Manor Farm Country Park

Wednesday 30th January 2013

Today's exercise was to be taken geocaching at Manor Farm Country Park near Botley - www.hants.gov.uk/manorfarm   As we have recently had even more rain, the footpaths were even more muddy/sloppy/slippy (if that is possible) than I can remember.  I am thinking of auditioning for the next series of Dancing on Ice, as I am now sliding and gliding beautifully on the soft sinking mud- I just need to perfect a spin - no doubt that will come! 

One of the first stops was along the Hamble River.

We then walked along some 'footpaths', please supply your own captions! - These footpaths have widened somewhat.

Even the sheep were walking along squelching mud and water up their legs with each step but it didn't seem to bother them.

We walked 3.5 miles, found 7 caches and saw;

• Buzzard
• Jay
• Grey Squirrels
• Robins (thousands!) - Dogs (thousands)
• Magpies
• Crows
• Wood pigeons
• Blackbirds
• Sheep



Riverside Park - Bitterne Park

Tuesday 29th January 2013

In less than perfect weather we had a quick blast of fresh air and wind at Riverside Park in Southampton.  It was drizzling with rain and there was a coldish wind blowing off of the river Itchen.  Despite this there were a few birds about, swans, black headed gulls, moorhens, coots and mallards. 

Caching - Burley

Monday 28th January 2013

We went geo-caching at Burley in the New Forest this morning.  As usual the forest was waterlogged and muddy but it didn't stop us caching - in fact we found cache number 700 today.  It was a bit nippy walking across the heath and it tried to rain on and off but otherwise it was a good 3 mile walk.  There wasn't anything much to report on the nature notes and observations today apart from more mud and water.

Hawk Conservancy

Sunday 27th January 2013

This afternoon we had a good afternoon at the Hawk Conservancy at Weyhill in Hampshire - www.hawkconservancy.org .  I was surprised that there were a fair few visitors considering we are still in the depths of winter.  We mainly went to see the fantastic birds of prey flying demonstrations.  The seating was out in the open and there was a cold wind so it was a good job we were wrapped up well. The birds flown included, a snowy owl, black kites (about 8 at one time), a harris hawk, a sea eagle and a white headed vulture (with an absolutely massive wingspan). The birds flew over our heads and across a very large open meadow (which apparently in the summer is full of wild flowers).  The demonstration was superb and the lady from the Hawk Conservancy that was commentating gave us lots of facts and background info on the birds.  I can thoroughly recommend a visit. 

RSPB Garden Birdwatch

Saturday 26th January 2013

Today we took part in the RSPB Garden Birdwatch, with fairly good results for us.  This is what we will submit online.

Seen between 9.05 and 10.05am (the most seen at one time of each species).

• 2 Blackbirds
• 9 Wood Pigeons
• 9 Jackdaws
• 5 Starlings
• 1 Rook
• 4 Sparrows
• 1 Dunnock
• 4 Greenfinches
• 1 Great Tit
• 9 Goldfinches
• 3 Blue Tits
• 1 Blackcap
• 1 Pied Wagtail
• 1 Wren
• 1 Chaffinch

Red Legs

Friday 25th January 2013

There has been a pair of red-legged partridges around our housing estate for a few months now and today they came visiting.  They had a look and peck around our back garden and found a good source of kibbled sunflower seeds under the bird feeder.  In the excitement of seeing something so unusual I took a couple of photos - they aren't great but at least it's possible to see what they are.  It gave the wood pigeons something to look at!

Wellies - An Update!

Sunday 20th January 2013

Just an update on my new wellies (bought on January 1st) - they have come into their own in the snow over the last few days - I love them!

Snow

Saturday 19th January 2013

We took advantage of the snowy conditions again today to go walking across the local common.  We saw 6" long icicles, a large amount of long tailed tits (there's probably a name for that) and masses of beautiful white scenery.

Closer to home the strange behaviour of the birds in our garden continues .......... a robin chasing off a dunnock, a pied wagtail chasing off a chaffinch and a male blackbird chasing off everything!  Normally there is peace and harmony in our garden but the snow seems to have brought out an aggressive side to some.  Today's unusual bird for us was a wren mooching around the snow covered pots on the patio.

Birds and Snow

Friday 18th January 2013

We rarely get snow in our neck of the woods, but this morning as forecast we had more snow than we've had for a few years.  It snowed for more or less 6 hours and left us with about 3 inches of snow.  I cleared a space on the patio for the bird food but unusually the birds were very nervous about landing it was all very odd.  Instead of the food disappearing within quarter of an hour it lingered for most of the day but there were birds around on and off all day especially the small birds that don't normally get a look in thanks to jackdaws and wood pigeons.  

We went out for an evening walk this eveing and the snow was still settled on the trees, everywhere looked magical - it did help that everywhere was particularly quiet with very little traffic on the roads.

Ocknell - New Forest

Wednesday 16th January 2013

We had a walk today to Ocknell Pond through the  - funnily enough - deserted campsite and the woods.  It doesn't seem that long ago that the pond was all dried up, today however it was flooded and looked far too deep in places for even my epic wellies.  We walked back across Stoney Cross - the old wartime airfield and the wind was so cold I could have had all manner of dental work carried out without an anaesthetic my face was so numb.  We saw about 7deer grazing in a particularly boggy patch - good for a photo opportunity.  We saw several kestrels overhead and just as we were nearly back at the car we saw about 5 or 6 fallow deer very close up - stealth called and I got a few blurry photos.    

Lakeside Country Park

Friday 11th January

We went to Lakeside Country Park in Eastleigh this morning for a few quick caches and a breath of fresh air.  The sun was shining and there was a perfectly blue sky, something we haven't seen in a while.  Today's nature notes;

• Lesser spotted woodpecker
• Catkins (I'm surprised every year by how early these appear!)

Keyhaven & Pennington Marshes

Thursday 10th January 2013

Today we decided to go geocaching from Keyhaven near Milford on Sea.  There was a circuit of 11 caches and we managed them all in just over a 4 mile walk.  We were amazed by the amount of birds and wildlife we saw today, it was a great place and we will definitely have to return when it's a bit warmer!  As usual at the moment there was a glut of water and the birds were making the most of the new ponds and lakes. 

At the start of the walk we saw bush after bush full of lichen - it looked really odd.  After that we saw the following.

• Mute swans x 14 (at the harbour at Keyhaven)
• Mallards
• Common sandpiper
• Oyster catcher
• Curlew
• Herring gull
• Robin
• Blackbird
• Cormorant
• Black headed gulls
• Brent geese
• Wood pigeon
• Canada geese
• Wigeon
• Kestrel
• Magpie
• Shelduck
• Kingfisher
• Grey heron
• Turnstone
• Coot
• Redshank
• Crow
• Black backed gull
• Pintail
• Blue tit
• Great tit
• Little egret (may have been  a Spoonbill as it seemed too big to be an egret - but it was too far away to be sure) 
• Goats
• Roe deer x 3
• Grey squirrels

Phew, well worth the visit!

Caching

Sunday 6th January 2013

We went out for a quick mile and a half walk this morning in the light mist - which made a change from rain.  We drove to a local spot and went geocaching along a footpath that we haven't been along before.  It was as expected very muddy but now it's just a case of go through it and be done with!   We managed to find the three geocaches that we intended looking for so that was a bonus - one up a tree again!

There wasn't a great deal to report on our walk, but we did see a rather chunky grey squirrel run across the path and up a tree.

On our bird feeder (which contains kibbled sunflower seeds) we saw the male siskin and the female blackcap on and off during the day. 

It's All Water Over The Bridge

Tuesday 1st January 2013

A beautiful New Year's Day called for a breath of fresh air, a search for a geocache and a walk.  We went to Testwood Lakes near Totton which today was very aptly named as there was far more lake than usual. 

 I have a new weapon in the fight back against the recent mud and water - new Hunter wellies - so I am ready for water or mud up to my knees! 

I well and truly christened the wellies today as the footpath round the main lake was partly underwater and the river Blackwater was running over  a bridge. 

We couldn't reach the cache from the route we intended so we had to divert and cross more mud, water and sludge to try from the other side of the field only to find that the cache was located at the base of a tree and  the bases of all the trees were under water - no cache in sight, so not our day!

However whilst mud sliding, a buzzard was calling and circling overhead and between sliding I managed a quick photo but although there was a lovely blue sky the buzzard was just a pin prick in the distance!  I saw a Jay pecking around in the grass in the industrial estate nearby but today's nature notes are mainly to do with water, everywhere.

On the seed feeder this morning at home we had a pair of siskins, another winter visitor that we get in the garden every few years.  We also saw a male chaffinch feeding under the feeder - again a common little bird but not in our garden.