Author: Andy Finnegan

Stonechat.

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A Female Stonechat in the New Forest this morning. Looking at the photographs, you can see how well these birds blend into their environment. A cuckoo can be heard calling in the background of my YouTube post.

Distant Cuckoo.

Sad find.

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A dead 3-foot shark on the beach – A Smooth Hound, also known as Grumpy Shark and a Smut. Listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Sadly, fishing killed this fish. It was held in the water by 4 lead weights and 30 feet of broken fishing line.

Fishing line is a major hazard on our local beaches, especially to waders and Swans.

Parenthood.

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Avocet families at Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve. Parent birds chase off anything that gets too close to their chicks, including other Avocets. Yet, the chicks wander far from mum and dad. This makes them fairly easy targets for predators like large gulls and Marsh Harriers.

Old Winchester Hill.

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An uphill walk around a local nature reserve on Thursday morning

Old Winchester Hill is a 164-acre Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire. Part of it is a scheduled monument. On the summit of the hill is an Iron Age hill fort. Within the hill fort, Bronze Age barrows dating between 2100 and 750 BC can be found. The fort itself was probably built in the Early or early–Middle Iron Age, 600–300 BC.

Dog Roses.

Ox-eye daisies.

Buzzard.

Jackdaw.

Air Ambulance passing over I think they were using the hill fort as a reference on their route

Not many Butterflies were spotted while on the hill. Only one distant Blue Butterfly and a couple of Six-spot burnet moths were seen. They’re a day flying moth.