MATLEY WOOD – BEAULIEU ROAD STATION AND SHATTERFORD HEATH – HATCHET POND – BEAULIEU HEATH – PIG BUSH ENCLOSURE
WEATHER; overcast for most of the day, sunshine late afternoon, windy all day.
We had a reasonable turn out for first early morning excursion, 4 of the seven came with me to Matley Bog enclosure, mainly the woodland. As with my previous visit a few days ago we heard a lot more birds that we actually saw! Song Thrushes and Blackbirds dominated the dawn chorus with Blackcaps, Willow Warbler, Wren, Robin, Dunnock and Common Redstart also part of this natural choir.
We walked to the tree where a Treecreeper’s nest was found with the other group, we watched them feeding the chicks for a while and we ‘scoped a nearby Stock Dove.
Eurasian Treecreeper
Searching for a Firecrest produced a Goldcrest, also Blue and Great Tits and lots of Common species. From the edge of the wood we scanned the bog and heathland and found Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, Wood Pigeons and Song Thrushes. A male Common Redstart was very showey and back in the woods we found a second male singing from the top of a dead tree.
female Blackcap
Our walk back produced great views of a Marsh Tit, we watched it collecting food and we saw Coal Tits and another Goldcrest, the Willow Warbler back at the car park refused to show.
After breakfast we made our way to Beaulieu Station and parked in the large car park there. The pines covering the car are usually good for Crossbill and Siskin, but we saw neither.
The walk to the footbridge over the railway line was nice, the sun came out for a while, however, it was still windy. We saw a Spotted Flycatcher feeding along the lea-side of a hedge and not much else.
The pines at Shatterford Car park were also devoid of birds except for Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Robins and Wrens. Our along the well-trodden path towards Denny Woods found us watching Meadow Pipits, Stonechats, Mistle thrushes and a distant Common Buzzard. We crossed the railway line on another footbridge and birded for a little while on the other side of the tracks. We found nothing new except for a Slow Worm which was crossing the path.
The Slow Worm is not a snake but a legless Lizard
The return walk produced much of the same except for in the Shatterford Pines we found a few Crossbills, we had good views of them coming down to drink and feeding on the pine seeds.
the only shot of a Crossbill I could get, the most important part of the bird is out of view
Next we drove to Beaulieu to use the facilities in the car before driving to Hatch Ponds to eat our lunch. It was very cold sitting on the benches overlooking the water, the chilly wind was relentless.
The Beaulieu heathland came next, but it was windy there too. We found several new species but dipped on the Dartford Warbler which was our main target species, I can’t them for not coming out to play in this weather. We saw Linnets, Common Whitethroat, a male Bullfinch, Goldfinches, Meadow Pipits, and a Red Kite came over.
my group looking foe a Firecrest
After stopping for a coffee and cake in the Beaulieu Garden Centre we entered the ancient woodland at Pig Bush Enclosure. We found our first Firecrest there and round the perimeter of the wood we saw a few other species. On the heath we had brief glimpses of Dartford Warbler and not much else.
We were back at the hotel at 5:30pm in good time for dinner at 7pm.