August 2016 archive

Beaulieu Road Station and Denny Wood 24th August 2016

On the morning of the 24th of August, we were decided on looking for Dartford Warblers on the walk from Beaulieu Road Station to Denny Woods and back. Unfortunately we seemed to miss the station and drove past the Shatterford Bottom car park that we needed to find. Eventually we realised this and came back up the road again and found it.

The walk from the car park opposite Beaulieu Road Station across the heath to Denny Woods and back should be one of the very best places in the New Forest to see Dartford Warbler and we have done there before. It was much later in the year and whether they are dispersed this late in the season or just hidden away, I don’t know. Whatever the reality, we just couldn’t find one ! But we did get some nice birds and a great walk.

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Fritham and Eyeworth Pond 23rd August 2016

We had a fairly long drive this day as we were taking the scenic route from Montacute to Lyndhurst where we were spending the night at The Crown Hotel. We drove the route via Shatesbury,  Cranborne Chase, Sixpenny Handley and Fordinbridge which was lovely but we missed the Skylarks at the top of Cranorne Chase that we had seen – and heard so gloriously – previously. This time the field had been harvested and it was pretty bare. I suppose that the Skylarks had already bred and disappeared already. Continue reading

Shapwick Heath and Ham Wall 21st August 2016

We left WWT Slimbridge in the early afternoon and then we drove down towards Montacute but first stopping off at Shapwich Heath and Ham Wall nature reserves. I had seen on the bird alert sites that Glossy Ibis and Osprey had been around and we tried our luck at these. The weather had picked up a bit and it was now quite warm and sunny. A great surprise was the new facilities there.

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WWT Slimbridge 21st August 2016

Before we headed off to Montacute, we took advantage of an early doors visit to WWT Slimbridge again. The bird list was pretty much the same but we did get another “year tick” in the shape of Curlew Sandpiper. I have to admit that I was not 100% convinced but otherw were and I believed them. List-wise we were to get more certain birds later in our trip anyway.

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