Two Rivers - Avril Lavigne

A casual remark over dinner at the East Close Hotel in the New Forest last Monday evening turned into something of a dream come true for me today. In the company of Janet's (mine host) brother Martin Wickham and his wife Lisa, who have recently taken possession of Home Farm at Hurn village here in Dorset, he simply stated he would like to know a little more about the birds that might be found on the property. Regular readers may remember my involvement with a 3 years dedicated Bird Survey at Parley Court Farm some years ago, but this was to be a far less detailed wander taking up all of the morning.

Starting in the stable yard, Lisa being a serious equestrian, the expected suspects including Barn Swallow, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Starling, Wood Pigeon, Wren etc were quickly logged

and how nice to see 'staddle stones' being used for the purpose intended. This isn't strictly true as this sturdy shed will eventually be converted into a play house for the grandchildren but they will keep the Rats and other vermin at bay.

Crossing Hay Meadow and

Horse Paddock, with the farm house in the background,

we arrived at the MOORS RIVER
which bisects the farm, With limited experience

I thought it was little more than a brook, only to find a fairly wide,
deep and clean watercourse.

MARSH MARIGOLD
Here too, Chiffchaff, Robin, Blue Tit, Siskin, Great Spotted and
Green Woodpeckers, Great Tit, Blackcap, Mallard, Pheasant, to

name but a few , were thought to be breeding along with

this young GREY WAGTAIL (one of 3 broods seen) being fed
by the parent birds. Over the style and onto

where Orange Tip and Peacock Butterflies were found

among Mighty Oaks, Whitethroat, Dunnock, Long-tailed Tit

SONG THRUSH

and an unexpected flight of c3 SHELDUCK. Had the place been more familiar to me it would have been known that they are commonplace on the gravel pits obscured by the hedge.

This ancient cart track, not a million miles from Bournemouth International Airport (BIA), produced what was to be the highlight of the day but not before producing Greenfinch, Mistle Thrush, House Martin, Rook, Stock Dove, Goldcrest, Sedge Warbler, Kestrel and Nuthatch.

On our way we had been checking the many holes and cavities in the Oak trees but didn't expect to see this one, complete with 'droppings', feathers and other 'food' debris, with a

BARN OWL

perched on the lip. Considering the time lag, this was thought to be a decent effort at a photograph, but if there is a return visit it will be 'fore-warned'.

Plenty more grassland and plenty of hay to come
if the weather is kind.

Martin pointed out this BEE'S NEST,
just crying out for a Honey Buzzard,

before finding this Blackbird's EGG, which looked predated
rather than hatched,

before wandering the final 'beat' of the river until later.

 It was time to cross the road onto more public property,
where we found this 'road-killed' male Blackcap, and entered

 TOWN COMMON and RAMSDOWN HILL
affording an all round view of the local countryside.
The 'white smudges' centre are BIA.

 An interesting 'flight pond' in the middle of the Heath which will
surely be visited again on subsequent visits here.

 Continuing around the rim, The Isle of Wight and
The Needles can be seen from here,

 while this 'white smudge is the Bournemouth
'Centre Point Shopping Complex'.
Here, we also added Coal Tit, Cuckoo and Buzzard to the list.

 Back onto Martin's land and we reached the

 RIVER STOUR

 Here too are lush meadows but badly effected by weeds which would make for 'poor' hay. These have been sympathetically sprayed to eradicate the unwanted plants while leaving wide margins of cover around the fields and all the SEDGES in tact.

 These 2 shots show the confluence of the
STOUR and the MOORS RIVERS

 Wind blown Oaks cross the Moors.

 The Paintball Range which is a little unsightly but far better
than neon signs and a hamburger parlour!

RHODODENDRONS
are starting to bloom

in the tranquil setting of the river valley.

A GREAT day for me personally being afforded a chance to discover another small corner of my favoured county and away from the public gaze. I should thank Martin and Lisa for this opportunity and look forward to accepting their 'open invitation' again in the near future.

The Highways and Byways of Dorset - Sir Frederick Treves

A little further afield today to try and add to the Year/Dorset Lists and a chance to rekindle memories of some of my favourite sites in in the south of the county. Grey and Red-legged Partridge were considered good contenders around the Winterbournes, a group of small farming communities prefixed with that name such as Zelston, Tomson, Muston and Kingston, but with no success after a hour it was time to move on. Heading towards the village of Bloxworth, known by every entomologist as lending its name to a tiny Moth known as the Bloxworth Snout,

looking over this lovely vista there was something of interest

among the trees.

I know if it were mine, this tiny Summer House 

would have seen a few parties by now.

Also on view and seemingly enjoying the farmers crop this

DEER Sp which I cannot identify, but know a man who can.

Over to you John!

 and then the first

YELLOWHAMMER

which thereafter seemed to be in every hedgerow.

At the next farm gateway the air was full of birdsong including

Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff,  Robin,

Blackbird, Song Thrush, Swallow, Skylark etc,

 along with more DEER believed to be ROE.

 There was also visible migration going on overhead, the pick

of the bunch being a brief

 HONEY BUZZARD

 a 'rare' breeding bird to our shores and as the name suggests

 rather fond of the product of the Hive.

 The subject and quality of these images are something I can only

dream of and 'borrowed' from Wiki for illustration.

 Returning to skyward, SISKINs were well represented but

after a period of time were seen to be flying from one coppice to 

another and not in fact migrants at all.

 Identified from their calls the passage birds included

TREE PIPIT

 YELLOW WAGTAIL and

 COMMON CROSSBILL

In addition there were also 'hundreds' of Racing Pigeons which

Looked and sounded fantastic.

Sticking with the flying theme, these also are not 'migrants'just another GLIDER being towed to altitude from the local club. There followed a cursory wander around Oakers Wood, where the now abandoned Lesser Spotted Woodpecker hole looked tantalising, Waddock and Tincleton Watercress Beds all to no avail. Starting slowly back to base, the area around Higher Hyde and Great Plantation is always worth a look but Turtle Dove was not in evidence. What was pleasing to see there was the

 continuing breeding

 of that delightful little bird the

 WOODLARK

 seen carrying food to young that could be heard but with no 

attempt to find them.

 On the down side the were no Turtle Dove, Hobby or Green Hairstreak Butterflies and no hirundines at all let alone the usual healthy colony of Sand Martin that have historically bred in this quarry.

 The final planned site was the Heath at Ovens Hill

 where this 'singing' male

 DARTFORD WARBLER

 was quickly and easily located. The guess is he hasn't found a 

'bit of nonesense' yet?

 

 There was also a very lucky, but all too brief, sighting of a tiny

Sand Lizard

 unfortunately this shot id also from Wiki.

 and a final peek into Longham Lake found this 

GREAT CRESTED GREBE

at fairly close quarters and irresistible.
Totals - Year = 115
Dorset = 93