The Abbotsbury Swannery

Abbotsbury Swannery conserves the only manged colony of nesting Mute swans in the world.Mute Swans are usually fiercely territorial by nature and it is therefore rare to see so many nesting swans in such close proximity to each other.but there are up to 150 pairs on a 2acre nesting site.There are often more than 600 adult swans on the site. In England the crown claims ownership of Mute swans with only three exceptions one of which is Abbotsbury. In1543 the Strangways family was given the right to claim ownership of all the nesting swans on the site and the family still own the swannery today,

Cygnets in a cosy bed.
New born cygnets and swans eggs
Riding a white swan.
feeding time for the non breeding swans

Cygnets

The Weekend in The Forest

On Saturday I slipped up to Hatchetts Pond and found the second pair of swans now have three little cygnets.The Pen was still sitting on the nest on Thursday so these are fairly young!
Today we walked along Dockens Water, one of the small streams in the Forest. Along the banks the pretty little speedwell was in flower.
This broad Bodied chaser was prowling up and down
and these large red damselflies were getting rather friendly!
Back at the pond the goslings and ducklings are all doing well and the Irises are in flower

The Wild Cats

Some more photos from last weeks trip to the British Wildlife Centre. In the afternoon we went into the Wild cat enclosures.

Wild Cat - Felis silvestris

Britain's only wild member of the cat family bears a close resemblance to the domestic tabby, but it is more striped and has a bushier, blunt-ended tail marked with thick black rings. Now confined to the Scottish highlands, wild cats disappeared from southern England in the 16th century; the last one recorded in northern England was shot in 1849.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act gives strict legal protection to wild cats and their dens. They are easily confused with 'feral' cats, which are domestic cats living wild, of which there are about 900,000 in Britain today.

Unfortunately the two species also interbreed to give hybrids, which makes it extremely difficult to define the genetic purity of a wildcat.

The wild cat has suffered considerable decline in population and is now considered at serious risk of extinction in this country.

The cats may look like the domesticated cat, but no way would you pick one of these up and stroke it. They hissed if they felt you were too close and we were warned to always allow them an escape route

The Young Ones

It is still very warm in the Forest and today after walking the dogs early we took a ride through the forest stopping off at the ponds along the way. We Now have two families of Canada geese on Cadmans pond.Goslings are so cute. The little ducklings were everywhere , lost count of the number of families we had, they are several different ages now.
By the side of the road we came across some sweet looking calves.Calves are so pretty and yet they seem to lose it as theygrow up.
Down on Hatchetts pond the 7 little cycgnets are all doing well. There is a second pair of swans,at the far end of the pond but no sign of cygnets there yet.
There are plenty of foals now on the forest and again we have different ages. The earlier foals are about 6 weeks old now, but they will continue to appear until September.

Otters at the British Wildlife centre

After spending some time with the foxes we moved on to the otters.They have several pairs . We were warned that they do bite and not to touch them. In one of the photos you can just see my shoe which was nibbled by the female otter. It was very hot and the sun was reflecting off the water so we had to keep moving around to find the best positions to avoid the glare.

The otter is a large member of the weasel family (mustelids) with an amphibious lifestyle. In the wild they are elusive, secretive animals and live in undisturbed rivers, streams and estuaries. In the early 1960’s they were on the verge of extinction due to river pollution, habitat loss and hunting. Now with full legal protection, cleaner rivers and managed habitat it is returning to its former haunts, although its distribution will always be limited by the availability of fish The male otter is called a dog and the female a bitch. They have large lungs and can stay submerged under water for 4 minutes, often swimming 400 metres before resurfacing. They can reach speeds of 12 km/h under water and can outrun man on land.

The males occupy large ranges, which may include up to 20 km of river bank and daily travel long distances along regular routes by the margins of the river.

Foxes at The British Wildlife Centre

Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes

The British Wildlife Centre has three Foxes, Buster, Honey and Frodo Honey is now 12 and has just had a litter of cubs, so far three have been seen. They were about 7 weeks old at the time of our visit. We only saw one but in the hour we watched them it is possible that it was not the same one each time. The cubs tended to stay in the long grass. I have always liked foxes and feel they get a hard press at times.

The fox is a remarkably adaptable and successful animal found, where food is plentiful, in almost every habitat. It is a success because it is willing to eat almost anything and has become particularly adept at surviving alongside man in farmland and urban areas.

With its bushy tail, large ears and narrow muzzle, the fox is unmistakable. The coat colour can be extremely variable - usually reddish-brown on top with lighter undersides, but much darker or even silvery forms are not uncommon.

The mating season is December to February when the vixen can be heard at night uttering its eerie, high pitched scream. Four or five cubs are born in the Spring and the female fox stays with them in the 'earth' for two weeks, fed by the dog fox. They remain with their mother until Autumn when they disperse to find territories and mates of their own.

The life expectancy of the fox is short; 12 - 18 months in urban areas, (58% are killed on the roads) and rarely beyond 3 years in rural areas.

A Walk at the Lower Test Nature Reserve

This Morning we went on a guided walk arranged by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. This walk takes place once a year and we are able to go into the flower meadows that are usually closed to the public to protect the rare plants that grow here. Water Avens is rare in the south although a little more common further north. There are also greenwinged orchids and Hairy Buttercups and the rare adders tongue fern.More common wildflowers can also be found . it was a little early for butterflies and dragonflies, but we did see speckled wood and orange tips. Just at the end of the walk we saw a broad bodied skimmer drying its wings after hatching.

Water Avens
Cuckoo plant also known as ladies Smock
Ribort Plantain

Green Winged Orchid


Red Clover

broad bodied Skimmer drying its wings after hatching

Hedge garlic

Hairy Buttercup

Speckled brown

Cowslip

Adders tongue fern

The Swan Family at Hatchetts Pond

This afternoon we went back to the pond to see if we could get some photos of the cygnets

We walked round the pond until we could see the Cygnets in the reeds , we waited and waited and eventually they came up on to the bank

The swans are very good parents keeping constant guard over their 7 little cygnets

They are just so adorable

Pond Update

After our walk this morning we drove along to Hatchetts pond and got our first sighting of the swan family. Mr and Mrs Swan have seven little cygnets. Whilst we were watching them we saw something flapping around in the water and the parent swans hissing and trying to catch something. I wonder if a big pike was after the little ones.
It was such a beautiful day this afternoon we went to Eyeworth pond no little mandarins yet but there was a small family of ducklings. We couldn't tempt any birds down with our seed so we moved on to Cadmans Pond and found Mr and Mrs Canada Goose had five little goslings. There were also several duck families.

A small foal at pigbush
Cockchafer beetle (maybug)
Swan family at Hatchets Pond
Little Goslings at Cadmans Pond and some of the ducklings

British Wildlife Centre

The British Wildlife Centre is in Lingfield Surrey . It is open to the public at weekends and during the school holidays. During term time many schools visit but certain days are set aside for photography days. Today we went on one. It was a wonderful experience, places are limited to 20 and you are allowed in the enclosures with the keepers to take your photographs. Most of the other photographers had lenses as long as your arm, but you get so close to the animals you really don't need them. At one point an otter was nibbling my shoe! The day is well planned you arrive at 9.30 to register and have coffee and they explain how the day will proceed. First we all went to the Fox enclosure and they had 7 week old cubs.....which we saw and I have got some photos which I will put up later. After about an hour they split us into two groups. We went to see the otters and the deer. It was then lunch time. We had about two hours for lunch and we were able to wander around looking at the animals. At 2pm we all met up and they brought a barn owl and a little owl out , we then split up again and we moved into the Scottish wildcats enclosures for about an hour, before moving on to the weasels, stoats , polecats, pinemartins and the reptiles. At 4pm they fed the badgers and then we had about 30 mins to wander around before going home. I took about 800 photos and have already discarded about 200 of them but I have so many good photos I will be posting more once I have sorted through them If you are able to go on one of their photography days I would really recommend it . It was worth the long drive in heavy traffic. it was probably one of the hottest days so far this year and at times the sun was too bright , but the staff give you plenty of time to take your photos and try to make sure everyone gets a good position for at least some of the time.

They Are Back!

I didn't think they were using the box this yar but over the weekend i noticed some activty.
The babies are still very small as the parents are going right in the box to feed them

They are great tits and they make a lot of noise cheeping away inside.

Titchfield Haven

We went to Titchfield Haven this afternoon and it was beautiful. After some heavy showers and hail this morning we had lots of sunshine. It was a bit breezy on the coast but we were sheltered in the sanctuary. We saw a few elegant avocets, lapwings and some really cute little cootlets .(baby Coots) I also saw my first reed bunting .Whats more they had Ginger ice crem in the cafe, my favourite!

Blashford Lakes again

We took a trip to Blashford today. it was very quiet on the birdfeeders, but we did see a Nuthatch and the greater spotted woodpecker. We wandered down to the Ivy Lake Hide and right in front of it were a pair of crested grebes. We were told they had been there a while but they left a few minutes after we arrived.

Not Much Time for Blogging this Week

Its been a busy week. We are renovating the en suite shower room and so a series of workmen have been coming and going. It hasn't been a wonderful week weather wise either. Today raffles had to go to the vets to have some ingrowing eyelashes removed and after we had dropped him off we took Missy for a walk at Boltons Bench Lyndhurst. We found three cute little foals

We Walked at Boltons bench today and saw these three foals. This is one of the most touristy areas of the Forest being adjacent to Lyndhurst one of the major villages and the ponies were very relaxed and did not move away.

A Poem for My Norwegian Friend

Pink Skies
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

A Poem for Britt Arnild

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

W B Yeats