New Forest Holiday Day 2 : Acres Down and Bolderwood : 27th June 2011
Our guidebook “Where To Watch Birds in Britain” by Simon Harrap and Nigel Redman suggested that this was “probably the best site in the New Forest for Watching raptors” so we were looking forward to some exciting birding. We followed the rather good driving instructions in our guide book and parked just by the sign for the” cream teas” and then walked up through the woods and onto the ridge. Unfortunately all we managed to see were a few Blackbirds, a robin and some Chaffinches and a Tree Pipit.
Behind us a long way in the distance we did see what was probably a Buzzard but it was a long way away and nowhere near Acres Down. It was nice weather, though, so at least we had a good walk and finished off with a cup of tea and a slice of cake at the parking place.
A bit disconsolate about this failure to see raptors we decided to change tack and go for a walk in the woods at nearby Bolderwood which was a very popular stopping point for tourists as a result of the deer feeding station near the car park. However we were looking for a walk in the woods and the New Forest contains lots of really good mixed woodlands with open clearings, glades etc and this makes for a really pleasant walk compared to the monoculture forests we are used to seeing elsewhere. However it just wasn’t our morning because we saw very few birds although we did manage a Redstart and some Pied Wagtails as well as the usual Woodpigeons and Crows. It rained briefly so we returned to the car park but before we left the area we stopped off for a while to look at the deer.
Bird List
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Blackbird | 1 |
| Buzzard | 1 |
| Carrion Crow | 4 |
| Chaffinch | 2 |
| Pied Wagtail | 2 |
| Redstart | 1 |
| Robin | 1 |
| Tree Pipit | 1 |
| Woodpigeon | 2 |