Robin
A pair of Nuthatches
marsh tit
Coal tit
Bluetit

A Snowy Saturday Walk

As we drove up to the Forest this morning the world gradually turned white again. We went to Cadmans Pond . before we started walking I put some seed out for the birds they are really hungry and they flew down and started eating before I had finished spreading it along the log. Then we set off on our walk. The dogs had great fun . At one point a few fallow does ran across the path but they were too quick for me to get a photo. We did see their tracks several times as we walked through the crunchy snow. When we got back to the pond we watched the sun slowly melting the ice and the ducks seemed pleased to have some water to swim on. The birds had eaten all the seed and nuts so before we left I put some more down. I also finally got some pony photos. They had been hiding on our previous visits but they had come out from under the trees to warm up in the sun.

Yes We had some Snow!

On Monday Morning we awoke to a beautiful white world. Lots of snow! The dogs had a wonderful time and we slithered along the roads admiring the snowy landscapes. Today the Snow has gone from the garden but there is still plenty in the Forest and a chance of yet more to come.
Raffles really enjoyed it and he still looks very healthy despite his dodgy blood work and the bladderstones. We are hoping that the special diet will soon start to work and dissolve them

Hungry Robin
track to the carpark at cadmans Pond
The pond is frozen
The lonely Scots Pine at Bratley View.
bridge at Kings hat

More Bird Watching

Its been rather dull of late but this week I had a couple of bird watching trips. At Blashford we saw some redpolls and long tailed tits along with great and Bluetits. There were also plenty of siskins , green finches and chaffinches. We went up to the North hide but the Bittern was hiding in the reeds although he had apparently been about earlier.
Today I slipped down to Eyeworth Pond and saw the mandarins. I put a little food out and we had all the tits and nuthatches galore. A couple of chaffinches put in an appearance but there don't seem to be many about and those I saw had badly crusted legs.

Marsh tit
Nuthatch
Blue tit
Longtailed tit
mandarin Duck

The Waxwings Came to Town

I woke up this morning to pouring rain and did not think I would be taking photos. I walked the dogs and the weather was a little brighter. I looked on the Two Owls website and saw some Waxwings were about 20 miles away and decided to go see if I could find them. They are winter migrants and not that common. I picked Karen up and we drove down the motorway . We arrived at the location and couldn't see any sign of them , although we met several others looking for them. We walked around the housing estate they were supposed to be frequenting for about 90 minutes . Most of the other seekers had given up and gone elsewhere and we decided our luck was out. As we walked back to the car , the one other remaining watcher saw us and said look up in the tree. But for him we would have missed them. At the time we counted 17 but looking at the photos we think there were at least 20. The photos are not the best , they had chosen the tallest tree in the vicinity to perch. But we were happy, I had never seen them before. After about 10 minutes they flew off and although we went back to the berries we had seen we did not see them again.

Alittle Bird and deer watching

Karen and I finally felt well enough to go for a drive in the forest. We spent a while watching the birds at Eyeworth Pond . There were several mandarin ducks around but they are not coming close. We think this is because of the dogs that were playing in the water.. There are so many ponds and streams in the forest without birds it seems a shame that people allow there dogs in those ponds where the birds are. When we started to feel the cold we jumped back in the car and drove up to bolderwood to see if we could find some deer. We were lucky and I particularly like this little fallow doe who stood and watched us. she decided we were not a threat and went back to grazing with the others.

two faalow Bucks smiling for the camera

Bluetit

Coaltit
Nuthatches like nuts!
and so do marsh tits

Its been a while

since I last posted. I have had the flu that has been sweeping across England and have really been under the weather. I had a new lense for Christmas a Nikon 70-300mm and i really haven't had a chance to use it. Today I slipped down to Eyeworth pond for a little while but the light was not good. Every morning the long tailed tits are coming to the feeders in the gardens . I do like these little birds, they are so pretty but it is so hard to get a photo of them.

A few Bird Shots

Merry Christmas

Raffles

Raffles has not been very well recently and has had to have some tests. At one point he had a very low platelet count.....but xrays have shown that he has bladder stones and with the right diet he is doing well. We think hs immune system caused him to attack his own platelets and hopefully we have now got this under control.

Sika Deer at Arne

A few pictures of the Sika Deer during the rut at Arne.
At first the sun shone but then we had a very heavy down pour. Fortunately we were in a hide at the time and so we stayed dried and eventually the sun came out again.

Stourhead

John has a few days holiday so we took a trip to Stourhead (national trust property) Some beautiful autumn colours in the sunshine. Of course just after we arrived it poured with rain! However the sun did reappear for a while and we were able to walk around the lake.

Protests in the Forest

At the end of August the National Park Authority published their Draft documents for the future of the New Forest. 300 pages of gobbledegook! They propose sweeping changes to the way people use the Forest. Horse owners face many restrictions on how they keep their animals , dog walkers will be barred from parts of the Forest.They talk about Road Pricing and the closure of more car parks,also closing many minor roads to car users, the list is endless. If the proposals go ahead much of the forest will be a no go area and people will no longer be able to use it. Their argument is that the Forest must be preserved. For 1000 years the Forest has survived and people have enjoyed it If these proposals go ahead, very few will continue to enjoy it .
Today about 1000 people joined a protest organised by the Horse riders, where both our elected Members of Parliament pledge their support and called for the abolition of the Authority. Next week the Dog walkers are arranging an all day meeting to help people fill in the complicated objection forms.
Other protests will follow as we fight for our rights to enjoy the Forest