I went for a quick walk in the afternoon, but not much birding was done. Sandwich Tern and Gannet were the most notable alongside accidently finding a Red-throated Diver just off Boscombe Pier. Above: Sandwich Tern Friday 7th May: Friday saw a ridiculously early start as it was the only day for the foreseeable that had light winds at dawn. And so I was on the reserve for a 4am start in order to sound record the dawn chorus. The A338 and A31 were ridiculously busy for the time of morning but even so the journey went without a hitch. As soon as I got out the car the first sound I heard was odd and I couldn't quite recognise it. Then it happened again and again and it suddenly occurred to me that the noise I was listening to was infact Roding Woodcock. Quite frankly a ridiculous noise. Imagine trying to sleep listening to that. This was the first time that I had actually ever heard Roding Woodcock and it was awesome. And it was all to the back drop of a hooting Tawny Owl and the first few Robins singing. I then headed out into the reserve by torch light to set up the gear and of course suddenly realised that I had forgotten to turn the microphone on, so I hadn't recorded the Woodcock, bother! Either way two lovely hours were spent listening to the dawn chorus with plenty of species including Hawfinch, Crossbill, Goshawks, but not the hoped for Lesser Spots, infact I am having a really difficult time trying to survey them as I just can't find any. I am told that there should be several pairs on the reserve, but it's not looking good at the moment to say the least. As the sun started to shine through the gaps in the trees and thaw both my self and the ground from the frost. I decided to go and have a look at one of the last remaining parts of the reserve for me to explore. Treecreeper's and Firecrest were especially showy this morning, presumably due to just how cold the night had been trying to show their neighbours that they were fit enough to make it through the bitter night. XC645418 Common Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla) :: xeno-canto Above: Treecreeper and it's nest... Yeah that's right under the bark in that tree lies tiny tiny Treecreepers. Below: Firecrest dispute (two males) Moving on and I got to a set of fields and chain of grassland and shrub habitat unlike anywhere else on the reserve. A Cuckoo sang invisibly from the nearby Woodland. This area was quite incredibly full of Garden Warbler. I mean quite literally the out numbered Blackcaps here by perhaps 4 to 1. They just sat singing in the warmth of the May sunshine. My first Red Kite on the reserve circled over head along with 4 Common Buzzards that weren't pleased to see it. Above: Garden Warbler Below: Red Kite Just before I headed for home I stumbled upon some recently fledge Robins and I couldn't resist another look at the Wood Warblers. Cracking birds! Above: Young Robin Below: Wood Warbler Saturday 8th May: Another quite truly horribly autumnal day. Was spent catching up on emails and laundry. However the weather soon cleared and so I decided to head over to Poole for a rather blowy walk. Poole Park was rather quiet with the exception of around 20 Oystercatchers and it was good to see some of the ringed Greylags returning to the park just in time for their moult. Above: Greylag U056 Moving on I headed round to Baiter Park where again it was unsurprisingly quiet in the wind. However both Oystercatcher and my first Turnstone of the year showed quite well and some of the Turnstone were even in their quite splendid summer plumage. Above: Oystercatcher Below: Turnstone I then headed back into Poole Park and found some tiny Greylag Goslings and Mallard chicks sheltering near the car park. In fact the Goslings appear to be from my mate U089 who I ringed back in June 2019. good to see he is still doing well. Above: Greylag Goslings Below: Mallard Ducklings Since there was very little about and I still had plenty of time before my evening meetings (Yes, meetings on a Saturday are a thing at the moment) I decided to head round to RSPB Lytchett Fields. Upon arrival there was a noticeable trickle of Swallows funnelling through the bay on their way North with a few House Martin and Sand Martin for company. Starling's and Robins were feeding young and a pair of Shelduck, a Whimbrel and an Oystercatcher sat by the first pool. Above: Starlings Below: Robin I then headed out onto the main reserve and the main wader view points and was surprised to find a complete lack of people. Infact I had the whole reserve to myself which was quite unusual. Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap sang from the bushes as I headed down. I sat scanning the pools for around 30minutes bringing up very little however a flock of Whimbrel appeared out of the bay and circling over the fields as a Curlew dropped in. As the Curlew dropped in I noticed it flushed several smaller waders from where it landed and this brought two Little Ringed Plover into view. Above: Whimbrel And so after that with very little else around I decided to head for home and called it a night.
And so ends part 1 of this blog post.... Part 2 to follow soon
1 Comment
David Martens
14/5/2021 08:01:24 am
Lovely read Samuel, sounds an idyllic place
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AuthorI have been a birder since I was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 20. ArchivesCategories |