Bolderwood, Fritham and Beaulieu Road : 30th April 2014

Bolderwood, Fritham and Beaulieu Road Station: 30th April 2014

We started early (for us) again this morning and were on our way by 8am. We drove up to Bolderwood and parked in the car park there before taking the path down to the cottage, crossing over the road and taking one of the paths that eventually comes out at the Canada Monument. From there we returned to the car park. The morning was sunny and the woods were completely empty. We had a couple of hours with the whole place to ourselves – or so it seemed. The woods were filled with the sound of Blackbirds, Robins, Chaffinches, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Apart from these birds we also saw a Redstart and a Treecreeper; a Greater Spotted Woodpecker was drumming away in the background.

As we arrived back at the car park, which had been empty when we parked there, we saw the day’s activity for Bolderwood starting. A large group of very young children piled out of the toilets to start their nature trip just as a group of pensioner-amblers started to replace them at the queue for the toilets before their ramble. It was 10am and it was time we headed off for our next location.
We had never been to Eyeworth Pond and Fritham before so we were particularly interested n this site. We drove down past the Royal Oak pub and down to Eyeworth Pond trying to weave our way around the severe potholing in the road. With all the potholes filled with water it was impossible to tell how deep any given pothole was so it made for a very slow and bumpy drive. When we eventually managed to get to the car park we were well rewarded with the sight of a small group of Mandarin Ducks on the water and on the grass beside. One particular bird was showing off its fantastical plumage whilst preening and generally fussing about and in the scope the extent of the extravagance of its plumage was even clearer. These were part of a breeding population that nests in tree holes near the pond.

We walked around the pond as far as we could before it was too waterlogged and then walked up through the woods before turning back and coming round to the car park. As we did so we saw Dunnock and Nuthatch as well as the usual woodland birds. A Great Spotted Woodpecker drummed loudly and obviously close by but a Cuckoo was a bit further away but still singing clearly.

We drove back up to the Royal Oak pub for a cup of tea but unfortunately they did not sell tea so I had to settle for a half of one of the eight or so barrels they had on display and that poured straight from the tap. Why were we not staying nearer this pub! It was a scandal not to be able to have two or three there but it was only eleven in the morning and I dared not risk more than a half. As Anne had her lunch I spotted some Goldfinches in a paddock and a Blackbird bullied a House Sparrow to get the crumbs the people in the beer garden had fed them. A Swallow flew over our heads and a Pied Wagtail hunted from a fencepost.

We took the gravel path down towards Fritham Plain which was a typical heathland landscape but it was quite quiet there with only the odd Stonechat to excite us.

By now it was shortly after noon so we headed off to our next site – Acres Down – where we were hoping to get a view of some raptors on the ridge. In keeping with this holiday in general there was a great lack of birds of prey and the only raptor we saw all day was a single Buzzard. We did tick of the usual birds for the New Forest heaths, Tree Pipit and Stonechat as well as a flying Greater Spotted Woodpecker and we heard, yet again, the sound of a Cuckoo in the distance.

We finished off the day with a quick visit to Bishsops’ Dyke at Beauleiu Road Station to see if we could locate yesterday’s Dartford Warbler. We didn’t really have much time but we stayed for a while and did manage to see a Curlew, some Stonechats and some Tree Pipits – but no Dartford Warbler.

As we left the car park we ran into a local birder who had just stopped off for a quick look for Woodlarks along the bushes by the railway track which he said was a really good spot for them. Needless to say we had not seen one but we probably should have tried harder and looked in more detail at the shrubbery that borders the track. He also told us that he had just seen lots of Redstarts at Denny Woods at a place where we do not normally go but we should in future. Apparently if you drive along from the car park we were in (technically the Shatterford car park) you come to a left turn that takes you right down into Denny Woods. Apparently you can do some very god bird watching just sitting in your car !!

Anyway that was it for us. We drove home grateful that we had had the first totally dry day of our holiday and had some good sightings whilst listening to the drumming of Woodpeckers and the calling of Cuckoos .

Bird Sightings : Bolderwood / Acres Down

Bird Sightings : Fritham and Eyeworth Pond

Bird Sightings : Beaulieu Road