The Foals are Arriving

Finally the foals are beginning to arrive in the Forest.

Golden Ringed Dragon fly
Male beautiful Demoiselle
Female beautiful Demoiselle

Emperor in flight
Emperor laying eggs

Pony eating the bird food

Squirrel eating the bird food.

A Mandarin admires his reflection.

A mallard duck flies over the pond at Eyeworth

As we drove home we came across this enormous pig sitting by the side of the road.

Down at Hatchetts Pond

There were plenty of ponies down at the pond trying to scounge food off the tourists. There is a penalty for feeding the ponies as it encourages them to congregate near cars and on the roads. Sadly many tourists ignore this and the ponies can become a nuisance in the popular spots. more seriously if they stay near the roads they are knocked down and killed.

The seven cygnets are doing well and have grown a lot since our last visit.

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.

First Evening Forest Walk of the Year.

John was home early tonight and we were able to take the dogs for a short evening walk in the forest
Raffles loves these evening walks as it is when all the bunnies are around. He loves to chase the bunnies.They re far to quick for him, but he enjoys it.
Neither of the dogs noticed the deer grazing quietly in the distance.
Missy would rather play with a ball and big puddles are more her style than chasing bunnies.
As we drove home we saw these two little foals with their mums.

Another Foal

As we move through April, so more foals are born. The New Forest Ponies belong to the commoners but they are left to roam over the forest and are responsible for keeping the grass short. The stallions are taken off the forest in the winter and careful choices are made as to which stallions go in which area during the spring and summer to maintain a healthy stock. Each year in the Autumn the ponies are rounded up in drifts, to be marked and treated. Some of the foals are sold as they make suitable mounts for children.

The First Foal of Spring

This Morning I saw the first foal soon they will be popping up all over the forest, but the first one is always special. Isn't she cute.

Bad weather Stops Photography!

Its been rather dull this week. We woke up on Monday morning to find half the garden fence had blown away! They can't replace it until after Easter so the dogs have to be closely supervised in the garden. We have been out walking the dogs and did get a few photos but mostly the light was too bad. A visit to Eyeworth and Cadmans pond met with a joyful twittering from all the hungry birds and they gobbled up our goodies very quickly. All five mandarins are still around and we are hoping they will nest. Apparently they nest in holes in trees often several metres off the ground we will keep checking in to see if ducklings arrive. We had a quick trip up to Hatchetts pond but the carpark was closed for vegetation management!

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine anymore!

Well at least it isn't raining today, just a little drizzle ,but very dark and gloomy.
We took the dogs for a good walk,although Missy is protesting at being on the lead....only another week and then you can run free again Missy.

Mogshade pond is very full and three white ponies were drinking from it.

Its cold enough for glovs Mum

The Curious Ponies approach the swans

And this one gets a telling off!

Juvenile swan

Pony