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