Let It Be Me - The Everly Brothers

 With the temperature lingering at an unseasonable +5°C at 18:00 on Sunday, and shooting to +7°C by midnight on went a single trap. Surely a Moth was due to be caught somewhere across the county, under such favourable circumstances, and woke up singing the Everly’s classic as above and later it turned out with a single

WINTER MOTH

we await to see if we were alone in this? We had driven across a frost bitten New Forest the day before but with the pond at

no more than a

Skating Rink
we high-tailed it homeward.
However, given the circumstances of the previous night and a more

favourable looking sky the following day it seemed well worth another go.

NEW FOREST PONIES

ROYAL OAK

and a little more open water on the pond and few people so pole position at the feeding station.

First up came

NUTHATCH

closely followed by

MARSH TIT
but overall there were very few small birds.

A few more

NEW FOREST PONIES

before the only c2

MANDARIN DUCKs (male)

were coaxed out of cover on the far bank
(pair)

with a few slices of Mr Warburton's finest.
(female)

and on the way back roadside
CATTLE

along the beautiful avenue of trees.
The 'reserve' at Blashford Lakes remaines in full Lock Down so again resorting to peeking throught the hedgerow to spy on

GOOSANDER (female)

pair and

(male)
while a little close to our station a male

WIGEON

along with a female.
Kingfisher Lake at the end of Hurst Road at Ringwood has been for many years the
Winter Dwelling Place of a male

FERRUGINOUS DUCK 

a bird of Mainland Europe and Africa which was always difficult to see but even more so since the owners rigged a canvas screen around the perimetre fence. While we would guard the right of such people to errect such a thing it does seem a little churrlish to do so, but darn right illegal for those  likely porporting to be Bird Watches to cut great holes in them!
The only images we have ever secured of such a bird come from our 2006 Morocco trip so will have to surfice (males).

Apologies for the late arrival the Master at Arms has me booked to appear before the Captain at 10:30!