North Stoneham Park & First Swallows in Hampshire

Tuesday 30th April 2013

This week we have noticed that spring is really getting going - buds are bursting and the bushes and trees have quite a green tint about them.

In the glorious sunshine we had a walk this afternoon at North Stoneham Park in Eastleigh.  http://www.northstoneham.org.uk/park/  We saw plenty on what was a fairly short walk, we saw cows and calves, a buzzard being pestered by a rook, geese flying overhead, ducks and about 50 - 60 starlings flying around the cattle field. 

We also saw our first swallows of 2013 in Hampshire - summer must be coming at last!

No walk is complete without finding a geocache and today's was amongst the bluebells - just beginning to bloom.

Back near the car park is Stoneham War Shrine which was erected in 1918 to commemorate those who served and died in the Great War of 1914 - 1918.  It was restored in 2011 to honour all those who placed their lives in danger through service to their country.  The Shrine is open regularly.  All visitors are welcome.

 Around the park there are many lime trees? with mistletoe growing in them.  

Back at the car, the car park overlooks a playing field where there seemed to be some sort of meeting of dogs and owners, maybe it was dog agility training or something but most of the dogs seemed to be border collies and they all seemed to be having a great bouncing time!

Calshot

Monday 29th April 2013

Calshot Beach

Today we had a walk along  Calshot beach which overlooks the Isle of Wight at the end of Southampton Water.  There were lots of black headed gulls about as well as oyster catchers, turnstones herring gulls, crows and lots of rock pipits (we think!)  It was very quiet at Calshot today (people wise) but there were plenty of small boats, yachts and ferries around (travelling between Southampton and Cowes).

Catfish (unfortunately dead!)

In the sea we saw this fish, some sort of catfish? unfortunately it was dead but quite impressive at about two foot long.

Calshot Castle

We wandered along the beach to the lifeboat station and castle at the end of Calshot Spit.  http://www3.hants.gov.uk/calshot-castle.htm    As it was a clear day we could easily see the Isle of Wight, the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth and  the forts out in the solent  http://www.clarenco.com/solent-forts/

Cowslips

Sunday 28th April 2013

This evening we popped out to look for a cache near Winchester.  Along a footpath very close to several main roads we came across lots of cowslips, masses in fact.

Cowslips

On the downside there were lots of midges out this evening, so we located a very cleverly hidden cache and returned to the car. 

Canadian War Memorial and First Cuckoo

Saturday 27th April 2013

Spring may have sprung the other day but it's sunk without a trace again, it's back to cold winds and hail showers.  Today we parked at the Canadian War Memorial in the New Forest,  this memorial commemorates World War II Canadian forces present in the New Forest before the D Day invasion of June 6th 1944.

Shortly after leaving the car we heard our first cuckoo of the year, there was no sign of it but it was very loud and clear - watch out little birds!

We were out looking for a puzzle geocache that had us scratching our heads for a fair while this morning but having made an origami water bomb and solving the puzzle we were able to locate the cache easily! 

The cache was hidden in thisholly tree and the deer had obviously been there before us as the marks on the tree prove.

First Baby Blackbirds of the Year

Tuesday 23rd April 2013

This morning brought the first two baby blackbirds of the year into our garden and they were being fed by very attentive parents.  I went into the garden armed with the usual array of bird food early this morning without realising they were still in the garden so there was much scrabbling and flapping as they tried to get over the fence away from me!  They must have got away because I didn't see them again all day.  Spring has finally sprung today, I'm not sure if it will be a one off but it was very hot in the sun and very pleasant while it lasted.

Stoney Cross - Early Evening

Saturday 20th April 2013

It's back home to the usual routines again now but this evening we walked a couple of miles at Stoney Cross in the New Forest to find a geocache.  On the way to the cache we skirted round the edge of a large herd of fallow deer, there must have been about 20 but as we only had my camera (which doesn't zoom in very far) the pictures are not great.  They got a bit spooked when we were still some distance away so we couldn't get very close.

Deer at a distance!



By around 8pm the forest had that dusky earthy smell, reminiscent of evenings at Guide camps years ago.  There were also rabbits out and about scurrying here and there.  We found the cache we were looking for easily and learnt a bit more about the Stoney Cross airfield during the war from the cache details, it was all very interesting.

Long leggy shadows

Back at the car whilst taking off our walking boots, some friendly New Forest ponies obviously thought that opening the boot of the car meant food or picnics - sadly not the case - and one brazenly stuck his head in for a good look round.

Having a good nose round!

Constantine Bay to Trevose Head

Thursday 18th April 2013

Constantine Bay

Booby's Bay just after a shower of rain.

We walked the South West Coast path from Constantine Bay to Trevose Head and back then on to Treyarnon Bay and back, a walk of about 5.75 miles.  We saw plenty of birds and some I haven't mentioned this week include, a sparrowhawk, stonechats, a meadow pipit and skylarks.

Trevose Head Lighthouse

Just after the lighthouse at Trevose Head we saw about 6 - 8 gannets flying low across the sea, quite a sight.

After lunch we passed through Mother Iveys Bay where we saw another seal playing in the sea, it's just like buses you don't see one for ages and 3 come along at once!

Lastly I could mention the weather, it has been a lovely sunny day for most of the day apart from a short sharp shower at Booby's Bay  - where a lady walked by in a swimsuit, shorts and barefeet - I had coat and gloves on but hey ho each to their own!! - but the wind is still very strong and cold - very cold!

The wind was especially cold this evening in Padstow, 9pm.

Watergate Bay

Wednesday 17th April 2013

Today we visited Trerice  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/trerice/   a National Trust property near Newquay, it was a smaller than usual property but I really liked it, I could live there quite easily.

After lunch we drove along the coast to Watergate Bay, a place I have known for years, but things are moving on there, with Jamie Oliver having a Fifteen restaurant there and some brand new self catering apartments being built into the cliff.  These are supposedly in keeping with the local area???  Anyway, it was brisk on the beach again today, I was still in need of coat and gloves and goggles would have been useful too as the sand was being blown across the beach at speed  (not good for a contact lens wearer!). 

Watergate Bay

Swallows are in abundance  here in the South West, in fact we had a nice chat with a lady out walking the other day who commented that she had seen her first swallow of the year, well we must have seen hundreds now.  The other thing that there is plenty of at the moment is gorse and it's distinct smell of coconut.

We went to Padstow in the evening, geocaching and came across a field of sheep eating goodness knows what, the remains of some crop or other but they seemed keen on it whatever it was.

Bedruthan Steps

Tuesday 16th April 2013

Bedruthan Steps

Walkers here in Cornwall this week have been a very happy sociable bunch. We walked along the coast path and did a circular route from Bedruthan Steps and then on to Mawgan Porth and back, the total mileage walked today was 6.75 miles, pretty good for us.  The sun came out and it stayed dry all day, but the wind was still whipping off the sea so the waves are still epic.
Anyway back to the sociable walkers, we chatted to a very pleasant man who was on day 5 of his 3 month(!!!!!) walk from Lands End to John O Groats and who had bad blisters on his feet from his new walking boots (I did feel quite sorry for him but he seemed happy enough).  We then got talking to a local man about all sorts for about 10 -15 minutes, very interesting, it's nice to speak to people who know the area well.  Various other walkers didn't just say hello they spoke briefly too.

Today we saw another seal surfing in the sea whilst we ate our lunch and lunch was watched over by a herring gull - it was worth the wait he got a sausage roll in the end. 

We saw the same selection of seabirds that we have seen over the last few days as well as a peregrine falcon soaring above us, wheatears, reed buntings and yellow hammers - something else I haven't seen for years. 

We have seen a few large bumble-bees lately, this one is a red-tailed bumble-bee.

We also came across a slow-worm basking in the sunshine and a young sand lizard doing the same.

The afternoon finished off in a very nice National Trust tearoom where I had chocolate torte and clotted cream and a large hot chocolate - you can never have too much choccie when you've walked a llong way.

South West Coast Path and a Seal

Monday 15th April 2013

This morning we parked at Lellizzick and did a circular walk of about 4.5 miles along the South West Coast Path.  We joined the coast at Harbour Cove and walked past the Doom Bar to Hawkers Cove and on to Stepper Quarry and Stepper Point Daymark. 

Harbour Cove

Stepper Point Daymark

The 40ft Stepper Point daymark was originally designed to hold a fire beacon and was built as a navigational aid.

The weather was mainly overcast with the odd small shower of rain and the wind was still very strong and cold.  The sea was very choppy with massive waves and the sound of the waves hitting the cliffs below sounded like thunder.  We walked on past Pepper Hole and Butter Hole.

Enormous waves crashed onto the cliffs.

Shortly after taking this photo we stopped for some lunch and noticed something amazing, a seal playing in the sea just out from where these waves were breaking.  We sat watching this seal for about 20 minutes, there only appeared to be the one and I was really pleased to have seen it as I haven't seen one for years.

During this walk we saw lots of birdlife and one particular bird obviously loved us as it used us for target practice, well they do say it's lucky to be pooed on by a bird but how lucky were we when the bird managed to target us both with one poo!  Note to self - must do the lottery this week!

We saw a pair of kestrels close up flying onto the cliff, presumably where they had a nest, fulmars, black backed gulls, skylarks, buzzards and numerous different types of little brown birds that we didn't get the chance to identify (some little brown birds just all manage to look the same).

On the circuit today we successfully found 7 caches, and had to miss out a few as they seemed to involve rock scrambling down the cliffs to look for them, not in that wind and certainly not with that drop down to the sea!

Back at our holiday cottage we planned out next wander, to look for 2 caches not far from 'home'.  It was a pleasant walk along the estuary to start with, then up onto a hill where there seemed to be a tractor fest.  How many tractors and big machines does it take to plough a field, 7 it would seem, all very busy.  Back through the wood there were many primroses and it looks like there will be great drifts of bluebells soon, it's just a shame we won't be here to see them.

Harlyn Bay and Gannets

Sunday 14th April 2013

Today we parked at Harlyn Bay and walked 5.5 miles along the South West Coast Path.  It stopped raining as we drove to the beach and luckily we didn't encounter any more, however the wind was very strong and very fresh, so coats, scarves and gloves still required.  (I understand it has been 22 degrees in Norfolk today, the hottest day of the year so far), not so in Cornwall!

Notable things seen today include lots of swallows, a couple of cormorants, a kestrel, skylarks, grey wagtails, wrens, a corn bunting and a pair of fulmars nesting on the cliffs.

Todays highlight was seeing about five gannets diving into the sea just off of the beach.  I have never seen gannets before so it was a pretty amazing sight, apparently they are the largest sea bird in Britain with a wingspan of between 165 and 180cm.

On the beach the red and yellow flags were flying so it was safe to swim - but maybe not eh?

 The rocks were absolutely covered in masses of mussels.

A few of the fields have recently been ploughed and planted and they had a very slight green haze about them so some crops are on the move.

The wind as I have said was very strong so as a consequence the waves were of epic proportions and our photos didn't really do the waves justice.  By mid afternoon word must have got out to the local surfers of the conditions and the beach was full of action.

Finally there was a field of sheep alongside the car park, well, who can resist a photo of my favourites?

Padstow & Swallows!

Saturday 13th April 2013

What a miserable wet day, but never mind on with seeing the sights, caching and walking.  We had a good look round Padstow this morning and I don't think I have ever seen such enormous fishing boats or are they trawlers?  These need to be seen to be believed.

Padstow Harbour

There is a webcam at Padstow   http://www.padstow-harbour.co.uk/phc_webcam.html  looking over one of the harbour car parks and running around the car park were a few turnstones, definitely used to people and not afraid to run within a few feet of us. 

Exploring the back streets of Padstow whilst caching we came across St Petrocs church, where there were masses of primroses amongst the slate headstones. 

Many of the headstones in the churchyard are made of slate and even the very old ones dating back as far as 1795 were still in great condition and very easy to read unlike old headstones made of other stone elsewhere.

We then walked back through Padstow where a cormorant was taking a break on a large buoy in the harbour and walked a little way along the Camel Trail towards Wadebridge.  Across the sand we saw more turnstones turning stones over funnily enough! and an egret, oystercatcher and at last after a few weeks of waiting we saw SWALLOWS!  I was very happy to see them, summer is on the way! (she said under an umberella being blown about). 

Off to Cornwall

Friday 12th April 2013

Today we set off for a break in Cornwall for a change of scenery.  We had a good drive to our cottage which is on a small estuary about 3 miles from Padstow.  The highlight of todays journey was on the busy A35 near Dorchester.  On an embankment on the side of the road very close to the road itself were two red deer, a male and a female happily munching on a patch of lush green grass!  I was stunned, there were trees behind for them to rush into if they needed to but even so, how unusual.  A bit later on the local travel news cut in on the radio and one of the reports was of 5 deer 'on the loose' on the A35 where we had seen them.  

At our holiday home we have cows, calves and sheep on the other side of the estuary, as well as the usual selection of water birds.  A couple of swans floated by on the estuary and one hissed at me, hardly friendly I thought, what did I do to deserve that other than take a photo of them?

Little Petherick Creek (off the Camel Estuary) at high tide.

Eyeworth Pond, Fritham

Tuesday 9th April 2013

This afternoon, in the rain, we went to find a new geocache at Fritham in the New Forest.

An indian runner duck.

 

Eyeworth Pond is usually busy with lots of different ducks but I think they have been a bit overfed of late (as it is still the Easter school holidays) as there was bread floating around untouched and most of the ducks seemed to be the other side of the lake.  We did see a pair of mandarin ducks though and he did look very splendid.

We successfully found the cache we were looking for and close to it was this tree with some brilliant fungi on it.

A bit further on we spotted a nuthatch on the side of a tree.  In the car park at Eyeworth there are loads of small birds, they seem to be regularly fed by visitors -  there were large numbers of blue tits everywhere as well as great tits, robins, coal tits, a collared dove, blackbirds, chaffinches and sparrows.  It's well worth going armed with bird seed or suet balls, you make lots of friends!

Swanage

Monday 8th April 2013

On the way to visit family in Swanage we stopped off at Holmebridge on the River Frome near Wareham http://www.farsondigitalwatercams.com/live-webcams/south/Frome/Holmebridge/
where we had a short walk to find a geocache.  It is a very pleasant spot and one we often stop off at. 

Whilst there we saw a Buzzard being 'dive bombed' by crows or rooks, it soon got fed up with that and took to the skies. 

On the muddy banks there were some intriguing little footprints, I had a book with me to look them up but it didn't really help, to me they all look pretty similar, we thought perhaps they were water vole prints?

We spent a lazy afternoon chatting and not doing much so in the early evening after we said goodbye to the family we headed a mile down the road to the beach at Swanage.  The sun was trying to make an appearance but the wind was still icy and people were wandering around well rugged up in scarves, gloves and hats - good old British weather!

Looks inviting, feels freezing!

Nest Building

Saturday 6th April 2013

In spite of the weather, the garden birds have been nest building, some a while ago, others have been busy in the past day or two.  Today a male blackbird, that is often in our garden, for the first time this year lined up bits of fruit suet in his beak and flew off with it meaning that he is feeding babies.  The sparrows have been taking away moss and fluffy bits of feather from the garden and a jackdaw was fighting with quite a large bit of branch a couple of days ago that it did in the end take off with amazingly. 

Spring in Romsey?

Friday 5th April 2013

It seemed even colder than ever today, the wind seemed stonger and felt really icy.  Never mind we thought let's have a walk around Romsey again, hmmmm much too cold for that it turned out, especially if you're not dressed for the weather (not me, the lovely daughter who didn't realise it was cold out apparently despite the fact it's been arctic conditions for about 2 or 3 weeks!)  

We made it to Mill Lane in Romsey where we stopped briefly on a bridge over the River Test - a different bit to the bit we went to on Tuesday.

Then we walked back past Romsey Abbey and went home to warm  up!  Will Spring ever spring this year?