Shatterford, New Forest

Sunday 29 October 

With friends Richard Osman and Adrian Enzner, a wet drive over via the M27 to Shatterford Bottom car park just east of Lyndhurst in the New Forest for a HOS field meeting covering Denny Wood and the anti-clockwise Shatterford circuit under the guidance of our leader for the day, local birder Ian  Hampson.  Just the ten of us present in what can only be described as atrocious weather following on from the recent storms in the south of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.  Wet, but tolerable at the start under some tree cover but once out in the open torrential rain for the next two hours followed by steady rain for over thirty minutes and, perhaps, a final relatively dry spell of around twenty minutes.  All the new wet weather gear put to good use apart from the fact that I was one of the two out of ten that had no wellington boots, just my ordinary walking boots!  In retrospect, silly me.

Reaching the trees after half an hour on the open moor we finally found our first birds with a Robin and a small flock of Long-tailed Tits which also included the odd Blue Tit.  Moving further through the trees we stopped at a sheltered spot and watched a good number of feeding Chaffinches plus a few Blue and Great Tits.  The, very close by as the above birds to our left we discovered a feeding frenzy in and around a couple of well-berried Holly trees.  First a departing Song Thrush and a resting Blackbird which were quickly joined by Chaffinches and both Blue and Great Tits but also more thrushes which were quickly identified as Redwings.

Time to move on and back out into the open and the continuing rain and very wet underfoot conditions as a couple of sodden Woodpigeons flew past.   A stop at the next small group of trees produced a couple of Goldcrests and then looking across the wet grass we found a lone Stonechat.  Meanwhile, high at the top of a distant, isolated tree, a resting male Sparrowhawk which remained the whole time we were in the area. Amanda was first to spot the Treecreeper that put in a short appearance and then we were close to the water once again and in the neighbouring small trees a handful of Meadow Pipits and a single Wren.

Record shot of the very distant male Sparrowhawk Accipter nisus

Noticing the passing Carrion Crows we then came across a small flock of resting Starlings atop the tall birch trees and as we moved on a single Fieldfare departed from a neighbouring tree.  Meanwhile, Adrian and a few birders close by had a good view of a trio of Coal Tits.  For me, at the very top of a pine tree on a bare branch a female Great Spotted Woodpecker was busty preening for a good number of minutes.

The distant male Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major

Then, perhaps, the bird of the day.  Having found a pair of Stonechats on a large gorse bush to our left we were then rewarded by the appearance of a most handsome Dartford Warbler which was well prepared to spend some time high on the bush in good light.  Too busy watching the bird than to think about the camera in my rucksack and, on this occasion, it was my light-weight Canon Powershot SX60 rather than the usual Sony RS10 Mark 4 due to both weight and the awful weather conditions.  Needless to say, the camera remained in the rucksack for all but two occasions, as seen by the shots of the very distant Sparrowhawk and Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Despite the awful weather and underfoot conditions, a most enjoyable birding walk in excellent company.

Birds seen:

Mute Swan, Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Woodpigeon, Meadow Pipit, Wren, Robin, Stonechat, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Dartford Warbler, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Tree-creeper, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Starling, Chaffinch.

For the latest news follow the Axarquia Birds and Wildlife Facebook page for more photos and comments and the opportunity to share with the wider birding world.