When I grow up – I will be like Dad. A young Fallow Deer buck and an adult. On most walks in the New Forest once you get away from people on mountain bikes and dog walkers – walk quietly through the enclosures and across the moorland of the National Park rarely do I not see some deer.
Into another year – doesn’t time fly? It seems only the other day it was a new century. It seemed everyone was out for a New Year’s walk this morning.
The “pink” ferry across the Hamble River was doing a good trade. Running on demand from Hamble village to Warsash the fare is £2.50 each way. Today’s walk was a regular route from Swanwick Marina to Warsash and back a 4-mile round trip. All on the flat.
All the usual bird sightings along the river.
Brent Geese.
Curlew. Being our largest wader it is only a bit smaller than a Brent Goose.
Male Wigeon followed by 2 pictures of the female.
Greenshank.
Grey Plover.
So common is and we have all grown up with Mallard ducks around us so we often overlook this handsome dabbling duck. The Mallard is a large and heavy-looking duck. The male has a dark green head, and a yellow bill. They are mainly purple-brown on the breast and grey on the body. The female is mainly brown with an orange bill. Mallards breed in all parts of the UK
Open water {this one a fishing lake} = a chance to spot waterfowl. Two male Tufted duck and a female Goosander watch those fishing from a safe distance.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
New Forest Deer this morning. (picture post).
Roe Deer.
Red Deer.
Today’s walk was along the coastal path from the seaside town of Lymington to Normandy Lagoon. On the Lymington-Keyhaven marshes, the lagoons lie just inside the seawall. Records show that the sea salt industry has operated in the Solent for at least 2000 years. The industry flourished and by medieval times was well established at Lymington. Salt was obtained by keeping seawater in shallow lagoons known as salterns. This allowed evaporation during the summer months to remove the water. The process was undertaken on land that had been reclaimed from the sea through the construction of a series of sea walls.
The first reference to a medieval salt industry in Lymington comes from the Domesday Book of 1086. Salt production remained an asset of the area throughout the Middle Ages. By the 17th century records show a flourishing economy in the area.
The industry reached its peak early in the 18th century when 163 saltpans were in use at Lymington. Boiling Houses were used as the process became more industrialised. Sea salt from Lymington was exported as far as Norway, Newfoundland and the USA.
The 19th century saw the decline of the industry. The final Lymington saltern closed in 1865.
The best observation on today’s walk was a flock of 12 Spoonbills. A first for this year. Spoonbills are distinctive tall white waterbirds with long broad black bills and black legs. They are smaller than a Grey Heron in size. Adult birds have yellow on their bill tips. They fly with necks and legs extended. They feed with elegant sideward sweeps of their bill. The species is of European conservation concern. In recent years they have been visiting wetlands on the South Coast of the UK, small numbers now breed here. Listed on Schedule 1 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act, making it illegal to disturb these birds. Most birds migrate south in the winter, but many individuals remain and spend winter in Western Europe.
Little Egret
Cormorant – unlike many diving birds Cormorants do not have waterproof feathers. They are great at diving for fish so when they have finished fishing to dry out they sit with their wings open, The warmth of the sun or the wind dries out the bird.
Curlew. They are the largest European wading bird I watched one pass a Brent Goose last week and you can see their size is only a tiny bit smaller than the Brent!
Pintail, – only a few of these duck breed in the UK (under 30 pairs), however in the winter over 20,000 birds winter here. Like all dabbling ducks, Pintails feed at the surface rather than diving for their food. They eat plant food when dabbling, but will supplement their diet with insects and molluscs.
On one of the New Forest ponds I visit, there were several Goosander’s last week. Although I was able to get some photographs it was raining hard so I decided to return today in the hope they were still there and with better weather picture opportunities would be better. The Goosander is a diving duck which is a member of the sawbill family, named because of its serrated bill, which they use for catching fish. Mainly a freshwater bird, the Goosander first bred in the UK in 1871. Goosander’s are known as Common Mergansers in some parts of the world.
Two male birds with green heads. (the females have brown heads).
A walk this afternoon from Warsash Harbour car park up the River Hamble to Bursledon and back.
A Great Crested Grebe fishing on the river. These birds seem to spend more time in the sea and rivers than in lakes and ponds in our area this time of year. I guess there is no risk of the water freezing and preventing them from feeding.
Britans largest wader the Curlew.
I normally take photographs of Sanderlings on the muddy banks of the Hamble Dunlin favour this environment whereas the Sanderlings prefer the sandy shore at Meon beach.
Redshank get their name from their legs!
The King of the fishermen? I spent a few hours this morning watching this female Kingfisher. The female bird is identified by her orange lower mandible. She was feeding on many small Sticklebacks.
As the trees are losing their leaves which opens up the views into their branches I thought it would be worth a look at the city parks for the resident Ring-necked Parakeets they were about. I saw 3 birds today but there may have been more. They were enjoying the Holly berries for lunch today.
Continued Reflections from my World. 