Mogshade Hill

As we were walking this morning a lot of ponies were calling and running.When we got to the pond on the top of Mogshade Hill, there were just a few ponies there. By the time we left there must have been 50 or more ,around and in the pond.

A late Afternoon Walk and a Visit to Cadmans Pond

We are busy decorating this week , so just some quick posts. We went for a walk at Ocknell this evening. Plenty of little foals are beginning to appear and we saw three close together. The dogs enjoyed Bunny hunting and we also saw a small group of Fallow deer. Before coming home we stopped off at the pond . These cute little dcklings were sitting on the No Fishing sign that had been vandalised and thrown in the reeds. No goslings yet but plenty of honking!

Three different foals on our walk this evening at Ocknell

Canada Geese

Ducklings on Cadmans Pond

A beautiful Sunny Morning

The weather forecast for today was a wet morning ,brightening in the afternoon. Well they got it wrong! This morning was lovely and sunny and the rain is starting now, although it isn't amounting to much! We drove through the forest and eventually arrived at Longslade Bottom . A slade in the forest means a little valley between wooded hills. The gravel track leads down to horseshoe bottom and the photo here shows us looking back as we go up towards Hinchelsea wood. The wood is fairly small and it wasn't long before we were descending again and going towards Hinchelsea bog.their are many lapwings in this area and they were circling overhead. much of the bog is impassable and it is a good area for them to nest in. Their were lots of tadpoles in the bog and also a Horse leech. I had never seen one of these before and we spent some time watching it trap the unsuspecting tadpoles. In places there were so many tadpoles they could hardly move.
200years ago Thomas Gilpin described this area in the following words. " A beautiful valley, about a quarter of a mile in breadth, opened before us, arrayed in vivid green, and winding two or three miles around a wood. On the other side the grounds, wild and unadorned, fall with an easy sweep into it. beyond these a grand woody scene spreads far and wide in the distance... the valley was no other than a vast bog, Longslade Bottom. The nimble deer trips over it in summer without inconvenience, but no other animals of heavier bulk dare trust themselves upon it. "
Little has changed although the drainage has improved and it is easy to cross the bog and walk up the slope to the wood. In the valley it is still too boggy to walk.
Just past the bog there is a disused railway and now you can walk along the track which is shaded by trees, however this morning we stayed out on the green and in the sunshine. We came across a group of ponies and another little foal.so of course we stopped to take some photos.

Missy and taivas in Hinchelsea Bog

The swamp monster lurks in the reeds

A Horse leech eating the tadpoles . despite its name the Horse leech (Haemopis sanguisorba feeds on frogs and fishes. They have suckers at both ends so they can anchor themselfs and eat their prey.
Plenty of tapoles about

The dogs pose for us by the Gorse.

Todays little foal at Longslade bottom.

From The High Corner Inn in search of bluebells

This Morning we went to High Corner Inn and walked down to Broomy Inclosure, to see if the bluebells were out. In parts of the forest they are flowering. However here they were few and far between, but there were lots of wood anenomes. These flowers close their petals at night and legend has it that this is because the faiies sleep wrapped up in them. We then left the Inclosure to walk along Dockens Water to Splash Bridge. It is only a couple of weeks since our last visit here , but it looked so different now the trees have their leaves. We found a few Marsh Marigolds growing in the stream.
Although it was a little damp and misty we decided to climb Hallickshole Hill, before making our way back to the car via Woodford Bottom. Half way up the hill the dogs disturbed a herd of fallow deer and they ran quite close to us , but somehow I managed to miss them in the photo! The Cuckoo was calling all the time and letting us know he was watching us!
We will be back in a couple of weeks to see if the Bluebells are out.

Splash bridge

Marsh marigold

Splash Bridge and Dockens water.

Dockens water at Woodford bottom

Taivas leads the way back to The High Corner Inn

Pony with an itch

A slightly Hazy Walk at Deadmans Hill

It is still very warm here in the South of England and it has been unseasonably dry with no rain at all in April.Walking at Deadmans Hill this morning we soon found it too warm for our jackets. Down in the valley we were sheltered from the wind , we could see the heat haze shimmering on the slopes. The Sunny weather has brought the Gorse out in full flower and when the sun shines on it , the air all around has a pleasant smell of coconut. There is still a little water in the streams and the dogs were glad to have a refreshing dip. This little woolly coated calf did not seem to hot , but he was grazing by the stream. There are some lovely views over the valley here and although some of the heather had been burnt off and looked a little bleak , the cheerful gorse gave a lot of colour to the scenery.

Looking across the Valley

The little bridge over the stream, is so pretty nestling in the valley

Raffles cools off in the stream

Missy has found a ball and she wants to play

Now the gorse is in full flower and it scents the air with the smell of coconut.

A Quick Look at the Garden

The warm sunny weather has brought all the flowers out in the garden. last spring we covered the flowerbeds with gravel to help keep the weeds down and also to help keep the moisture in the soil. With our dryer weather we are constantly being threatened with hose pipe bans . it seems to have worked. Although we had a wet winter this year and rainfall was above average , spring has been dry and warmer than normal and already the garden is very dry. here Missy is taking time to smell the flowers

More flowers from the garden, Love lies a bleeding with its pretty little heart shaped flowers is a favourite of mine.

Three different Clematis flowering in the garden

The Sunny weather continues

We walked at Fritham this morning. It was another beautiful sunny day. After such a wet winter it is surprising how quickly the little streams are drying up.Just before we reached the strem we saw a heron flying and later we heard the cuckoo for the first time.When we go back to the top on Fritham green we saw another foal, this time a little girl. I stayed back with the dogs so karen had a chance to get some photos , without disturbing Mother and daughter.

Trying to get a good photo of the dogs took a while but in the end we managed!

Todays foal was at Fritham

I love their cute little tails

Karen gets nearer to take some photos, she was very pleased we found a foal as this is the first time she has been with me when we have seen one. I stayed back with the dogs so she could snap away.

Hazy Sunshine and Very Warm!

Another very warm day, here in the Forest. We went to Kingshat this morning. They were working on the bridge nearest the carpark. This is the bridge we were unable to reach earlier in the year because of flooding. It was interesting to see that they are extending the bridge on the higher side, but have no plans to extend the bridge on the lower side. (The part that floods!)We stopped and spoke to the workmen and they said we don't think they want to encourage people o walk here.
We went on up the hill to the green, we saw plenty of ponies but no foals today. When we came down from the green further on we went into the little wood where there is another bridge. As we got near the bridge a little Roe buck shot across the path and startled a pheasant. Just before this we had watched a heron flying ,( but alas no photos of any of our sightings). It was warmr than many summer days , although a little hazy.
On our way home we had a brief stop at Lyndhurst and the photo here is of St Michaels Church.

Pony at KingsHat

Standing on the hill surveyiing the kingdom


The track to the little bridge over the Beaulieu River.

Todays Foal

here is todays foal seen at South Bentley. We walked down through the Inclosure and along the little stream known as Dockens water. The wood anenomes are flowering now and I also found some Marsh Marigolds in the stream.It has been a beautiful day and when we got home we treated ourselves to an ice cream (The ice cream van parks across our drive whilst he is serving customers and when ever we buy an Icecream he always gives us two small ones for the dogs. So we had happy dogs!

Strolling along Dockens water

The pretty wood anenome

Marsh Marigolds

Sunny Saturday

The mild dry weather continues and today there was more sun. This morning we walked at Pigbush. There were a lot of ponies around and they were running around as the Stallions were claiming their mares. The Stallions are taken off the forest in the autumn,and only a limited number are put back each spring. They are given new areas to help prevent too much inbreeding that weakens the breed. As soon as the foals are born the mares come into season and are ready for mating for next years foals.
Plenty of little stonechats were flying from tree to tree chattering all the time, and I actually managed to get a half decent photo of one. They are small birds and I do not have a really good telephoto on my little camera so i was pleased to get it.
On the way home we stopped at Yew Tree Heath where a little foal was grazing with his Mum..

A stonechat

The trees at Pigbush
More Ponies at Pigbush

Ponies at Pigbush

This little foal was so cute.

I didn't realise he was going to the bathroom as I took this!
He really needed that , look closely and you can see quite a pool forming beneath him!

Another little foal

I do love seeing the foals appearing. We met this little cutie o our walk today.

Still warm and dry

The weather has continued warm and dry , but the skies have been rather cloudy. We walked at Pigbush this morning and had several sightings of an egret, although not close enough to get a good photo. they are very pretty birds. The forest seemed very quiet this morning with hardly anybody about although the campsites still sem to be busy and the schools are still on holiday.
The spring flowers are appearing and we saw some nice clumps of violets by the stream. The trees are beginnin to show signs of greening up as the leaf buds appear and it won't be long before the woods are green and shady.

taivas and Missy share a log

The Violets are springing up in the forest

The bridge at Pigbush, strange light this morning but the colours looked so pretty

Easter Monday

Pony having an evening snack

Sunlight on an old tree stump at Mogshade Hill

Missy finds yet another tennis ball in the forest.

We have had one of the best easters Weatherwise for many years with warm sunny days. The Forest has been very busy and the campsites have been full as people make the most of the sunshine. As we drove back from the Forest today we could see the queues of traffic on the motorway.

Easter Weekend

Missy looks for raffles on our walk at Telegraph on Saturday

Sunday Morning reflections at Dockens water

Hawthorn Blossom flowering at Dockens Water.

Good Friday

It is a Long weekend as today and Monday are both public holidays. The weather is good and the Forest is busy, the campsites look as if hey were filling up as people take advantage of the good weather.
This morning we walked from The Canadian Cross and in the space of about 90 minutes we gave directions to four different groups as they tried to follow walks and cycle routes. We took a slightly different route today and found a hidden bridg over the stream . At the moment the forest is dry and we were able to walk wearing trainers.
On the way home we found our second foal of the year and stopped to take some photos. We also called in at Cadmans Pond to see wht the Geese were getting up too.
Late this afternoon we went for another walk at Culverley. This car park has been closed for several years but has now been reopened . We discovered another little bridge and on the trees nearby we found a very hard bracket fungus. It looked like stone and was very smooth on top.

The Little Bridge at Culverley

This bracket fungus was very hard almost like stone.

Canada Goose, having a snack

Another Foal

We saw this little foal on our walk this morning. he was just getting used to those long legs and at times he was a bit wobbly.

Happy Easter

Happy easter
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.

Bratley View and Mogshade Hill

Our walk this morning was not the peaceful stroll , that we intended it to be. it was a sunny day , but there was a cold wind. Shortly after we began our walk we saw these deer in the distance. A nice start but then naughty Miss taivas decided to disappear and we spent the rest of the time running up and down until we found her. Finally we were all reunited and we went across to the pond on Mogshade hill for the dog to cool down whilst we got our breath back.
This evening I had totake Missy to the Vet as her eye is playing up again. Fortunately the vet couldn't find much wrong , although it looks as if she may have scratched the eye, but hopefuly a few days drops and it will heal.
After a traumatic day i treated myself to a large cream Donut!

Don't forget your sunhat.

Missy would like to remind you that a Sun hat is essential in warm weather.

Sunday Morning at Shatterford

AAnother beautiful morning and we went to Shatterford. The carpark was very busy and we only just found somewhere to park, however we met very few people on our walk. We walked over the bog and through Denny Woods. Lots of ponies about again. In the woods we found plenty of Primroses Once again there was a strong wind but it was not that cold and the sun was out .

Missy finds a glove

Raffles spreads water all around

Missy wants the stick thrown


Raffles wishes you all a Happy April Fools Day

Shatterford Bog


New Forest Ponies at Shatterford and in Denny Woods



Primroses in Denny Woods

Told you not to trust this new fangled technology!

Told you not to trust this new fangled technology!
Originally uploaded by Missy2004.