Pages

Notes on Use of This Blog


1. I have a policy that I always reply to comments on my blog, even if it's just to say thank you.

2. Please don't submit comments that include your own web address. For obvious reasons, they will not be published.

3. I'm now on Twitter - @RichardPegler1

Friday 13 August 2021

New Forest 2021 Pt.1 - 9th to 13th July

In July, we had a family holiday week with Lindsay and I, plus our daughter (Melanie) and granddaughter (Georgie), staying in a beautiful thatched cottage (with tastefully modern extension) situated in Bank, near Lyndhurst, in the New Forest. The plan was that we'd spend some time with the four of us together if possible, but there'd also be times when the three girls did their thing while I went off to indulge my passion for wildlife photography. I say 'if possible' as it is always going to be difficult with our 15 year old granddaughter being primarily nocturnal, unable to mix with people (especially children of any age), and with many other issues including food, textures, noises, etc. In the event, the holiday turned out to be a little more limited than hoped for but, nonetheless, very enjoyable.

I'm going to try and keep my notes as brief as possible in this report and rely on the photos telling the story - but I'll probably fail!

Friday 9th July - Ashby de la Zouch to Bank

          sunny and warm for most of day

Lindsay and I set off from home at around 10h00, heading down the Fosse Way (ancient Roman road) and then departing from it near Swindon in order to call in at The White Hart Inn in Ashton Keynes for lunch, as it was a fine day and they have a garden that we could sit and eat in. We both had a ploughman's lunch and it was the most wonderful ploughman's that we had ever had.

Ashton Keynes is near the head of the River Thames which runs through the village. It is probably about 3 metres wide here and, at this time of year, maybe a foot (30cm) deep. After lunch we took a short stroll by the river. There were a few damselflies around, but I only photographed a male Banded Demoiselle that was on the far side of the river.

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) (Male) - Ashton Keynes
Melanie and Georgie arrived at the cottage about an hour after us, and then Lindsay and Melanie went off to Asda in Totton to pick up a pre-ordered click-and-collect for the week's basic provisions. On their return, Lindsay and I then went off into Lyndhurst to get take-away fish and chips for us all.

Saturday, 10th July

          continual rain all day until late afternoon - relatively fine evening with sunshine

Little to report. However, in the evening, Melanie and I went for a very pleasant walk down the lanes from the cottage into an area I'd not been before - this was our third stay at this cottage. We had the pleasure of an encounter New Forest ponies and I took some shots, including this one of a foal.

New Forest pony (foal) - near Bank

That night I put out my portable moth trap (my 75th birthday present from Lindsay) at the far end of the garden. This was only its third outing, the first being a (successful) trial run in the garden at home and the second being a totally unsuccessful night on North Uist (too cold and windy) at the end of May.

As I returned from checking the trap in the evening, I took a phone shot of the cottage.

Japonica Cottage - Bank
Sunday, 11th July

          cool dull grey morning - rain in afternoon

I was not feeling too clever this day, with a bit of an upset stomach, so little was done, other than sorting out the moth trap.

The moth trap yielded just 17 moths of 12 species, but new for me were Herald (quite common) and Great Oak Beauty (not so common). Here is a selection from that night.

Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix) - Bank
Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi) - Bank
Great Oak Beauty (Hypomecis roboraria) - Bank
Buff-tip (Phalera bucephala) - Bank

I didn't go out that day, and little photography took place, but I did record a Jay which visited the cottage garden.

Jay (Garrulus glandarius) - Bank
Monday, 12th July

          wet start to day, brightened a little around 10h00, bright mid-day, torrectial rain from 16h00

Georgie wanted to go crabbing at Muddiford, so the girls set off for there after the rain stopped. As the weather was still dull, I headed for Eyeworth Pond, which is known for its breeding Mandarin ducks. It is also known for its Red-eyed Damselflies, but the weather didn't seem right for them.

I arrived to find a female Mandarin sitting on a gate by the car park. A couple of cyclists were sitting on a nearby perch overlooking the lake and I went over for a chat. It turned out that they were regular visitors and they told me that they'd not seen a male Mandarin for a month or so. They did, however, draw my attention to a distant Kingfisher.

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) (female) - Eyeworth Pond
They departed and then a Mandarin came into view. It didn't occur to me at the time that, rather than looking at a female Mandarin, I was seeing a male in eclipse plumage!

Mandarin (Aix galericulata) (male, eclipse) - Eyeworth Pond
With limited views from this point, I headed to the south end of the lake. To my surprise, I found a three rather distant Red-eyed Damselflies - a pair in tandem and a lone male. In the poor light and at this distance, I only managed record shots (these were taken with the lens at 500 mm and very heavily cropped).

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male + female) - Eyeworth Pond
Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male) - Eyeworth Pond
Also to the south west of the lake I found a newly emerged female Common Blue Damselfly.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (teneral female) - Eyeworth Pond

On my way back to my start point I found this rather splendid hoverfly.

hoverfly (Volucella pellucens) (female) - Eyeworth Pond
Back at my start point, I stopped to watch the Mandarins. This is when I realised that I was seeing eclipse males as the one in the second image below came into view!
 
Mandarin (Aix galericulata) (male, eclipse) - Eyeworth Pond
An incoming message alerted me to the fact that when the girls got to Muddiford they found that there were many children already crabbing and Georgie was not able to get out of the car, so they were going to head for Bucklers Hard in order to try for a boat trip if I cared to join them. As I returned to my car, a (genuine!) female Mandarin was back on the gate. I'm sure that I have mentioned in the past that I'm always surprised at how narrow ducks heads can be when viewed head on - I offer these next two images as an example.
 
Mandarin (Aix galericulata) (female) - Eyeworth Pond
My route to Bucklers Hard took me past Hatchet Pond which is a favourite dragonfly pond. As there was some sun now shining through from time to time I decided to stop there for a short while as I was ahead of the girls.
 
My fifteen minutes here revealed a few damselflies, the first two of which were 'immatures' and had me puzzled for a while. I am now relatively certain that they were both female Small Red Damselflies. If you think differently, please tell me.

Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) (immature female) - Hatchet Pond
Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) (male) - Hatchet Pond
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male) - Hatchet Pond

I arrived at Bucklers Hard, where many of Nelson's wooden ships were built, shortly after the girls. While waiting for the boat I took a few shots of a nearby Black-headed Gull.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) - Bucklers Hard
We managed to get Georgie on the boat and she had a good time, in spite of (or maybe because of - it's always hard to tell!) the absolutely torrential downpour that started within five minutes of us setting off, and lasted until a few minutes before we arrived back at the quay again. The only shot I managed was of a distant Little Egret towards the end of our trip.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) - Bucklers Hard
Tuesday, 13th July

          cloudy with sunny periods, evening mainly sunny

I'd been getting frustrated at the lack of odonata opportunities, and made up my mind that, although the weather was not ideal, I should make the most of what weather I had this day, as the girls were going to have another attempt at Muddiford (they failed again).

My first port of call was Hatchet Pond once more. I arrived to find donkeys in the car park. I was immediately concerned by one donkey with a foal that was lying flat out and motionless, so went to investigate. I'm pleased to say that the foal was just tired and sleeping - I saw it later and it was very active!


Donkey and foal - Hatchet Pond
I set off for a wander round the pond and soon found a trio of cooperative Silver-studded Blue butterflies. This is a species that has lost much of its range and is rare outside southern England heathlands, with Dorset and the New Forest being its key stronghold.


Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus) (male) - Hatchet Pond
Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus) (female) - Hatchet Pond
The other butterfly that I photographed was a Small Heath - much more common and widespread!
 
Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) - Hatchet Pond
My main target here was the odonata. Although nothing outstanding was seen it was a pleasant warm-up to the main event.
 
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (immature male) - Hatchet Pond
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) (immature male) - Hatchet Pond
Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) (immature male) - Hatchet Pond
Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) (female) - Hatchet Pond
I do love the bright satin-gold colouration of the female Keeled Skimmer when seen in the right light.
 
It was now time to have my picnic lunch before setting off to Crockford Stream - a place that is legend with dragon hunters, and just down the road from Hatchet Pond.
 
The key species at Crockford Stream are Beautiful Demoiselle, Southern Damselfly, Small Red Damselfly, Golden-ringed Dragonfly, and Keeled Skimmer. It is said there is also a chance of Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly, but I have never had the pleasure! In less than ideal conditions, I managed to find all five of the key species on this occasion, but only had fleeting distant sightings of Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Here are some of them:-

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) (male) - Crockford Stream
Southern Damselfly (Coenagrion mercuriale) (male) - Crockford Stream
Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) (male+female) - Crockford Stream
Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) (male) - Crockford Stream
 
 
This brings me to the end of Pt.1 of my report on our New Forest visit. Pt.2 will, due to improved weather, feature better dragonfly coverage, and will also include more birds.
 
In the meantime, take good care of yourself and nature (we need each other!) and stay safe.

Thank you for your visit - - - Richard


20 comments:

  1. Hi Richard! Absolutely wonderful nature observations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anne. Nature is so wonderful - it doesn't deserve the destruction dealt it by the human race. Best wishes - - - Richard

      Delete
  2. A lovely post Richard. Love the cottage, looks beautiful. Good to see you seeing some specialities down there. I really should have a trip back there sometime. A lovely read and some excellent photos. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cottage is delightful, Marc, and the modern add-on at the side which almost doubles its size has been very tastefully designed and is very comfortable. The location is fabulous too. I can thoroughly recommend the New Forest. With your observational and photographic skills, and the extra stamina too, you would do much better that I did.

      Stay safe - - - Richard

      Delete
  3. Hello Richard,
    Its a couple of years since I made the trip to the forest, my legs can't manage the walking these days so its a pleasure seeing what you get up to. Nice post. Take care.
    Mike.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry to hear of your limited walking ability, Mike. I guess that it must be quite frustrating at times, but at least you have your wonderful foxes to keep you company.

      Thank you for visiting - best wishes - stay safe - - - Richard

      Delete
  4. Beautiful photos & sounds like a marvellous break.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a splendid time, even if the weather was not very cooperative - thank you for your kind words - - - Richard

      Delete
  5. The cottage looks incredible, Richard. It's like a postcard touting historical England! It looks like the dragons and damsels cooperated for the most part and you obtained some fine photographs. I was interested to note your comments about the Mandarins in eclipse plumage. So many birders, I find, fail to take eclipse into account when viewing waterfowl, despite seeing evidence of the phenomenon every year. An interesting account of the first part of your stay. I will look forward to episode 2. Best wishes to you and Lindsay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should see some of the properties in the immediate neighbourhood, David, many of which will have eight-figure GBP price-tags, some of which really are of chocolate-box beauty.

      Part of the problem with eclipse plumages seems to be that the popular field-guides do not seem to deal with the subject adequately other than saying thing like 'eclipse males resemble the females of the species'. There room for a book on the subject - but maybe you know of one?

      Unlike Pt.1, which covers the first five days, Pt. 2 will cover the last three days, but will probably be just as long in content.

      Warm wishes to you and Miriam - - - Richard

      Delete
  6. As always a stunning set of photos and I love that little cottage, it looks delightful. The moths are superb, maybe I should think of a moth trap as I seldom see them here to take photos of. This year though we seem to be very low on all insects, may be they dislike the weather as much as we have! I do love the little New Forest pony but then of course horses have a special place in my life.

    Very best wishes to you both and the family, cheers Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The cottage is wonderful, Diane, but not so little with the modern extension to the side. It will comfortably sleep five and is advertised as sleeping up to eight.

      I have to warn you that moth traps are interesting and great fun, but very time-consuming. At the moment, as I am rather busy, it's not going out more than about once a month. Last time I got overwhelmed with an estimated over 500 moths - the first time I've got beyond double figures! Most of them escaped when I opened the lid and so were not identified.

      The insects here seem to have picked up greatly in numbers in the last week or so. I had been getting quite worried but am now a little more encouraged.

      My best wishes to you both - stay safe - - - Richard

      Delete
  7. Fabulous Richard, one of eclipse Mandarin Duck in your header, beautiful. Everyone are precious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm delighted to know that you have enjoyed this post, Bob. This is the first time that I have seen Mandarin in eclipse plumage showing this amount of colour. I'm not sure if it is going into, or coming out of, eclipse plumage? Stay safe - - - Richard

      Delete
  8. What a spectacular venue for relaxation and from which to explore the local natural settings!
    Birds, moths, butterflies and - oh, my goodness - the Odonata! What a smorgasbord!

    Your photographs are splendid, Richard, and I have now reviewed the damsel collection four times. Out of coffee, so one more glance at everything and I shall have to go replenish the pot.

    Gini and I hope you and Lindsay and family are enjoying your stay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm getting increasingly worried, Wally, that one day you are going to present me with a bill for the coffee that you claim to be consuming whilst reading my blog posts!

      We all four agreed that we would love to be able to live in the New Forest. However, property prices seem to be three times more expensive than equivalent properties in the area that we currently live in - maybe we could get used to living in a garden shed?

      I hope that all is well with you both, and the temperatures are starting to come down to more comfortable levels - here it has suddenly turned from 10°c above average to about 5°c below average, and warm clothing has been broken out of the closet!

      Stay safe. My very best wishes to you both - - - Richard

      Delete
  9. Hello Richard
    the excursion looks great in part 1, let's see if the next part can top these magnificent photos, I enjoyed the pictures
    Greetings Frank

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Frank!

      Thank you for your words of encouragement. I hope that Pt.2 will live up to your expectations. It will probably be ready to publish in a couple of days.

      Best wishes from UK - stay safe - - - Richard

      Delete
  10. Inmejorable viaje, rodeado de naturaleza y familia. Me ha gustado mucho el reportaje, enhorabuena Richard. Un fuerte abrazo desde el norte de España.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Realmente fue un gran viaje, Germán. Estoy encantado de que haya disfrutado del informe. Espero que te guste la Pt.2, ¡debería estar lista en las próximas 24 horas!
      Mis mejores deseos de una Inglaterra fresca y nublada. Ten cuidado - - - Richard

      Delete

Please Note: Blogger seems to be making it difficult for some (many?) people to leave comments on blogs, and also making it difficult for the recipient of comments to detect that a comment has been left. If you have any difficulties leaving a comment on the blog, please feel free to email me on richard@peglermail.co.uk. However, if you are solely trying to promote your own blog or business by leaving a link in your comment, it will be blocked. If anyone wants to find you as a result of a comment that you have left, they can do so by looking at your profile.

Please, Blogger, get this mess sorted out.