Pig Bush, Nr Beaulieu Road Station

31st October 2016

It's been a while since we last had a walk in the New Forest so as we had some time free today we made the effort and got out to see the magic autumnal colours.  We picked a walk where we could do a bit of geocaching at the same time and luckily found the two we set out to find. We parked at Pig Bush car park, near Beaulieu Road Station and walked through Halfpenny Green and Tantany Wood.  One of the good things about geocaching is that it gets us off the beaten track, literally, and on these cross country routes this morning we spotted lots of fab fungi.  The smell in the Forest is just scrummy at this time of year, all earthy and fresh. We are very lucky to spend a great deal of time on the lovely Dorset coast, but you really can't beat the New Forest.

A carpet of small silver birch leaves.

Just look up!

As I said, geocaches are very often located in the middle of nowhere, however it was a very lovely spot and I did catch a falling leaf here so I believe that's a bit of good luck coming my way!

This colourful Oak tree was just changing colour.

I really like this photo, with dew on the grass and the sun's rays coming through in the background

There were a few of these in one area, and all had been nibbled.

There were many scarlet berries on the holly bushes, adding more autumnal colour.  The red looked even more dramatic against the white bark of the silver birch tree and the lovely deep blue sky.  

We walked about three miles, saw some fantastic colours, berries, fungi and today's best bird spot was a tree creeper which we saw whilst looking for a woodpecker that we heard banging on a tree.

Overlooking Swanage From Ballard Down

Sunday 30th October 2016

We had a short walk this afternoon for a quick bit of fresh air from Ulwell to Ballard Down and back.  It's gently uphilll but well worth it for the views of Swanage on the way up and at the top the views across Studland and Godlingstone Heath.

A friendly local.

The bright berries of the Stinking Iris.

This kestrel sat keeping watch happily until a bird scarer went off like gunshot in a nearby field, then it was gone (it did quite a good job of scaring me too!)

The view overlooking Swanage from a favourite seat.

A buzzard - rather a long way off!

Reaching the top we walked along as far as the obelisk then took the steep path back down to the car parked at Ulwell.

Afternoon Light at Anvil Point

Thursday 20th October 2016

We had a quick walk at Durlston Country Park this afternoon, and the light was quite eerie.  Autumn as I said in my last post is definitely here!

Anvil Point Lighthouse.

Old Harry Rocks in the sunshine.

I think we only passed a couple of people in an hour, all is very quiet and peaceful, I can't complain!

Seaweed Invasion

Wednesday 19th October 2016

The easterly wind has been blowing vast amounts of seaweed onto the beach in Swanage just lately and I have to say it's quite pongy!  I was quite surprised by the size of the mound of seaweed, it's fairly deep and shows no sign of going anywhere soon without the help of a farmer and tractor!

Meanwhile, further on round the bay, away from the pong, it looked like a bit of training was going on.

Suddenly things in Swanage are looking decidedly autumnal, I think that even the sea looks uninviting in this photo.

Birds Spotted in Cornwall

Monday 17th October 2016

We were very lucky to see many birds last week during our stay in Cornwall. I mentioned in my blog last week about the number of kestrels we saw, they were everywhere we went!  I can also identify the male and female now, easy when you know how!!  The male has a grey head and the female has a brown one.  The other birds we saw lots of were linnets and starlings in flocks, frequently landing on telegraph wires outside the kitchen window. 

We kept an eye out for swallows, who by now must be thinking of flying back to Africa any day now.  We saw small groups of them again landing on the telegraph wire, some must have been young ones as they were definitely swallows because we could see the red bit on their necks but they didn't have the long tails like the adults.

Here's my list of the birds spotted:

• Starling
• Jackdaw
• Crow
• Buzzard
• Robin
• Kestrel
• Magpie
• Linnet
• Meadow pipit
• Herring gull
• Rook
• House sparrow
• Raven
• Wood pigeon
• Goldfinch
• Wren
• Stone chat
• Swallow
• Black backed gull
• Blackbird
• Oyster catcher
• Rock pipit
• Gannet
• Chaffinch
• Blue tit
• Cormorant
• Heron
• Great tit
• Egret
• Mallard
• Mute swan
• Long-tailed tit
• Coot
• Grey wagtail
• Pheasant
• Pied wagtail
• Dunnock
• Black headed gull

Along the Cornish Coast to Mullion Harbour

Friday 14th October 2016

I have just realised this is post number 400 on my blog, it doesn't seem possible!

I can't believe it was yet another beautiful morning, we really can't complain about the weather this week, especially seeing as it's mid October.  We had a walk along the south west coast path to Polurrian Cove and on to Mullion Harbour where we stopped for a well earned hot chocolate and enormous piece of coffee and walnut cake, it was to die for!  We then walked inland to Mullion to visit a chocolate shop, well, it had to be done didn't it?  On the way we passed a field of llamas, not something we see in the countryside everyday!

Polurrian Cove.

We are staying at one of the houses in this pic, the one on the right on the skyline (with the trees to the left of it).

Mullion Island.

Mullion Harbour at low tide (not quite so picturesque with the tide out).

And from the other side of the harbour.

The llamas didn't seem overjoyed to see us.

Meanwhile, back at Pourrian the tide was on it's way in.

We spent about an hour relaxing on this beach, then out to sea we could see flippers splashing, it was these two swimming in to shore!  They swam in from I have no idea where, with harpoons and a few fish hanging off their belts.  It was a bit surreal, but good for them!

Well, that's another fab week done and dusted in this lovely part of Cornwall. We've walked many miles, eaten too much rubbish, enjoyed amazing weather and had a thoroughly relaxing week.  I have no doubt at all that we'll be back.

Penrose Estate, Loe Pool to Loe Bar

Thursday 13th October 2016

We had another lovely walk today of about 5.5 miles through woodland and alongside loe Pool to the sea. We walked through the Penrose Estate ( the house is privately owned but the public can walk/cycle/explore the gardens and lake).  There is a circuit of geocaches around the walk and we thought we'd have a good go at finding them, but we were either unable to find or unable to get to most of them!!!  We did however find eight successfully so all was not lost.

Penrose House (privately owned).

The walled garden is being developed, these pumpkins looked particularly good.

Loe Pool, for information on the lake see here

Whilst caching by the lake we spotted this cormorant, we also saw a heron fly by.

Geocaching takes us to some odd places!

The view over Loe Bar.

Lunch at Loe Bar, not a bad spot!!

On the other side of Loe Bar we could see this memorial, so we walked across the bar to see what it was all about and this was it..........

I can't claim to have made this, I just took a photo of it!

The highlight of the day was as we walked off of the beach and overlooked the sea, this seal swimming along the top of the water.  It was only there briefly before disappearing off below.

We then headed inland across fields and farmland, caching with a bit of success as we went, and back to the car.  I can highly recommend this walk, especially on a lovely day like today.

Cadgwith Fishing Village

Wednesday 12th October 2016

This morning was wet and miserable but it cleared up a bit by lunchtime so we decided to visit Cadgwith a quaint fishing village on the Lizard.  The lanes leading to and into Cadgwith are very narrow so parking is advised on the outskirts of the village.  We walked down to the sea through the village amongst very old picturesque cottages, many thatched. I would imagine in the Summer that this village is teeming with visitors but today it was empty, very peaceful and relaxed.  

Just a bit further along the coastal footpath is the Devil's Frying Pan.  In Cornwall this collapsed sea cave is known as a zawn. 

This is the little church in Cadgwith, we had to answer a few questions about this church to enable us to find a geoache in the village, so we had a look inside, it's very simple, in total contrast to St Mellanus in Mullion yesterday, but obviously well loved.

We were pleased to successfully find the geocache in quite a sneaky place on our way back to the car, a good result!  Despite the frequent light showers of rain we had a very pleasant afternoon.