Hobby...

Sunday 25th May 2008

We spent a few hours in the New Forest yesterday, at Boldrewood and Shatterford. Had a really enjoyable time, there were lots of little foals everywhere. We saw two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and a baby Green Woodpecker on the walk near Boldrewood. Only managed to find one bird for the list - a Hobby at Shatterford.


I liked this foal with the white spot.....

I wonder if I'll see any different birds when I'm in Northern Ireland in a couple of weeks time. A Chough and a Tree Sparrow would be nice......

142. hobby

Nightjars

Saturday 16th June 2007

It was a warm dry evening so armed with a torch and some insect repellent we headed to the New Forest in search of Nightjars.



The sun was going down as we arrived at the Shatterford car park and I did wonder if my love of birds was now something of an obsession! What on earth was I doing walking across the heath in the dark?



And then at 22.15 the heath came alive with the magical sound of churring Nightjars...........wonderful, absolutely wonderful!



I only wish we had seen one of them, but it became pitch black so we headed back to the car.

Still, it was worth going there just to hear that wonderful churring, I would definitely like to hear that again!

Dartford Warblers

Sunday 20th May 2007


Dartford Warbler

I wasn't in a very good mood this morning as I needed a new power adaptor for charging the battery on my laptop, which meant a trip to the Apple store at West Quay shopping centre Southampton instead of going birding :-(

The Apple store is very trendy and the staff were lovely but the adaptor cost £55 and the laptop is less than two years old, so I am not a happy bunny!!

I had noticed sparks coming from the old adaptor, it really was very dangerous and reading the online Apple forum there are lots and lots of people who have had the same problem and some people have had less time out of their old adaptor than me. I'm sure there is a case for Watchdog or some other consumer programme, I mean £55 for something that I will no doubt have to replace again within the next two years!!!

Of course those who know me well, know that the last place I ever want to be is in a shopping centre, especially at the weekend.

So a few deep breaths and ten minutes later we were back in Shatterford in the New Forest a much nicer place to be :-)


Shatterford

We saw lots of birds of course but the highlight today was a pair of Dartford Warblers, one of my favourite birds.



We watched them for half an hour or so and every now and then they stayed still long enough for a photo!

Woodlarks, Hobbys and a Sedge Warbler

Saturday 19th May 2007

The weather was fine but a bit windy and we decided to head for Shatterford in the New Forest, arriving there at 9am.

Shatterford is definitely one of my favourite local places as it never lets you down on the bird front.



A walk across to Denny Wood was the plan but there was so much bird activity going on in and around the Shatterford car park that we stayed there for nearly an hour.

Swallows were flying all around us and we just couldn't walk away from their display. Goldfinches, greenfinches, stonechats, chaffinches, a wren, pied wagtails meadow pipits all singing or dancing away. I could have watched and listened to them all morning.

We finally managed to drag ourselves away and started the walk across to Denny Wood and within two minutes we came across a beautiful pair of Woodlarks one of our target birds for the day.



Woodlarks



Five minutes later and another target bird appeared, a Hobby! We watched as it followed the swallows over the heath and then Ian noticed another one, what a fantastic morning and another reminder of why I love Shatterford so much.

Denny Wood was alive with the woodland birds but very busy with campers. We noticed one of the caravaners had brought a bird feeder with them and had planted it in the ground next to their caravan and lots of birds were feeding there, what a lovely idea.

Then later on we called at Testwood Lakes but I hadn't realised the time and the hides shut at 4pm. All was not lost as we had a brief glimpse of a sedge warbler.

112. woodlark
113. hobby
114. sedge warbler