New Forest, 2023:- Pt.2 - 9th July

In contrast to my last, rather long, blog post (which you can find here if you missed it;- https://peglerbirding.blogspot.com/2023/07/new-forest-2023-pt1-7th-8th-july.html), this one is very much shorter and covers just one day of our holiday. I did consider adding in a further day, but this would have have made this post even longer than the previous one. This short one will, therefore, give you time to take breath before the next onslaught! 

Sunday, 9th July          Eyeworth Pond : Cadnam Common

With the alarm not set, Lindsay and I awoke rather late in the morning and were not up and about until just before nine!

So far, during this holiday, I'd only been out alone, and the girls had been out together. As our granddaughter, Georgie, is semi-nocturnal, making plans for us all is rather difficult as she is rarely available before mid-day. This day, I suggested to Lindsay that we both went out for a scenic drive in the morning, and this we did, returning to base at 12.15. 

We were soon turned round with all four of us, in two cars, heading to Keyworth Pond to feed the ducks. Melanie and Georgie had an en-route diversion and, while Lindsay and I waited for them to arrive, I went to the dam area to direct them to where we were parked, and photographed a Red-eyed Damselfly while I waited.

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) (male) - Eyeworth Pond

I had brought some bird seed with us, and the ducks eagerly snaffled this up. Sadly, the Mandarins that I'd seen here in previous years were not in evidence. I'd put some seed on a gate and gate post, and this was soon found.

 

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (female + male) - Eyeworth Pond

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (female) - Eyeworth Pond

The girls didn't stay very long, and Lindsay switched car from ours to our daughter's while I  went off dragon hunting round the pond. I had little success, missing a shot of a Kingfisher that flashed by, but did take a few other photos before departing for Cadnam Common.

 

There were two areas where water lilies were growing - one group were white and the other a deep pink. My lens wouldn't allow me to take photos of those groups, so here are a couple of individual flowers. The insects seemed to like the white ones.

 

Pink Water Lily - Eyeworth Pond

White Water Lily - Eyeworth Pond

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) - Eyeworth Pond

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) (male) - Eyeworth Pond

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male) - Eyeworth Pond

The visit to Cadnam Common was a little more successful, with some photo opportunities with an ovipositing Emperor dragonfly, and a charming interlude with a pony and its foal. The Four-spotted Chasers were aggressive with the Emperor and with their own species, and not at all photographically obliging.

 

On arrival, a male Emperor was flying around, looking as if it wanted to settle. I was surprised when it did settle - low down, behind some reeds. It was not the most photogenic of locations.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Cadnam Common

This Four-spotted Chaser, a rather worn specimen, was even less obliging.

 

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (male) - Cadnam Common

It seems that I only manage to photograph female Emperors when they are ovipositing or, occasionally, mating. Such was the case on this day. This female was exceptionally blue on its abdomen - they usually range from lime-green  to 'bluish'.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (female, ovipositing) - Cadnam Common

Here's a video clip of the action.

It was while I was photographing the ovipositing Emperor that the pony showed up with its foal, walking right by me (almost close enough to touch) and stopping at the water's edge. The female adult stopped to drink, but the foal didn't seem that keen on water.

New Forest Pony (mare + foal) - Cadnam Common

And a video clip of that event too.

After a while, the ponies wandered off, but soon stopped so that the foal could have the drink it really wanted.

New Forest Pony (mare + foal) - Cadnam Common

Having had its thirst quenched, there then followed the most enchanting episode of the visit here. The foal ran off and hid behind a bush, maybe a hundred metres away. It then jumped out as the mare approached its position. It was obviously a game that it enjoyed, as it promptly did the same thing again!

While this was going on, the male Emperor was back in action, and then settled once more in an equally unphotogenic position.

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Cadnam Common

It was now time to head back to base. However, the Forest Glade Ice Cream shop in Lyndhurst makes it's own ice cream which is some of the best that I have ever tasted. The girls had been having daily visits there, and I had been missing out on this. This day I sorted it out and had a delicious salted caramel ice cream on my way back.

After a latish evening meal, I  relaxed and wrote up my notes while the girls went out to try and find 'wild' donkeys with young.

It hadn't been the most productive of days but was, nevertheless, highly enjoyable.

 

 

As mentioned above, my next blog post, which will probably just cover the following day, is likely to be a rather long one.

 

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and Nature.

 

Thank you for dropping by - - - Richard