Bombed by Lapwings - Stoney Cross

Wednesday 29th May 2013

We were back at Stoney Cross again this afternoon for a circular walk of just over three miles, as three new geocaches have been set there. There was plenty of wildlife around, including three large groups of deer, shetland ponies as well as lots of New Forest ponies, lapwings and a PEACOCK!  Now about this peacock - for years we have been visting the same spot on Stoney Cross and usually we hear peacocks but we have never tried to find them.  Today one of the geocaches was very close to their shreiking so we followed the noise and sure enough there was a peacock strolling across the forest close to a campsite.  We only got a brief glimpse of it before it flew up onto a high wall and disappeared into the garden of a house.  I wish I had had enough time to get a photo, but I think I will try again the next time we are out this way. 

We successfully found the geocaches that we were hoping to find and on the way to the last one we had to cross a small stream where lapwings were obviously nesting.  We must have been walking too close to their nest as one of the lapwings was dive bombing us and calling out to try and move us on quickly.  We met another couple out walking and apparently the bird had done the same thing to them and their dog!  We saw lots of deer in various groups but they were very nervous and there was no chance of getting very close to them.

Another birds egg shell, I'm always surprised by how bright the blue colour is.

Evidence of old buildings from when Stoney Cross was an airfield during the war.

A small stream that flows into the river Highland Water.

Between Droxford and Swanmore

Bank Holiday Monday 27th May 2013

Unusually for a Bank Holiday Monday the weather today was fine warm and sunny.  We chose to do a 4 mile circular walk in another area that is new to us between Droxford and Swanmore.  It was a walk that took us up on hills overlooking fine views and onto pasture land.  We saw swallows, swifts, buzzards, a great tit and a nuthatch as well as all of the normal little birds.  We came across one wooded area where the ground was absolutely covered in an extensive carpet of ramsons, and the smell of garlic was quite strong.  We also passed a large badger sett with many holes over a wide area. 

Fantastic - blue sky!

Ramsons, look lovely but actually smell awful.

No sign of badgers - unsurprisingly!

Overlooking a track of some sort for motorbikes?

Back at the car the hedgerow flowers are looking good.

It's now early evening and the sun and blue sky disappeared some time ago but at least we had a good day - incidentally I have just seen the weather forecast for tomorrow and it looks like it's going to rain all day so I'm glad we made the most of the weekend.

River Hamble

Sunday 26th May 2013

We walked this morning from Burridge near Botley on a circular 3 mile route, taking in two geocaches on route.  The sky was blue and the sun shone, quite an event! 

A leafy footpath.

Cow parsley - lots of it alongside the above leafy footpath!

The River Hamble.

The Fairy Tree

Not far from the edge of the River Hamble we came across this 'Fairy Tree' - apparently it's where children have brought gifts for the fairies for years - I'm not really sure about it myself, there was something a bit creepy about it!  There is even a lttle wooden house to leave messages for the fairies - needless to say I didn't - maybe next time!

Ramsons flowers - I think.

We saw and heard lots of wildlife today on a very pleasant walk in an area that is new to us. The only down side to the walk was that it got a bit hairy walking along a busy road with no footpath but we survived.  We saw a buzzard, long-tailed tits, a greater spotted woodpecker [and heard it's babies in a hole in a tree] quite a few badger holes and swathes of almost over bluebells.  We also saw lots of ramblers, a couple of canoeists, a fisherman and his reluctant partner who was carrying all the gear and wasn't impressed that it was all just for a couple of hours fishing!



Squirrel on the Seeds

Thursday 23rd May 2013

Look who was hanging upside down in the forsythia tucking into the sunflower seeds in one of our feeders yesterday morning.

Not a very clear photo because it was taken through the dining room window!

He or she stayed for a few minutes then had a look round the garden and disappeared off in to the trees.  This morning he or she came back again (it's on to a good thing I reckon) and stayed upside down feeding for about 10 minutes.  I know I have said it a fair bit lately but this is another visitor we don't see very often, maybe once a year if that.  Although we live on a housing estate, there are large oak trees dotted around and woodland is not far away as the crow flies, so I wonder how far this squirrel has come from his/her home?

Red Horse-Chestnut & Funky Duck

Tuesday 21st May 2013

On yet another walk around Romsey this evening we came across this tree in the park.

A Red Horse-Chestnut tree - very pink and very pretty.

Over the last week I have noticed lots of wisteria blooming, I haven't liked to take photos of other people's houses but I felt brave this evening and took this sneaky one.  I have no idea whether the flowers smell or not but they look as if they should.

 I've always liked wisteria.

Back in the park we came across a strange but very handsome looking mallard duck.  He had a very funky pattern on his chest  - not quite sure what he's crossed with, if in fact he's crossed at all?

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Monday 20th May 2013

This is just a quick note to say that I saw a very infrequent visitor to our seed feeder this afternoon.  It was a greater spotted woodpecker, who really livened up the feeder with it's bright and cheerful colours.  It didn't stop for long but maybe it will return now it has found us, we'll see. 

Yesterday we saw the first baby greenfinch of the year being fed on the grass and a couple of days ago we saw the first baby starling, it's all go at the moment!  Another new visitor to our garden lately has been a crow (that I have named Russell!!!) we haven't seen one in ages, but it has been in to feed first thing in the morning quite a few times lately.  The other birds seem very wary of it and they either fly off or stand frozen to the spot watching it.  This seems a bit odd, as the small birds take no notice of the rooks and they are about the same size. 

Anyhow, that's it, time to indulge in watching the Chelsea Flower Show for an hour. 

Janesmoor Pond and Cadmans Pool

Sunday 19th May 2013

We took too much notice of the weather forecast today.  It was supposed to be very wet from 10am to 4pm, it's now gone 7pm and there's been no sign of rain.  Luckily this afternoon we risked it and went out to Stoney Cross to look for two geocaches.  The first was near Janesmoor Pond, this is normally very busy at the weekends but today it was quiet, maybe others took notice of the weather forecast too.  

We came across this wonky tree trunk, handy for a sit down if there hadn't been gorse under it!

Handy for telling the time maybe?

A couple of weeks ago these ferns were barely above the ground, they've done a bit of growing since then.

We moved on to Cadmans Pool a mile or so up the road.  This is a great place for spotting small birds, visitors often feed them and they are used to people and quite tame.  The whole car park is a flutter with birds.  Then there is the pond itself which is good for wildfowl.

Another lovely long legged foal.

There were three families of Canada Geese at the pond, with goslings of various ages.  These were the smallest ones, they were sitting at the edge of the pool when we arrived, but were wary of a dog (on a lead) so took off onto the water.

These little goslings were older but just as cute.

On and off during our short time out this afternoon we heard a cuckoo, for the third time this year.  All in all a good afternoon with plenty to see.

Near Sway

Saturday 18th May 2013

This afternoon in the sunshine we walked along a disused railway line near Sway in the New Forest.  There were two newish geocaches along this former railway line that is now a footpath and cyclepath.  We found both caches with ease and then walked across the open heathland back to the car.   We saw a kestrel, buzzard, cyclists, walkers, lots of dogs and even more dog poo!  Driving through the centre of Brockenhurst we saw donkeys, ponies and highland cattle wandering all over the place, (some of the highland cattle were happily munching away in a car park) it did seem very odd.

The coconut smell of gorse was everywhere.

Someone has been tidying out their nest. I'm not good at egg identification so can't say who has been busy housekeeping.

There were some very young quite unstable long leggy foals about, this one was following it's mother down an embankment, it was all legs but very cute! 

More gorse leaving the car park - us not the gorse that is (definitely didn't see any gorse on the move!)

Durley and Lower Upham

Friday 17th May 2013

We popped to a great nursery in Durley for some bedding plants for the garden this morning then did a couple of geocaches on the way home.  The polytunnels were a riot of colour and smells - delicious.

In one of the polytunnels.

Lots of pansy faces.

Amongst the bluebells - obviously not in polytunnels now!

We then drove a couple of miles to Lower Upham and on one particularly narrow no through road we came across a deer standing in the middle of the lane - I think it was as surprised to see us as we were to see it.  Alongside a footpath  I found swathes of bluebells and I think they must be at their best at the moment.  The display was very blue, in fact the photo doesn't do the blue justice.  We successfully found the geocache then moved on up the road for the next one, where the nettles were in flower - we have heard that when the nettles are in flower they don't sting but I am not prepared to test that theory out!

Flowering nettles.

  

We came across a field of very different looking sheep, which we looked up when we got home and we think they are Clun Forest sheep.  Apparently the Clun Forest breed originated in the hilly areas of south-west Shropshire on the Welsh borders and took it's name from the ancient market town of Clun.

This isn't a very good photo as the sheep were quite a distance away and I had to zoom in quite a lot - that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!

Romsey

Thursday 16th May 2013

We had another wander in Romsey this evening and we found a few footpaths we haven't been along before.  Here are a few photos.

Romsey Memorial Park - again!

Horse chestnut flowers.

A friend!

The River Test with Broadlands House in the distance (honestly it's there!)

Market Place, Romsey

Several times on our walk we came across lilac that smelt fantastic, we could even smell one tree from across the road  - lilac to me is one of the smells of spring.

Southampton Sports Centre

Wednesday 15th May 2013

Our daughter was desperate to get out for a walk this afternoon (when we normally go out she doesn't want to come and when we have no intention of going out she wants to!!!) so as we were restricted by time we settled on the sports centre in Southampton where we did a circular walk of about 1.5 miles.  The sports centre is in the town but it's a very pleasant place and usually quite quiet. 

Not a very good photo across the football pitches to the dry ski slope.

Today there was plenty going on, the athletics track  and tennis courts were in use, there were groups playing football and mums had taken their children there to play after school.  By the time we left groups of school children were arriving in minibuses to use more of the sports facilities.

After the rain of yesterday, it was nice to see the sun.

There is plenty of blossom about.

Rhododendrons in full bloom.

Hiltingbury

Sunday 12th May 2013

This morning we had a walk around the leafy roads of Hiltingbury - where we admired lots of large posh houses and I would love to own any one of them!  There were lots of azaelias and rhodedendrons out in many different colours and they certainly made for a good display and a splash of vibrant colour.  Suddenly there seem to be lots of forget-me-nots out too, I like these little blue flowers but not in my garden - they spread like wildfire and quickly look like dried up old weeds.  We saw a few people out for a Sunday morning stroll and nearly everyone spoke, nice and sociable.

Nr East Tytherley

Friday 10th May 2013

We decided to tackle a series of eight geocaches today in an old wooded area and around fields of crops.  There were lots of flowers everywhere and quite a few butterflies but we didn't see much wildlife, cachers before us recorded having seen hares, I looked and looked but I didn't see a glimpse of one!  The nearest we got to wildlife was a large badger sett.

Bluebells in their prime.

A field of rape just beginning to bloom.

An orange-tip butterfly - we saw a few of these.

An early purple orchid.

We succesfully found all eight geocaches but we should have been able to find a bonus cache with answers from each cache, but somewhere along the windy footpath we must have gone wrong and we were unable to locate the bonus - never mind there's always another day (but it was quite annoying).  We walked just over four miles in an area that I would definitely return to (may have to to locate the elusive bonus cache anyway).

Farley Mount Country Park

Thursday 9th May 2013

On a cooler blustery morning with occasional glimpses of the sun we had a short walk at Farley Mount Country Park.  In yesterday's blog I mentioned how bright the new green leaves are, so today a tried to capture the lime green of the beech trees, it's not a great photo but I think it demonstrates the colour.

Beech trees with their new green leaves.

We found two geocaches in the woods and one was well guarded! 

keeping an eye on things.

There was a herd of Highland cattle in one of the fields that the footpath went through.  This one had a quick look but wasn't at all bothered by us and just sat back down as we were leaving the cache.

Back on our circular work we came across some wooden play equipment hidden amongst the trees, I'm just glad there aren't any real ants this size!

One other observation today was that the fields of oilseed rape either side of the little lane that goes  to Farley Mount were in full bloom, suddenly it's all out and very yellow.  The rape fields have made me sneeze and my eyes run in the past but it doesn't seem to have affected me so much in the last few years thankfully.

Rhinefield Ornamental Drive

Wednesday 8th May 2013

We had a 4 mile walk this afternoon from the Blackwater car park on the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive in the New Forest.  There must have been a fair bit of rain last night as there were dark peaty coloured puddles everywhere and the rain started again whilst we were out - quite a contrast to yesterday's weather.  We successfully found a geocache close to a deer conservation area where there was a largish herd of fallow deer out in the open.  The herd included two white deer that stood out a bit like a sore thumb - it must be difficult for them to stealth about!

Walking across the heathland we came across violets, dotted here and there along the edge of a very dark peaty coloured small stream.  I always remember my dad telling me that years ago violets used to smell, but nowadays they don't, I'm not sure if this is right but I sniff them every now and then and they certainly don't seem to smell.

Throughout much of our walk we heard a cuckoo, which I have been reading about lately and according to the RSPB cuckoos are becoming an increasingly rare sight in the UK, as fewer migrants return each year. 

Today I also noticed, for the first time this year, that the ferns are unfurling and beginning to grow.  The trees all around are such a bright fresh green at the moment it almost seems too bright.    We also saw a heron, canada geese and an egret. Another pleasant walk.