The Mandarin Ducks

A few photos of the mandarin ducklings at Eyeworth pond. This is the family of 6 and all have survived so far. I think the family of three were on the far side of the lake .

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Keeled Skimmer
Large Red
Broad bodied Chaser
broad bodied chaser

Common Blue

Dragonflies and Damselflys are beautiful and I love to see them flying over the ponds in the forest.

Catching Up Again

We have had Visitors from Montana and so I have had no time for blogging. Unfortunately the weather was a little dull and at times drizzly, but they were able to see some of the forest and we had a good time chatting and visiting some of the many pubs that can be found in the forest.
The goslings on cadman's pond are now beginning to look like the adults they have grown so fast.
Our visitors saw plenty of deer including the lucky white buck
and on an evenin ride through the forest they witnessed an amorous stallion.
When we took them to blashford we saw this greater crested grebe sitting on the nest.....a second brood maybe?

Its been Busy and now Blogger appears to have problems!

I have had guests and have been busy and now I can't seem to post photos.

Sunday Afternoon at Hatchetts Pond.

It was very bsy around the pond today and their were several dogs running lose and playing in the water near the swans. The cob was guarding his family.
All seven little cygnets are doing well and growing fast. they are now about 6 weeks old.

There are also plenty of waterlilies, white , pale pink and a deeper pink covering the smaller ponds.
This rather bedraggled juvenile Jackdaw was perched in a tree, he didn't seem to be able to fly too well and I wonder if he will survive.

Royden Woods

On Thursday we decided to go for a walk in Roydon woods, on the way we stopped to take some photos of the lesser butterfly orchids growing by the road.
When we got to the woods we walked along the gravel track and surprised som e fallow does grazing in the fields. Roydon woods is a Nature reserve in the forest managed by the Hampshire Wildlife trust, there are several ponds which we didn;t find and you can get down to the beaulieu River,

Roydon Manor is still privately owned and sits on the edge of the reserve.
A green woodpecker was sitting on a post across the field, but I was pleased to get a photo of him in the distance.It is the first time I have, although they are very common in the forest and you often hear their distinctive yaffle call and see them flying overhead,

A Sunny June Morning

Taivas Missy and Raffles pose on our early morning walk. it was very warm and sunny at 8am this morning.
On our way home we stopped off at Hatchetts moor Pond to see the lilies and watch the damsel and dragon flies. There was no sign of the little swan family and I think they must have relocated them somewhere away from the other swan family.
On the main pond the seven cygnets are all doing welland the attentive parents were close by

In the garden at home the Goldfinches were having a snack

Blashford Lakes

The Crested grebes were firly close to the hide today

There were lots of damselflies about. i think this one is the common blue.

and a Scarce Chaser

On our way home we stopped at Cadmans Pond because i had seen the redstart here on sunday. Saw him again but he moves so fast!
At home in the garden a Juvenile blackbird was taking a shower.

The Mandarin Ducklings Have Arrived!

We Have had some very wet weather this last week and I haven't been down to the pond at Eyeworth for a while In the distance we could see a mandarin female with I think 6 ducklings.
Aftr a while another family appeared with 3 ducklings and I was able to get a few photos, but these little ducks move so fast.
Hopefully we will be able to watch them grow.

Catching Up

Its been rather dreary this week and I have not taken many photos. The fungus on the tree is in a local carpark. It is know as Chicken in the woods and when young is edible,
This is the bridge at Kingshat where we walked on Tuesday. We had to wade to the bridge because heavy rain had caused the River Beaulieu to burst its banks. Unfortunately on our return crossing we had a rather nasty experience when a rather large Staffordshire bull terrier attacked Missy. Apart from a few scratches she was Ok but in recusin Missy , Karen got a small bite.as the dog continued to try and get at Missy. Missy was very shaken by the experience and when the owner of the dog realised that karen had been bitten she quickly fled the scene. Other than admitting that her dog was responsible for the attack and was going to be in "Big trouble she did very little to try and control her dog eventually aiming a few kicks at it. We did report it to the dog warden as had a smaller dog or a child been involved the outcome could have been much more serious.
Missy was very clingy for the rest of the day and snuggled up to Raffles for comfort.
Meanwhile on the ponds we saw the goslings, who have all grown although there are only 9 now. The second swan family has disappeared and we are hoping that it may have been relocated in an area without a resident family.
Missy was back to her happy self when we walked at Pigbush, also flooded from the recent rain.

Swan Wars?

After our walk on Thursday Morning we drove up to see the Swans. The family down at hatchetts Pond are doing well, but something seemed amiss at Hatchetts Moor. This is the Cob and he seemed to have abandoned his family. Their nesting site was at the far end of Hatchetts Pond out of site of the other family, but on Thursday the Pen and the cygnets were on the nest and dad was down in the little lily pond. We watched for about 30 mins and he just stayed put. In the afternoon i slipped back and he was still sitting on his own. Swans are usually very protective of their young and i was a little concerned. I phoned one of the Forest keepers and he said he would drop by and have a look. The problem is that Male swans will fight and he thought that the other male may have warned this one off, as they have had trouble in the past when more than one pair have chosen to nest on the same pond.
When I returned on Friday the family was reunited but they are now all down by the lily pond. This is a very small pond and I wonder how they will fare here.

The Seven Cygnets on Hatchetts pond are all doing well

Some of the cygnets

Mrs Swan at Hatchetts Moor with her three cygnets

Cygnets above and Daddy swan below

Abbotsbury Sub tropical gardens

After we had visited the swannery, we drove on a little way to see the Sub Tropical gardens . We had not expected them to be so big and we spent several hours wandering around. At one point we climbed the steep hill for views of the Jurassic coast, and in the distance we could make out the swans. It was very warm so it was good to get in the shade for a bit. The gardens were worth visiting and they do a very nice cream tea in the colonial tea house. The pheasnts seemed to know when they might find some crumbs and turned up to see what we had left.

The Golden Pheasants were wandering around the gardens
From the viewpoint we could see the swannery

Plenty of Lambs about

Arum Lily
Rhododendrum in the shade
Bee on Allium

Little bridge
Lily and below green veined white butterfly