After a bit of a busy holiday, mainly spent revising for an exam I have tomorrow (😬), I finally had a chance to get out yesterday, with the opportunity of a day in the New Forest on the cards. I'm in a pretty good place for the exam tomorrow, hence why I felt comfortable taking the day off... Mum and I made a plan last night to go to Acres Down, and then head into Lymington for a drink and lunch, before spending the afternoon at Normandy Lagoon.
We finally arrived at Acres Down at around 10ish, and in my mind I had a clear aim in mind- a Wood Warbler I'd heard was here. I'm not going to say exactly where I saw it on site due to the protected nature of these species; less said the better, I think. Immediately as I got out of the car, a raptor overhead caught my eye, and finally, after getting my camera on it, I saw it was a Goshawk. At least I'm pretty sure it is... a brilliant start to the day...
As I was walking along, a very bold Song Thrush came and showed very well, allowing for decent photos.
A Wren came out in the open, and as I was photographing it, a call caught my ear. A single chirp, followed by another, then another and another, getting more and more frequent until it was like a trill. Almost like a marble dropping to the ground. This was my target- the Wood Warbler.
I walked over to the area of woodland where its call was coming from, and waited. After a minute or two, I finally grabbed a brief glimpse through the canopy of it. And after many failed attempts, I finally got the bird in frame. See if you can find where it is...
After a few more failed photo attempts, I got a clear picture. Not a good one, but a clear one. Wow!
A lifer! Wood Warbler- so cool. I really hadn't been expecting to see it, so managing to was absolutely brilliant. What a bird! Number 220 for Britain, and a second lifer of May after the Spotted Sandpipers earlier on.
After a while more, I got some more photos. What a stunning bird this is...
The bird was ringed, as visible here in this picture...
I have managed to upload a video of the incredible call, although I'm not sure if it's uploaded properly...
Just as I was deciding to head back towards the car, it came out one last time, giving another brilliant, yet brief view, before flying off almost as if it was being sucked into the forest, quickly lost to view in the chaos of leaves, trunks and branches. What a bird:)
15 minutes or so later, I found myself atop the raptor viewpoint talking to Mum, who was sitting there with a deckchair. All of a sudden, a stunning male Redstart popped up, giving brilliant views before flying off.
Stunning bird, and the first I've seen this year.
I decided to walk towards the heathland, before quickly being stopped by another Redstart in the woods.
A while spent around the heath produced a few Woodlark and Tree Pipit, but most were heard only, with not much coming out in the baking heat. This Stonechat did perch up, allowing for a picture
With no more luck here, I headed back to Mum, seeing another Redstart in the woods, along with a Spotted Flycatcher.
Sadly, with lunch time beckoning and not much else seemingly around, we decided to leave and head down to the coast for an afternoon at Normandy.
After a nice iced mocha from Nero's and eating our packed lunch in the centre of Lymington, we drove the short way to Normandy lagoon, heading off out of the car in the baking heat, wondering what we might see here. We had decided we wanted to stay at Normandy Lagoon itself and not spend too much energy walking in the heat.
A Linnet was on the fence, and there were plenty of Avocets, Oystercatchers, Black-headed Gulls, Common Tern, and what was to become the star of the afternoon- lots of Little Tern.
We decided to head over on the lower path to where most of the Little Terns were, and sat down there to watch them- they are truly incredible birds.
A Common Tern came and perched on a post, soon followed by a Stonechat following suit.
All this time, plenty of Little Terns were flying past us into the harbour, whizzing by hardly a few meters away- just too quick for photos. And so, when one came and hovered above the stream right in front of us, I rattled off dozens of photos. This was an opportunity too good to miss. I've never managed decent photos of Little Tern, so these are by far my best, and ones I'm very happy with...
Absolutely brilliant birds these are. You've just gotta lov'em.
We decided to walk around the lagoon and see if anything was visible on the other side. A few more Little Terns were on a small island, and after a while scanning, I managed to pick out some BLack-headed Gull chicks on the island in the middle of the lagoon- sooo cute!
We made it to the southeast corner of the lagoon, seeing an Oystercatcher and Dunlin on the way.
There were gulls galore out on the sea, along with more waders such as Redshank and more Oystercatcher.
Sadly, after a good two or so hours here, we decided we needed to leave, with this Lapwing the final bird we stopped to look at. We left the place with brilliant sightings and memories of the Little Tern, along with some other great species. Such a brilliant place for birding.
Well, what a day it was yesterday. A lifer in the form of a bird I was almost certain I wouldn't see, and incredible views of Little Tern. Couple this with such brilliant birds as Redstart, calling Cuckoos, Tree Pipits, Woodlark, Spotted Flycatcher and a Goshawk, and this day couldn't have gone much better. The New Forest truly is a magical place. Not that magic exists, but you get what I'm saying:) May will officially be over in about an hour and 45 minutes, bringing an end to a quiet month, with the emphasis more on quality than quantity. I've only managed to get out thrice, seeing the two incredible Spotted Sandpipers at Piddinghoe, then the very distant Honey-buzzard last week and Wood Wabler this week. Three truly brilliant birds, those, and two lifers. I'm up to seven this year, which is pretty good going. Hopefully, June will have plenty more to come, especially since my exams will be over and I'll have more time to get out and about. We'll have to see.
Anyways, thank you for reading this (rather long) post, hope you enjoyed!
Good night:)
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