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

A Little more bird watching

We spent an hour or so watching the birds at Eyeworth Pond after walking the dogs......The Warm sunny weather has gone and we have a bitter East Wind blowing.

Great Tit
Nuthatch
Robin
Mandarin Duck.No sign of Ducklings yet

Blue tit

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.

A Visit to the Sandmartin Hotel

Not the best photos but I thought you might be interested to see the Sandmartin Hotel
At Testwood lakes they have built a sandmartin Hotel. The sand martins were in danger of losing their breeding grounds when the gravel pits were turned into a reservoir. In 2006 an artificial cliff was built and in 2007 24 pairs bred here. earlier this year the hotel was extended and their are now 100 nesting sites. The sand martin is a summer migrant to England and they return in April . Already many of the rooms are taken. They are such pretty little birds as the sun catches their pale bodies as they skim over the lake. They are also very fast.

Needs Ore

Today , the morning was beautiful and sunny with very little wind, so we decided to go to Needs Ore. This is part of the North Solent Nature Reserve. However to get to Needs Ore you need a permit as the land is part of the Beaulieu Estate. We grabbed some sandwiches from a local sandwich bar and decided to eat them at Hatchetts Pond before going to get the permit. Within minutes the rain was bucketing down and we began to think it was a bad idea, but as we drove towards Beaulieu it began to brighten so we stopped off for the permits. They assured us it was easy to find so off we went. Well we found the Tithe Barn at St Leonards OK and took the long private track opposite , got to the end to find this was not the right place , we were told the track to Needs Ore was a good half a mile further along the road. We got back to the road and just as we were negotiating our way around a herd of cows we saw the track on the left. This was only about 100 yards further along the road not Half a mile, so a quick turn around , back through the herd of cows and we were off down another very long track. Our way was suddenly barred by a pair of gates , another stop to ask directions at a cottage and as i returned to the car it was a bit of a shock to see it gently moving towards the gates. Fortunately Karen realised and put the hand brake on. After pressing the magic button the gates slowly opened and we continued down the track.After another stop to ask for yet more directions we finally parked and looked at the small map on the permit, we turned it all ways and couldn't make any sense of it at all. By chance we found a gate into the reserve and a map , equally useless. We followed a small path through the hedges and then came to yet another gate into a field. There was no obvious route so we went straight across the field, still couldn't see any sign of the hides and soon we came to a moderately steep embankment, we clambered up it and there was a board walk down the other side leading to several hides. We spent some time watching the birds before eventually finding the correct path backacross the field and to the car. We timed our return well as the wind had got up and by the time we reached the car the dark clouds were returning and we drove home in rain!

greenshank
Redshank
Oystercatcher
Black water Needs Ore

Oystercatcher

Wednesday Morning.

Took the dogs for a walk this morning and met the little foal again. She is very cute and getting more confident wandering a little way from Mum. When I got back to the car there was a note on it inviting me for coffee, so i stopped off to see Jean and Daisy.

Just Couldn't Resist Putting Up Some More Snowy Pics.

I Woke Up This Morning

This morning at 7.30 it was snowing! We had to rush out and play! The ponies had a bit of a shock.
We so rarely get snow in the Forest so it was a real treat.
Missy has never seen this much snow and she loved it. raffles enjoyed it too!
Sadly by lunch time it had gone, but it has just started again.....
Who knows what tomorrow will bring!