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.

Evening sunshine at Ocknell

A foal enjoys the Evening Sun at Ocknell. it was still pleasantly warm at 7pm when we walked.
Raffles enjoyed himself chasing bunnies, he will never learn that when he spots them in the distance , he is never going to catch them , but he enjoys the execise. here he is cooling down in the remains of ocknell pond.

This little calf looks a bit worried, maybe he has been reading the news!

Late Afternoon at Ocknell

Two foals nuzzle together

The pathway at Ocknell, and Raffles measures the depth of the puddles.


The sun came out late this afternoon so we took the dogs up to Ocknell for a short walk. There are big puddles all over the Forest, so really it was more of a splish splash than a walk, but the dogs enjoyed it. Ocknell pond is normally dry for the summer months but today it was hard to decide where the pond ended and the puddles began.

Watching the Deer at Ocknell

This morning we walked at Ocknell, It was a little cooler than of late and once again it was threatening rain, but it stayed dry. During the walk we spotted several small groups of deer. The bucks are growing their antlers and we could see the velvet covering the new growth.I could stand and watch the deer for hours.
On the way back to the car I spotted some Scarlet Pimpernel in the grass. These are tiny little flowers but so brightly coloured.

I could watch the deer for hours

The bracken is growing up and the deer can hide in it now.

You can see the velvet covering the growing antlers.

I think they have seen us!

A Large Herd of Fallow Deer

This afternoon , the sun came out and by early evening it was very warm and sunny. When John came home from work , we took the dogs for a walk at Ocknell. We hadn't been walking for very long , when we came across this large group of fallow deer , grazing in the sunshine. Ususally we see much smaller groups. This group stayed where they were and I was able to get quite close before they started moving away, but when I retreated they returned again and we saw them on our way home an hour later, still enjoying the evening sunshine

A walk at Ocknell Pond

It was very dull and drizzly , first thng this morning but as we started walking the Sun came out and the skies cleared. Apart from a very cold wind, it was pleasnt walking. Ocknell pond is very shallow and soon dries up in the summer. This morning the levels were very low and it was not much more than a big puddle . Some ponies were eating the pond weed and having a good feast. Although we saw a lot of ponies , we have yet to see the first foal of spring.
Missy found another big bone and carried it for a while but when her ball came out of my pocket she lost interest in the bone, prefering to play with her ball.

We came across this little group of Shetland ponies on our walk this morning they are much smaller and stoclier than the new Forest ponies.

New Forest Ponies at Ocknell here you can see the different colours. We saw a lot of ponies this morning but as yet we haven't found a foal.

Sunny but windy.

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We had very heavy rain overnight and some showers this morning. We walked at Ocknell and there were big puddles everywhere. It was also very muddy, so just as well there were some big puddles right next to the car. At times it was very overcast and threatening to rain, but then the sun would come out and warm us from the cold winds. Several times we saw deer, including a large herd on the slope above the bog.

Snshine and showers today, but we managed not to get wet on our walk

A herd of fallow deer on the slope

Reflections ina dew pond.


So many big puddles as we continue to get a lot of heavy rain.

At the beginning of our afternoon walk we had patches of blue sky , but it had clouded over by the time we returned to the car.

Ocknell pond is full again and overflowing.

Ocknell