New Forest Holiday Day 2 : Bucklers Hard and the Beaulieu River : 27th June 2011

New Forest Holiday Day 2 : Bucklers Hard and the Beaulieu River : 27th June  2011

For a change of location we decided to try a boat trip so we headed off for the “historic village” of Bucklers Hard, once a naval shipbuilding dockyard where many of Nelson’s ships, including some that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, were built. We had a quick look at the museum but it was pretty hot so we went down to the water to take a boat trip down the River Beaulieu.

As we waited we could see lots of Swallows and Martins swooping over the river. We also saw Starlings, Blackbirds and a Robin, a Song Thrush and lots of Jackdaws and Black Headed Gulls taking up positions by the water’s edge. Woodpigeons, Pied Wagtails and Rooks also stalked the lawns looking for food. In the distance we could hear a Pheasant.

On the water were lots of Mallards and as we sailed down the river in the direction of the Solent we saw lots of birds, the highlights being a Bar-headed Goose, eight Little Egrets, a Curlew, Oystercatchers and a Cormorant and a Common Tern ; Lapwing, Herons, and Mute Swans as well as others. It had seemed a little unlikely at the outset but the boat trip turned out to be our best birding in the New Forest to that point.

Bird List